Simply A Masterpiece

Absolutely Fantastic

If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

The acting in this movie is really good.

Released to TV in 2006, "Kraken: Tentacles of the Deep" chronicles the adventures of an expedition led by archaeologist Nicole (Victoria Pratt) to find a legendary Greek Opal, which turns out to be guarded by the very beast that murdered one of the team member's parents (Charlie O'Connell), a giant squid. As they come face to face with the creature they are forced to tangle with a ruthless treasure-hunting mobster (Jack Scalia), who will stop at nothing to steal the treasure.While the BC locations are great and the squid looks pretty good for low-budget CGI, the acting of the protagonists is too flat and the villain is overly cartoony. Fitness model Pratt comes off as a more buff Kate Hudson, but doesn't do much for me. Michal Yannai as Sally is equally blasé. The stunning Nicole McKay is on hand as the heavy's babe for all of 20 seconds. I realize a lot of work went into making this movie and it's worthwhile if you favor Pratt, O'Connell or sea monster flicks, but it's just overall too prosaic. The movie runs almost 90 minutes and was shot in Britannia Beach, Squamish & Vancouver, British Columbia. GRADE: C-

So here in Oregon we have our share of crappy weather Saturdays. I personally choose to enjoy a day of lame Sci-Fi (or SyFy, whatever) channel movies. Yes they're all B-movies, but some are just so bad they're GREAT!The Kraken: Tentacles of the Deep, however, is NOT one of those.This film puts the UN in unwatchable. The plot is so thin you couldn't cut it with a razor. The acting is atrocious! Especially Charlie O'Conner! My god is he bad! His acting in this film actually makes Victoria Pratt and Jack Scalia look like Oscar nominees! While we're on the subject, Mr. Scalia is supposed to be Greek. But his accent changes constantly from European, to Austrailian, to non-existent! The directing? I don't know if the director even showed up!My suggestion? Skip this one. It's boring, contrived, nonsense. Too much silly, predictable treasure hunting, not enough giant squid.

uneven,corny but watchable Canadian made "creature feature" movie that starts off promisingly, a'la "Jaws"but then goes into familiar,well trodden territory.Film's subplot that the giant squid is a guardian of the treasure that the film's protagonists seek is not convincing.The creature effects are just standard,no more than that and the look of the creature's tentacles make it look more like an octopus, than a squid.If anyone watching this was not aware it is a TV movie they would soon deduce this as it has fade in's for commercial breaks every now and again.The squid despite being termed a"monster" in fact,looks quite ordinary at times.Film is forgettable but watchable if rather contrived.

At one point, still very early in the film, the male lead character can be seen reading a copy of Jules Verne's legendary novel "20,000 Leagues Under The Sea" and even later in the film the book is mentioned several times more. This wasn't a coincidental choice, as the novel (and even more so the classic 50's film starring Kirk Douglas) largely introduced and immediately popularized the notorious Kraken-monster. The Kraken, these days primarily known as the thing that swallowed Johnny Depp in "Pirates of the Caribbean", is a gigantic type of squid that can reach a size of nearly 46 feet and reigns over the darkest depths of the sea. Normally the Kraken only lives in the Northern regions, like the cold seas of Norway and Iceland, but according to the script of this low-keyed and forgettable made-for-TV creature feature, the monster can easily also dwell American ocean stretches and it suddenly even got promoted to being the guardian of ancient Greek artifacts! For you see, the Kraken's territory in "Deadly Waters" encompasses Desolation Passage because that's where the valuable opal rests in a shipwreck, and the monster attacks everyone who sails in this passage, whether their intentions are bad (like multiple treasure hunters) or harmless (like Ray's parents). This may sound like a very interesting concept for a monstrous horror movie, but "Deadly Waters" is dreadfully boring and poorly made. I anticipated the giant squid monster to be entirely computer engineered, but it's even worse that anyone could fear, as it looks like a cute and big-eyed underwater puppy. The Kraken never looks menacing, not even when its tentacles embrace a medium-sized ship. The underwater cinematography is unclear and the monster's attacks are never properly shown, for obvious reasons. At best, we see people getting thrown into the water and pulled down to the depths. With a slight bit of luck, the water even colors a bit red. The acting performances are weak and the characters totally implausible. Nicole and Jenny hardly look like brilliant archaeologists in their tiny bikinis and Jack Scalia is probably the least convincing mafia lord ever. Why did I watch this junk, I do not know. They should make a law against the spreading of TV-movies in video stores, especially when they do not indicate anywhere it's a TV movie! Director Tibor Takács might consider a late career change, as he hasn't accomplished anything special since the late 80's, when he made "The Gate" and "I, Madman".