5.2 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Several people disappear from and at the sea. Their bodies are found gnawed to the skeleton, even the marrow is missing. The scientists have no idea which animal could do such things. Dr. Turner begins to suspect that the company which builds a tunnel beneath the bay might have poisoned the environment and caused an octopus to mutate to giant dimensions. Just at the same time a great sailing regatta with many children is started - among them Turner's nephew Tommy.
Starring: John Huston, Shelley Winters, Bo Hopkins, Henry Fonda, Delia BoccardoHorror | 100% |
Sci-Fi | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.36:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (locked)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 0.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Ovidio Assonitis' "Tentacles" (1977) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The only bonus features on the disc are vintage trailer and radio spot for the film from its American distributor. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".
It ain't a shark. This thing is bigger. Much, much bigger.
Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.36:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Tentacles arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.
The release is sourced from an older master that was supplied by MGM. The visuals are just a tad softer than they should be, but delineation, clarity, and depth remain very pleasing throughout the entire film. In fact, I was quite surprised to see how good the film looked on my system because it is pretty easy to tell that the master was prepared a while ago. Color balance and saturation are lovely, too. Is there still room for improvement? Some very minor adjustments could be made, but the difference will be fairly small. Density levels are very good. Image stability is excellent. So, ideally Tentacles could look better, and will look better if it is redone in 4K. However, even though its grain exposure could have been a tad more convincing, this master still provides a very nice organic presentation of the film. My score is 3.75/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).
There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.
Stelvio Cipriani's soundtrack is very active and there is a lot of footage with a pretty diverse range of nuanced dynamics. What about the action footage? It sounds good, too. However, a lot of the underwater footage incorporates different sound effects, so this is how most of the memorable contrasts are produced. The dialog is clear, stable, and very easy to follow.
Despite the impressive cast, I expected Tentacles to be a pretty dull and visually boring copycat of Jaws. I ended up enjoying every minute of it, and I knew I would as soon as I spotted Franco Diogene's name in its opening credits. Yes, Diogene has a very small part in Tentacles, but I am yet to see a genre film with him that I did not like. He had a special presence before the camera and was able to infuse even incredibly serious dramas, like Midnight Express, with exotic atmosphere I always found extremely attractive. There is more than enough of this exotic atmosphere in Tentacles and all kinds of legit out-of-left-field moments that are borderline brilliant, so as far as I am concerned this film is perfect to see in the wee hours of the night. Kino Lorber's Blu-ray release is sourced from an older but good organic master that was supplied by MGM. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. (If you have the time to do a double bill with a decisively more serious film that wasn't conceived as a copycat and features a much more vicious sea creature, pick up a copy of DeepStar Six).
Kino Cult #11
1977
Roger Corman's Cult Classics
1978
1957
1955
Roger Corman's Cult Classics
1980
1977
Slipcover in Original Pressing
1961
1980
1988
1981
Slipcover in Original Pressing
1977
1977
1955
1982
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1955
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2012