An enormous, man-eating cephalopod stakes a claim in the Hudson River. So it's up to a can-do NYPD diver named Nick Hartfield (Michael Reilly Burke, "Ted Bundy") to save the day, with the assistance of a pretty employee (Meredith Morton, "According to Spencer") in the mayors' office.
For what it is, a direct-to-DVD genre sequel like "Octopus 2: River of Fear" yields adequate entertainment - provided the viewer isn't very demanding. Commendably, the people on screen take the material seriously, never ever winking at the camera. The script, by Michael D. Weiss, is awash in cliches (such as stubborn dummies in positions of authority), however, making this VERY routine overall. For what it's worth, not ALL of the dialogue was cringe-worthy.
The music, by Bill Wandel, is good, and the direction (by Yossi Wein) at least somewhat competent. The special effects are variable: sometimes the filmmakers do employ some actual practical FX, and sometimes they employ the expectedly cartoonish CGI. The octopus itself manages to come off as a reasonably menacing antagonist. Granted, Wein and company do fall back on archive footage a lot.
The climax (highly reminiscent of the 1996 Hollywood thriller "Daylight") is patently ridiculous, and comes complete with a cute little dog guaranteed to manipulate viewers such as yours truly. But it's reasonably exciting, just the same, albeit fairly protracted.
Most laughable of all is the "real" ending, which makes use of one of the most overused cliches in this sort of entertainment.
Partially filmed in Bulgaria!
Five out of 10.
For what it is, a direct-to-DVD genre sequel like "Octopus 2: River of Fear" yields adequate entertainment - provided the viewer isn't very demanding. Commendably, the people on screen take the material seriously, never ever winking at the camera. The script, by Michael D. Weiss, is awash in cliches (such as stubborn dummies in positions of authority), however, making this VERY routine overall. For what it's worth, not ALL of the dialogue was cringe-worthy.
The music, by Bill Wandel, is good, and the direction (by Yossi Wein) at least somewhat competent. The special effects are variable: sometimes the filmmakers do employ some actual practical FX, and sometimes they employ the expectedly cartoonish CGI. The octopus itself manages to come off as a reasonably menacing antagonist. Granted, Wein and company do fall back on archive footage a lot.
The climax (highly reminiscent of the 1996 Hollywood thriller "Daylight") is patently ridiculous, and comes complete with a cute little dog guaranteed to manipulate viewers such as yours truly. But it's reasonably exciting, just the same, albeit fairly protracted.
Most laughable of all is the "real" ending, which makes use of one of the most overused cliches in this sort of entertainment.
Partially filmed in Bulgaria!
Five out of 10.