RIP Samantha Davis

1971 - 2024

It is with heavy hearts that we learn of the passing of Samantha Davis. While most know her as the wife of Leprechaun star Warwick Davis, she also had a hand as an extra in one of those Leprechaun movies. 

She Was A Bar Patron In Leprechaun 2

She will be missed. 

Monster Crap Inductee: The Beast (1996)

Monster Crap Inductee: The Beast
Gonna Need Some Spiced Rum.

1996

You may be shocked to know this, but at one time…..movies that didn’t make it to theaters were not just put Direct to Video/DVD or Direct To SyFy/Premium Movie Channels. In fact, some of them were Made For TV movies/miniseries that were on NBC, ABC, CBS, and Fox. In fact, there are some great horror movies that were Made For TV like Dark Night Of The Scarecrow, The Day After, Threads (that one was on the BBC (who are still doing Made For TV Miniseries/Movies)), Duel, Trilogy Of Terror, Helter Skelter, The Stand, Salem’s Lot, Don’t Be Afraid Of The Dark, and It (the one with Tim Curry).

 

We’ve Actually Done A TV Movie On Monster Crap Before With Devil Dog: The Hound From Hell
 
Sadly in 1996, this was starting to become die out.

Enter Peter Benchley. You may know him for his novel that was made into the movie that made the summer the time for blockbuster movies, Jaws.
 

Although Because This Book (And Movie) Made People Have A Strong Hatred For Sharks That Is Causing Them To Be Killed Indiscriminately, Benchley Became An Ardent Ocean Conservationist As His Way Of Atoning Until The Day He Died In 2006 From Pulmonary Fibrosis.

 
Well, you know Hollywood in that if one thing from an author worked, then every other material from him should work as well and dammit, they never will turn away from making a buck. So in 1996, let’s make a Made For TV Miniseries about Benchley’s book The Beast. Unfortunately, because you have a more TV friendly budget, you mainly have a budget for one, maybe two names (even if those names are character actors). And for your main star, this production got a great character actor who is superb in everything he is in, William Petersen.
 

Most Of You May Know Him As Gil Grissom On The Original CSI, But He Was Also In Good Films Like Manhunter (AKA The Superior Red Dragon Film), To Live And Die In LA, Young Guns 2, And Fear.

 
And speaking of Dark Night Of The Scarecrow, let’s get the star of that movie, Larry Drake.
 

He Was Also On LA Law At The Time So Not A Hard Get For NBC. You May Also Know Him As A Villain In The First Two Darkman Films And For Some Of You Horror Fans, As Dr. Giggles.
 

Also Got His Autograph In 2011
 

Also, let’s get Larry “The Toad” Fields from American Graffiti.

Horror Fans May Also Know Him As The Director Of The 1986 Campy Rock Horror Film Trick Or Treat

To round out the cast, we’ll hire TV actors so it’ll be fine. We also have a Monster Crap alum with Robert Mammone.

He Was Carlos Blanka In Street Fighter

Also Rana Morrison is in this movie in an uncredited role again and she has had uncredited roles in Twilight Saga: New Moon, Clash of the Titans remake, and Twilight Saga: Eclipse.

With that out of the way, let’s get to this three hour mo….

*looks at the run time*

NegaSeth, you lying son of a bitch. This is under two hours, why the hell did you make me worried.

It’s 176 minutes…wait.

*NegaSeth looks at DVD*

You have the 116 minute version. There is actually a 2 disc version that has all the stuff from the TV miniseries.. I was right about it being 3 hours, but you have a DVD that cut it down. Don’t blame me for your own incompetence.

*Sigh*

Let’s just start the cut version of the movie.

We begin this film with the opening title card.

 

TV Movies Never Really Wasted Any Time With The Title
 
We then go to a yacht that is out having fun in the Pacific Ocean.
 

And It Is Called The Occupational Hazard, Which Means This Ship Is Definitely Going To Sink
 
Inside the yacht are a young married couple in Howard and Elizabeth Griffin.
 

Elizabeth complains about using the engine and Howard has to remind her that if they used just the current, they would be going back and forth all over the place and would probably have no idea how to get back. Howard tells her to be grateful for it and Elizabeth is such a spoiled brat that she says she doesn’t want to be grateful and she wants her way. So…..perfect people to be out this deep in the ocean with land not nearby. They then decided to set the boat to autopilot so the two of them can have sex (sex that will not be shown because this was on TV first).

