I take great satisfaction in seeing a giant tentacled creature wrap it's arms around a ship, crushing and bringing it down to the depths of the ocean. In one thrilling scene it brings the awesome might of nature against humans, who seek to control but at the end of day are just puny in comparison. The fascination with octopi and squids are far from over so here are some of my favourite scenes and shows starring these creatures.
Most Iconic
In OLD BOY crazy-haired Ho Dae-Su is released from his 15 years of imprisonment and eats a live octopus (see main picture). In this one act, the look of self-loathing, rage and the need to feel something makes him force the creature down. Eventually he chokes and as the camera pulls out we see him face down, a tendril of a tentacle still stirring.
Most Poignant
There is a diorama of a giant squid tussling with a sperm whale in the museum of natural history. In THE SQUID AND THE WHALE, Walt sees this and likens it to his parent's divorce battle. Both are worthy opponents, both aiming to win and yet as they tussle they sink themselves deeper and deeper down with no clear victor.
The famous diorama in the New York Museum of Natural History
Most Lovable
Unless they are in some logo advertising seafood, squid-like creatures are mostly villains except in kiddie-land. The most famous is SQUIDWARD of Spongebob Squarepants fame. He's miserable, sarcastic and under appreciated. Is it any wonder that most of us love him? On one level he's a great anti-hero to Spongebob's persistent optimism and on another there's a rather sweet insecurity to him. Squidward's the everyman, down-trodden, misunderstood but at the end when he gets what he wants (think the Squidville Episode), he realises there's more of a madcap in him than he reliases.
Quit taking all the attention Spongebob...
"Gelatinous bodies and tentacles... what's not to love?"
Most Villainous
Maybe it's that alien-like gelatinous body or those soft snaking arms that is able to be 8-times the villain. Of course in the land of make-belief there always seemed to be more than 8 arms.
Both Davy Jones from Pirates of the Caribbean and Doc Ock from Spiderman 2 are tragic figures. Both have lost the love of their lives and both rage against the world wrecking destruction as a form of vengeance.
The best octo-villains to me are those that are not humanized like the Giant Squid in 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA. Even then they are often creatures who retaliate from men's intrusion into their worlds.
Clockwise: Doc Ock and Spiderman, Davy Jones, The Kraken's Breath in Pirates
The Kraken which are ancient leviathans able to crush ships and destroy whole villages are also unfortunately used as tools either of Davy Jone's in Pirates or of the gods as in Clash of the Titans (this one has a proper face like a colossal merman) Still there's something incredibly cathartic watching those snaking arms crush and wrap pitting the prowess of nature against man's petty wiles to control a world. It's interesting to note that the only giant squid to have a name is the Japanese Oodaku in KING KONG VS. GODZILLA.
Most Terrifying
No one else in literature evokes the horror of ancient creatures with tentacles like Lovecraft and his CTHULHU MYTHOS. His creatures are old, older than creation, mighty beings that in the age of modernity lay dormant until evoked or provoked. And they will rise like goth-monsters of the apocalypse to destroy the world. In fact, the human mind cannot contain the horror and those who peel off the scab of the world to see this universe will go completely mad.
Clockwise: Alien ships in War of the Worlds, Ancient gods in Hellboy, two interpretations of Cthulhu first by John Coulthart- http://www.johncoulthart.com and the other on http://www.alanbaxteronline.com, Hellboy battles tentacled things in one of the comics.
There's no redemption in Lovecraftian stories and nothing very redeeming in the few attempts they tried to bring it on-screen. However it certainly spawned off many other creations of horror like Mignola's ancient gods in the first HELLBOY movie and even gave physical designs to alien invaders like in WAR OF THE WORLDS- vast ships walking the earth like malevolent tripod giraffes with tentacles that grab, spray and spy. And they are both worthy of watching.
So I guess next time you get some squid on your plate, know that this delicious creature have their own little star (in my books) on the Hollywood walk of fame.
.JPG)
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