The Beast (1996)

Mysterious things happen at the coast of Graves Point: An empty boat lies at the shore, divers vanish. The sea biologist Dr. Talley thinks he knows the solution of the mystery: In the depth there is a gigantic squid.

Director:

Jeff Bleckner

Writers:

Peter Benchley (novel), J.B. White (teleplay)

Stars:

William Petersen, Karen Sillas, Charles Martin Smith

Nominated for 1 Primetime Emmy. Another 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
William Petersen	...	Whip Dalton
Karen Sillas	...	Lt. Kathryn Marcus
Charles Martin Smith	...	Schuyler Graves
Ronald Guttman	...	Dr. Herbert Talley
Missy Crider	...	Dana Dalton
Sterling Macer Jr.	...	Mike Newcombe
Denis Arndt	...	Osborne Manning
A.J. Johnson	...	Nell Newcombe (as Adrienne-Joi Johnson)
Larry Drake	...	Lucas Coven
Murray Bartlett	...	Christopher Lane
Laura Vazquez	...	Hadley
Robert Mammone	...	Ensign Raines
David Webb	...	Jameson
Marshall Napier	...	Commander Wallingford
Les Hill	...	Spike

Storyline

Fishing and jobs are becoming scarce in a small seaport community when tragedy strikes a young couple disappear into the sea and nothing is left but a large claw stuck in their raft. A marine expert identifies it as belonging to an extremely rare giant squid and the hunt is on.

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Plot Keywords:

sea | squid | boat | giant squid | giant invertebrate | 

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Genres:

Drama | Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some violence and terror

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 April 1996 (USA)

Also Known As:

Peter Benchley's The Beast

Filming Locations:

Patonga, New South Wales, Australia

Company Credits

Production Co:

Dan Wigutow Productions, MCA Television Entertainment (MTE), Michael R. Joyce Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

186 min 176 min (2 parts) 116 min (VHS) 83 min (cut) 186 min (uncut)

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Port Angeles, the town that Howard & Elizabeth Griffin (Chad Tyler & Angie Milliken) called from the "Occupational Hazard" is on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington, across the Juan de Fuca Strait from Victoria, the capital of British Columbia. A major fault line runs along the middle of the strait, with the result that the two cities are on different tectonic plates.

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Goofs

Whip throws a tape at Graves and tells him to watch his assistant's eyes as he dies during a squid attack. During the attack itself, the video cut out well before the assistant died.

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Quotes

Fisherman: Say squid.
Lucas Coven: Say dead.

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Connections

References The Terminator (1984)

User Reviews

An old school t.v. classic

This film first aired on television when I was in middle school. They advertised it heavily and it turned out to be a really great film. It is a well produced television movie that will give you the creeps at certain points. One underwater scene near the beginning of the second half of the film will really get you going. This is the uncut version I am talking about.

There are several cuts of the film that are out there that are very incomplete. The version I have is the one that originally aired on t.v. If you are into things like jaws and King Kong, then you will get a lot of enjoyment out of this film. Some of the characters may be a bit corny but they are played well by some familiar character actors. William Petersen is especially good in the lead role. You really buy the weight he brings to the character. He seems like a genuinely good guy.