 
That night, Howard decides to take a nap while Elizabeth sails the ship. Unfortunately for them, the engine that holds the water gets busted and the yacht starts sinking.
 

The spoiled brat and the sleeping husband don’t realize this until the yacht is basically beyond the point that they can save it from sinking. They try to do a mayday with them presenting where their position is, but the power goes out so the Coast Guard can’t know where they are at. They have a lifeboat ready and get on that, as the Occupational Hazard sinks.
 

Hazard, Indeed
 
So the first thing this married couple does is set up a marker for them to be eventually rescued, but they know that the Coast Guard probably won’t be around to save them until the morning. They decide to get some sleep, but suddenly they feel something bumping against the boat. They then smell something weird like ammonia and while Howard is looking to see if they spilled something, Elizabeth is taken away off screen. Howard panics and goes into the water to look for her, but finds nothing. Whatever bumped the boat before shows up and Howard sees it (but we don’t). He then gets knocked off the boat and eventually pulled under.

 

Yeah, The Married Couple Are Both Killed In The Same Way The First Person Was Killed In Jaws And We’ll Never See Them Again
 
The next morning at Graves Point, Washington,
 

Thanks For The Info. The Book Takes Place In Bermuda, But TV Movie Probably Could Not Afford To Shoot In Bermuda.

 
We then meet our main character in Whip Dalton.
 

He is a widowed father and the first thing he does is tell his daughter Dana that her friend Hadley is here.

 

They leave and Dana promises to be back before nightfall. We then go to the Coast Guard Helicopter where we meet Lieutenant Kathryn Marcus and Ensign Raines.
 

Lt. Marcus used to be stationed at San Diego, but she put in for a transfer here. Raines asks why, but Marcus is not going to tell him that and just wants them to get to where they are going. Meanwhile, we see that Whip is a boat captain with his first mate Mike Newcombe and they are fisherman.

 

And They Are Not Having Much Luck With Fishing Because Some Assholes Do Trap Fishing (Which Is Illegal By The Way) And Take Away The Fish For The Rest Of The Fisherman.
 
The helicopter passes by and we see that Raines knows both Whip and Mike. The helicopter reaches its destination, which is of course the life boat as the marker worked.
 

Kathryn tries to go down despite warnings from Raines about the current. Of course, she asks him if she were a man, would he give her the same warning and he says yes. Raines then has a better idea as he calls for Whip and Mike to pick up the lifeboat. Back at the docks, the four of them wonder what happened to the married couple before the notice the ammonia smell and the slime.

Whip and Mike had planned on scuttling it for some cash, but Kathryn is by the book so she called the harbormaster to report the lifeboat and the harbormaster sends his personal assistant Jameson and two other Coast Guards.
 

Jameson makes a snide comment about how the raft might not be in the best shape when they retrieved it so Whip and Mike decide to destroy it with fish hooks.
 

This Is Why You Don’t Give People Any Ideas.

 
While destroying it, something falls out of the raft that will of course come back later.
 

Through conversation, we see that Whip and the harbormaster (named Graves) have issues with each other as Whip hates that Graves is basically trying to control all of Graves Point since it has his name on it. While cleaning up, Whip tells Mike to go home to his pregnant wife Nell, Whip offers to help them moneywise if they need it (which Mike declines) and Whip finds the object that fell out of the life raft.
 

At the bar, the bartender think what Whip found was belonging to a bird, but that cant be possible as it would have to be the size of a house. Another bartender thinks it may be part of a necklace, but Whip says that it is a claw. The bartender then gives them a business card of his cousin who works at the Portland Zoo and tells Whip to give the claw to him if he wants to know what it is.
 
We then meet Schuyler Graves, the asshole harbormaster.
 

Whip is back on his boat when he sees an asshole fisherman named Lucas Coven with buoy.
 

Hi Dr. Giggles

 
Lucas denies the buoy is his, since trap fishing is illegal. Whip scares Lucas off since he has a bigger boat and they check the buoy themselves. They then find the trap busted up and smelling of ammonia.
 

