This unconventional monster movie reverses the usual scenario, in which invasive creatures pester mankind on our home turf. Instead, Michael D. Weiss's screenplay sinks a boatload of humans to a hostile ocean floor, and gives the standard issue sci-fi tale an anti-terrorist twist. More baffling than the Bermuda Triangle, the "Devil's Eye" is the site of 27 ship disappearances, and number 28 is on its way. Could the vanishing spree be the handiwork of an oversized octopus, mutated by the toxic waste dumped by a Russian ship in 1962? Rookie embassy attache Roy (Jay Harrington) accepts the task of escorting political prisoner Casper (Ravil Isvanov) aboard the USS Roosevelt, a scientific submarine headed for America, unaware that Casper's supporters are plotting his escape. But Casper's cronies don't factor in the fact that the escape route passes through the octopus's lair, and when they hijack a nearby cruise ship in preparation for extricating him from the sub, the octopus gets peckish for canned humans. Improbable though this hybrid of political thriller and monster mania may be, it's never dull. Although the origins of the killer octopus are absurd, the monster itself is creepy. Even slimier than the rapacious octopus is Casper, who kills just as frequently but seems to enjoy it more. As expected, human relationships take a back seat to the big beast in the center ring, but that octopus sure knows how to put on a show. --Robert Pardi