At night, Kathryn goes back to Whip’s place as she needs his signature for her report on the finding of the life boat. We actually find out that one of the reasons Kathryn transferred to Graves Point is that she likes to dive and Graves Point is a good place for that. Also, she is told that Whip is the best around at knowing where everything is. He asks how experienced she is on diving and she explains that she is a Coast Guard diver so she knows just about anything and Whip warns her about the strong currents. Kathryn responds that she can match Whip on dives any day of the week, which he definitely likes. He offers her a Saturday charter for a dive and she accepts.

 
We then see that Lucas is trap fishing as he puts new traps out there.
 

Whip gets a phone call from the bartender’s cousin from the Portland Zoo. He says while they don’t know what the claw is, they definitely know that it doesn’t come from a mammal of any kind and it is from a marine animal of some sort. The cousin says that he will send it to Dr. Herbert Talley, who is a marine biologist, and he will know what this claw is. We go back to Lucas who sees something in the water.

 

It bumps into Lucas’ boat and while Lucas does find it odd, he moves on with his day.
 
We go to Dana and Hadley who are talking about finding attractive men that they can marry who will hopefully be rich. They both see two guys they think are attractive.
 

Whip goes to Schuyler’s office and wants to see the life boat that he salvaged, but Schuyler got rid of it since it was broken beyond repair. They don’t like each other as Schuyler wants to make this place more commercially viable and Whip likes the place just the way it is. Schuyler also makes mention of Whip dropping out of school and being broke like his parents while Whip mentions Schuyler’s family couldn’t go broke even if they tried. Whip also mentions something that at Grammar School, he saved Schuyler’s ass more times than he can remember. Schuyler mentions how they are no longer at Grammar School, but Whip says the harbormaster is still the same little creep that he was back then.
 
Whip goes home as Dana and Hadley are with the two guys they met earlier named Spike and Chowder. They are recreational divers and they want to dive to the shipwreck of the Admiral Bernum since they are on a diving tour. Whip warns them that the currents at the Admiral Bernum are extremely dangerous and the water is deep so only the most experienced divers can go down there. They of course aren’t as experienced to be doing that, but try to bribe Whip to let them dive. As we know now, Whip is a bit of a boy scout and is not going to take the risk of having two inexperienced divers dive to that dangerous spot and die on his watch. This of course embarrasses his daughter and it is definitely not helped by Kathryn showing up for her dive, which Whip is allowing her to do.

 
We then go to another boat where we meet Dr. Herbert Talley and his assistant Christopher Lane.
 

Christopher tells Herbert about the claw that was sent to them and Herbert is definitely interested. We then find out that the claw belongs to a giant squid.
 

Thanks To Japanese Divers For Shooting This Picture

 
The reason I definitely have to give thanks is because while giant squids are definitely huge and could definitely be believable in being the culprit to these deaths, they mostly swim in extremely deep waters that you and I are not able to dive to where visibility is really low and personally, I really don’t think a giant squid would be causing havoc at a cold, not as deep as usual for them place like Graves Point, although it could happen. Giant squids have also been very scary to a lot of sailors that in Norse Mythology, they were the basis for the kraken.
 

Of Course, They Arent Just A Norse Mythology. They Are A Mythology Of Almost Any Seafaring Culture Throughout History.

 

Also Seattle (The City In Washington, The State Where Graves Point Supposedly Is) Has A Hockey Team Called The Seattle Kraken So Interesting Coincidence With This Movie.
 

And In Case You Didn’t Get The Hint From The Subtitle, There Is Some Damn Fine Rum Called The Kraken.
 
Herbert then calls Whip with the news of it being a giant squid and that he will be on his way to Graves Point. We then go to Mike and his pregnant wife Nell.

 

The baby in her is kicking which makes Mike very happy. They also find pieces of a Sperm Whale on the beach.
 

Which Is Kind Of Ironic As In The Boat, A Sperm Whale Is What Ultimately Kills The Squid, But Here....We Aren't Getting That Ending.

Mike brings a piece of it to Whip, who agrees that it is a whale and a young one at that. Whip then explains to Mike that he has been told that they might be dealing with a giant squid. So we go to Spike and Chowder and it seems they have found someone to take them on that dive who cares more about money than safety.

 

Of Course It Is Lucas.
 
So they find where the shipwreck is supposed to be thanks to a buoy.
 

Yeah, That Is One Of The Purposes Of A Buoy
 
These dumbass divers go in and start the dive with Spike going first and Chowder following. Spike gets to where the Admiral Benson is, but he doesn’t get to enjoy it long as he gets grabbed and killed by the squid.

 

Chowder sees this and tries to run, but he becomes chowder for the squid.  
 

Yep….This Is The Best You Are Going To Get With Chowder’s Death
 
The squid even brings down the whole buoy which freaks out Lucas. Blood comes up as well as the ripped up scuba suits and Lucas decides to run away as the buoy also comes up. Eventually the Coast Guard is told and of course Whip finds out as well. Everyone is there to try to recover the bodies although all they can get is the swimsuits.
 

Whip tells the Coast Guards to get out of the water because whatever killed them is still down there and I guess because Whip is so respected, they listen. Dana and Hadley come home and are informed about the deaths of Spike and Chowder. Kathryn and Raines are also made aware that this is a giant squid that is killing people.
 
That night, the media wants to be at a private meeting, but they are kept out by the deputies. Whip explains what a giant squid is and basically we find out that the giant squid is eating whatever it can find because the food source is gone. We also find out that the young whale killed is a sperm whale and those are also hard to see as well because they also live in deep water and aren’t exactly friendly. Whip does not think they can get rid of it so he suggests that they just leave it alone and eventually, it will just go elsewhere. Lucas finds this whole waiting approach stupid as he saw it and he plans on killing it himself. Of course, the committee decides that no one should go out to open sea unless absolutely necessary.

 
Mike and Nell are not happy to hear this and at their house, we found out they actually are struggling financially and with a new baby, it is going to be worse for them. Back at the town hall, Schuyler secretly approves Lucas’ plan to kill the squid and is going to write off the expenses needed to do so.
 
Herbert and Christopher also arrive to Graves Point and they meet with Whip. Dana and Hadley are preparing to go to a party at the house when they arrive and it becomes pretty evident that Dana and Christopher like each other a lot. They all decide to go to the party. But first, they need to show Herbert, Christopher, and Lieutenant Henderson the remains of the sperm whale that they found.
 

Henderson goes to puke as Herbert confirms that they are dealing with a giant squid. Back on the docks, Lucas is ready to go squid hunting and Schuyler sends Jameson to give them half the reward for killing the squid with the other half given on completion. Lucas of course has three men to help and they dump fish that lures the squid. The squid arrives and they drop depth charges. The men go further away and the depth charges explode.
 

The squid comes up and it is good and dead.
 

Lucas and crew celebrate that they killed the beast. Schuyler is told on the phone about the victory.
 

Great, This Must Be The End Of The F….We Still Have An Hour Remaining.
 
Whip, Herbert, Mike, and Christopher get told about the creature’s death and Whip actually is okay with this. At town hall, Schuyler gets a picture of him with the dead squid by the sailors as appreciation for this kill.
 

Whip and Herbert want to see the squid to see if it is actually the right squid and Schuyler says that he already sold the carcass to Osborne Manning, a rich Texan who is trying to open a sea park called Sea Land Texas.
 

Whip and Herbert leave with Whip pissed at Schuyler for still being an asshole. Herbert tells him that they cant change anything, but he will eventually be able to convince Osborne to let him look at the squid. Herbert first wants Whip to take him to where the beast was killed. At the beach, Dana and Christopher have some moments where they definitely love each other.

 

Aw…That’s Cute. It Would Be A Damn Shame If Something Bad Were To Happen To One Of Them.
 
So Whip takes them to where the Admiral Benson is (and where the squid was killed) and Herbert has a submersible prepared. Of course as we learned earlier, Herbert has a bit of claustrophobia so Christopher will be taking his place. The submersible seats three and with Christopher and the driver (because someone has to have experience driving it), that leaves only one seat available. Originally, Kathryn is supposed to go, but Schuyler talked to Commander Wallingford and he made sure that Jameson will be going instead.

 

Christopher gives Dana his good luck necklace before he goes into the submersible. So the driver, Christopher, and Jameson are in the submersible and the submersible is put into the sea. They get to the Admiral Benson, but meanwhile at where the dead squid is held, Schuyler and Osborne find out that the dead squid they have is only a baby meaning that there is a pissed off mother that they have to deal with. Back to where the Admiral Benson is, Herbert notices through cameras that the area has no fish around it, which is very odd. The submersible is about to head back up because Jameson is cold, but they get attacked by mama squid.
 

They get killed.

 

Back at town hall, Schuyler is talking to a group of investors about plans for a new resort for Graves Point when Whip Hamilton comes up all pissed off. He yells at him that he is responsible because they were not able to see the squid to know that it wasn’t the one that was doing most of the killing and leaves him a tape. At the house, Dana is sad that her boyfriend is dead and Whip, being a good dad, gives her something to eat while she is in her room.
 

Again, We See That Whip Is A Good Father

 
Dana makes him promise that he won’t go trying to kill the squid. Back at Lucas’ place, Schuyler blackmails Lucas with knowledge of his trap fishing into going back out to kill the mama squid.
 

Yeah, He Is In A No Win Situation
 
He has to go out the day after tomorrow. We go back to the Dalton house and Kathryn is also there who is still upset about seeing their dead faces. She thinks that it should have been her that was out there instead of Jameson, but Whip tells her not to second guess things. Whip then explains that it is the sea and talks about how his wife Charlotte died. She was a fan of going out on her sailboat after dinner and a sudden wind came up. Charlotte didn’t want to come back in and she stayed out there too long, which led to the boat sinking and her drowning, although like most people who drown in the deep sea, they never found her body. Kathryn and Whip then kiss.
 

The next day, Mike is desperate for some money and is willing to work on another boat, but the fellow sailors are telling him that with the giant squid out there, they are not going. The one sailor tells him that since he is really strapped, there is a gig with Lucas who is going to try and kill the mama squid. Mike takes Lucas up on needing crew for the job. Mike goes home and kisses his wife as he is about to go out to help kill the squid.
 

Lucas reveals that two of the men that he said would be out there never showed so it is just only 3 this time when it was 5 last time. At the docks, Osborne is trying to hire Herbert to help capture a bigger squid and is willing to hire him to work at Sea Land Texas because they are sadly second rate next to Sea World (although they never say that name, you know exactly what is ahead of them). Meanwhile, Whip finds out that Mike is working with Lucas to kill the mama squid so he goes out on his boat to try and save him. We also find out that Lucas, Mike, and the other guy shouldn’t be out there anyway since a bad storm has just rolled in.

 

Thank You, Bartok. I Agree
 
The fellow crew man tell Lucas that they need to go home because they can’t see shit in this rain. Lucas reluctantly agrees, but unfortunately, mama squid has already shown up and she kills the engine. The third guy is grabbed and killed first.
 

Mike is knocked out by a tentacle.

 

Smack To The Back On The Head
 
Lucas is the only one left and the squid sinks the boat, killing Lucas.
 

Whip arrives too late and can only see the damage.
 

But In Good News, He Is Able To Save Mike. Unfortunately, Mike Can’t Feel His Legs
 
Nell is at the hospital and Whip comforts her that they have the best doctor here so Mike will be fine.
 

Yeah, No Offense To The Actress Portraying Nell, But She Definitely Is The Weakest Link In This Movie.
 
Schuyler is now getting shit for what happened and fellow fisherman tell him that if he wants the squid dead, he better do it himself because nobody else is going to go out there to do his dirty work.
 

The doctor comes in and tells Whip and Nell that Mike is going to live and they saved his leg. He tells them they don’t know if he will be able to do much physical activity due to spinal bruising and that they aren’t going to be able to talk to him till tomorrow as he is resting now, but he left a cot for Nell to stay with him for the night.

 
At the beach, Dana is still saddened about Christopher’s death when people come by with signs saying the beach is closed, although since Dana is just being there and has no plans on going in the water, they are okay with her staying. One of the guys tells Dana that people are real disappointed in Whip for not going out there to deal with the squid. Dana goes to her dad and because now that his reputation is on the line, she tells him that his promise to her is off and he needs to go and kill mama squid.
 
At town hall, Whip tells Schuyler, Herbert, and Osborne that he is in on killing the squid, but he has two conditions. The first is that they use his boat which is easily agreed upon. The second is that the spineless Schuyler has to come with them.
 

He Doesn’t Like That Idea, But Eventually Accepts.

 
At the boat the professor rides on, Osborne shows everyone a big steel lure with a hollow cylinder that they will be put a chemical to simulate a squid that wants to mate.
 

When asked what is next since they cant completely reel in this giant squid, Osborne says that they will reel it in enough that Osborne can hit it with a harpoon loaded with enough poison to kill ten elephants so that should kill this creature and in case of a hard exterior, the spear is so sharp that it can pierce through steel. Oh and in case the creature tries to shake it off, this spear is set so that any violent movement makes the poison go quicker.

 

Schuyler tries to weasel his way into not having this hunt, but that just makes Whip say that he can be ready to go out tomorrow, which everyone except Mr. Graves agrees. The next day, everything is set and we see Whip says goodbye to his daughter while promising to return from this hunt. Oh and we get to see Schuyler in regular fishing gear.
 

Oh This Guy Is Completely Ill-Prepared To Deal With A Giant Squid
 
And he tries to make a pass at Kathryn by saying “there will be some pretty scenery to look at.”
 

That’s The Look Of A Woman Who Is Deciding Whether To Punch You In The Face For That Lame Pickup Line And I Should Know Based On My Twitter Jokes

 

Yes, Skunk Boy…I’m Still Going To Call It Twitter And Not The Stupid X Name That You Gave It
 
She decides not to sock him in the face and the boat heads out for the hunt. The lure is put into the water and it seems nothing is biting as we have scenes that are happening elsewhere with Dana making the macaroni and cheese and Nell reading to Mike who is in the hospital bed. We go to night as Dana is eating that mac and cheese alone. Schuyler once again tries to convince everyone to go home, but Kathryn buts in that finally the creature has made an appearance.
 

Fish Finders: A Fisherman’s Best Friend
 

The squid takes the lure and they start to reel it in until the creature surfaces.
 

Osborne takes a shot and hits it.
 

He shoots another harpoon into it and with those shots, the creature goes down.

 

They put lines on the creature and are happy to see that this plan is actually going to work. Someone probably should have informed them that there is 13 minutes still left in the movie. They start to head home when the engine dies. Everyone is okay with this and just plans on waiting until morning when the coast guards will help them get back to land. Everyone except for Osborne because Osborne might have told a fib as it wasn’t poison that he pumped into the squid with those darts, but instead a sedative.
 

Everyone Looking At Osborne Like “Are You Fucking Kidding Me?”
 

I think we can also do this at this moron.

His reasoning is he wanted to have a live giant squid since Sea World definitely doesn’t have that. Schuyler decides to be a complete asshole and take the life raft back to sure.

 

You Can Hate This Man
 
They tell of the situation and the coast guards decide that they don’t need to wait till morning as they prepare a night rescue. Whip tries to cut the lines attaching the boat to the sleeping squid when that sleeping squid decides to wake up.
 

Oh I Am So Going To Get The License Plate Of That Truck That Knocked Me Out

 
Whip may be able to get the boat free from the squid and the squid decides to find Schuyler and kill his ass before he gets to sure.

 

There…I Just Did Everyone A Favor In Killing This Coward. Now To Go After The Guys Who Drugged Me.
 
Back at the boat, Osborne tries put more harpoons in the gun so he can try and drug the squid again. But the squid immediately decides that Osborne is the first that needs to die.
 

I Am Not Getting Drugged Again
 
The squid grabs Herbert and Whip tries to save him, but the marine biologist is killed.
 

Sorry Herbert….You Die Like Novel Hooper, Not Live Like Movie Hooper
 
Kathryn shoots a flare and the helicopter sees it.  The coast guards on the copter put down a ladder that Kathryn climbs. Whip decides that he is going to take an axe to the fuel cannisters to make the boat flammable.
 

Whip then tries to go for the ladder, but the squid gets his leg with a tentacle. Kathryn shoots a flare at the squid and the squid catches on fire.
 

Whip uses the axe to get the tentacle off of him. Whip then gets on the ladder as Kathryn is in the copter and the copter flies away from the boat. With this boat having an engine, there is only one way this all ends.
 

Squid Goes Boom
 
And thus, The Beast is dead. Whip comes home and Dana is happy to see that her dad is alive.
 

Whip, Dana, and Kathryn then go to the Dalton house as the helicopter flies off….and that is the end of this movie. So before anyone gets on my ass about not watching the three hour whole TV miniseries. I did end up watching it and here is what was not in this version.

·         Lucas trying to tell the others at the bar that he saw and no one believing him

·         Lucas putting alcohol in his soup

·         Spike and Chowder hiring Lucas at the restaurant where he was eating his soup

·         Whip taking Kathryn diving while Dana and Hadley are sunbathing on the boat

·         Dana and Hadley going for a swim

·         Whip trying to raise the anchor and gets into a tug of war with the squid (although he doesn’t know it is the squid)

·         The Founder’s Day Party that we only had mentioned

·         Whip and Kathryn dancing at the Founder’s Day Party

·         Dana dancing with Christopher while Hadley dances with Ensign Raines at the Founder’s Day Party

·         Kathryn getting pissed that someone else (a man) was hired as Coast Guard Liaison by Schuyler (that liaison was the one who puked at the sperm whale parts)

·         Whip making a pass at Kathryn and she turns him down

·         A dog escaping from the back of a truck, almost getting killed by the squid, and the family thankfully finds him hiding under the truck

·         Dana and Christopher making out instead of making sandwiches like they said they would

·         Kathryn ends up getting the liaison after the other guy doesn’t have the stomach for the role

·         Whip getting good and drunk after Whip ends up in the hospital

·         Hadley and Raines make out near the dead baby squid

·         Hadley tries to touch the dead squid, but mama squid nearly kills her before deciding to take the baby away

·         Whip coming home to being drunk and kind of being an asshole to Kathryn

·         The locals (including Schuyler) trying to get Dalton to kill the squid and Dalton tells them no

·         Another makeout scene between Whip and Kathryn after Osborne and Herbert show the others the lure and poison laced harpoons

·         Actually seeing Osborne change what is in the harpoons with sedatives

·         Kathryn has to convince Whip to be on this hunt for the giant squid

·         Raines actually getting the message that Whip’s boat needs help while sleeping with Hadley

While some of that stuff could have been used, most of the stuff could be cut out and not hurt the overall story.

So let’s talk about what happened after this film/miniseries. William Peterson (who played Whip Dalton) would go on to be Gil Grissom in CSI and CSI will be bringing him back for CSI: Vegas (other than that, he is happily retired from screen and TV acting and does plays instead). Charles Martin Smith (who played Schuyler Graves) would go more into directing by directing films like Air Bud and the two Dolphin Tale movies. Murray Bartlet (who played Christopher Lane) experienced a career renaissance just recently by being Armond in The White Lotus and while he was in one episode of The Last Of Us, he made his one episode count as he was one of the two guys who feel in love with each other opposite of Nick Offerman in that emotional third episode.

 

Yep….That Episode
 
Robert Mammone (who played Ensign Raines) would end up being in Matrix Reloaded and Matrix Resurrections as AK. Now while most special effects and props are normally not mentioned on this site’s aftermath, we have to mention the squid from this movie/miniseries as it was featured on an episode of American Pickers.
 

The Pickers Bought The Squid For $500
 
Sadly, there are two people who have passed away since this movie/miniseries came out. Larry Drake (who played Lucas Coven) died in 2016 at the age of 67 from blood cancer. Marshall Napier (who played Commander Wallingford) passed away in 2022 at the age of 70 from brain cancer.

Now for my final thoughts on the film/miniseries. It is actually pretty good for a mid-90s monster movie and it really doesn’t matter if you watch the cut version like I did or the uncut 3 hour version like others (including Good Bad Flicks) did because it will be satisfying with either version. While there are some dated elements to the production, most of it still holds up and let’s be honest, William Peterson is probably going to nail whatever it is that he is in. Charles Martin Smith plays a good weaselly scumbag and Larry Drake does fine as the drunken, greedy sailor who thinks he is better than everyone, but easily egotistical enough to take a job that Whip passed on. The squid looks awesome so yeah, if you have this somewhere, you wont be disappointed in watching it.

Now for the next induction and…
 

Disappointing that you couldn’t do the three hour version.

 
Hey, I had to go with what I had. Not everything can be perfect.
 

Sure… Well, you won’t have to worry about that as I made sure all the films in this one are unedited. Enjoy dealing with a creep because the film you get to do next month is…