A mad scramble of haunted (light)house, mad scientist, monster movie, and buddy-cop story elements; usually I hate this type of ending, but in this case it might have been the only one that makes some sense. The film's stage origins are all-too-obvious, but there is an impressively well-done "transformation" scene. Hugh Herbert and Allen Jenkins, in rare leading roles, have some terrific moments together; still, you can sort of see why they connected more with the public in supporting parts. ** out of 4.
27 Reviews
A good cast, some great sequences and spiffy octopus are let down by a plot that goes nowhere. Still its worth a look if you take it for what it is.
dbborroughs2 March 2008
Warning: Spoilers
Two detectives find themselves on an island looking for a murderer and instead find that they are entangled with a super criminal called the Octopus and a real live giant octopus. Much confusion occurs.
Amusing but totally nonsensical "mystery" based upon a stage play of some sort (I would love to read it at some point). Clearly something was lost in translation since the story now transpires in a scant 54 minutes and makes as much sense as a Goon Show episode by Spike Milligan. Twist piles on twist and red herring follows red herring as great deal that is foreshadowed never happens or is changed to become something else.
I do like the film I just wish that it didn't have all the ear marks of a comedy mystery since there is plenty of comedy but ultimately no real mystery. There is tension aplenty and there are a few sequences that create a nice sense of suspense and perhaps even terror (the late game revelation of the master criminal creeped me out) but the film falls apart in the end as being much ado about nothing. Its a shame since the cast that includes veteran stalwarts like Allan Jenkins and Hugh Herbert are up to the material or would have been had there been some material.
Worth a look so long as you don't expect anything other than the craziness thats happening right in front of you.
Amusing but totally nonsensical "mystery" based upon a stage play of some sort (I would love to read it at some point). Clearly something was lost in translation since the story now transpires in a scant 54 minutes and makes as much sense as a Goon Show episode by Spike Milligan. Twist piles on twist and red herring follows red herring as great deal that is foreshadowed never happens or is changed to become something else.
I do like the film I just wish that it didn't have all the ear marks of a comedy mystery since there is plenty of comedy but ultimately no real mystery. There is tension aplenty and there are a few sequences that create a nice sense of suspense and perhaps even terror (the late game revelation of the master criminal creeped me out) but the film falls apart in the end as being much ado about nothing. Its a shame since the cast that includes veteran stalwarts like Allan Jenkins and Hugh Herbert are up to the material or would have been had there been some material.
Worth a look so long as you don't expect anything other than the craziness thats happening right in front of you.
Minor but memorable
dmayo-911-59743222 June 2016
Warning: Spoilers
Critics who deign to notice this movie at all have nothing good to say about it, and what they do say runs to far fewer words than you're about to read if you bear with me. Reviewing a thing like this is for people who can see a glass as half full even when it's nearly bone dry. I am such a one.
Consider that the stars are Hugh Herbert and Allen Jenkins. Jenkins was an iconic supporting player: the tough-sounding but easygoing, nasal-voiced, weary-eyed New York working man or minor crook. His spirit lives on in the type, even for those who have somehow missed his own performances. However, a movie in which he's a star is bound to be small beer.
The other star, Hugh Herbert, is a study in the fleeting nature of fame. Once he must have had quite a strong presence in moviegoers' minds, for his unidentified caricature appears in a Disney cartoon, "Mother Goose Goes Hollywood" (1938), along with those of the Marx Brothers, Charles Laughton, W. C. Fields, and other enduring stars (but also others like himself who have not endured). Today, it's unlikely that anything about him would ring a bell with most non-buffs. He seems to exist not only in the past, but in a parallel past of secret fame. One would like to think that this fate was visited on him as punishment for his tedious trademark: saying "woo-woo" at crucial junctures.
The opening scene of Sh! The Octopus finds Herbert and Jenkins in their star vehicle, a police car, driving along a lonely country road on a stormy night. So you see, the glass is going to appear half full if only you're in the mood. This is a burlesque of spooky-house mysteries. It goes beyond parody -- well, beneath it -- and revels in zany riffs.
The ultimate setting, which we reach after a few more minutes on the country road, is a deserted lighthouse with as many sliding panels as one finds in the better sort of ancestral mansion. The riffs are played not only on the hackneyed situations of the genre, but also on the stock characters who turn up in it. These include the vulnerable but determined young woman with a missing inventor stepfather who screams just like Fay Wray (the young woman, not the stepfather) and the suave young man who may or may not be deceiving her.
Then there's the not-so-young woman with something to hide, the straitlaced but comforting old nanny, the gentle old salt, and the jeering old salt for good measure. The usual bumbling, bickering police detectives are played by the stars.
The metropolitan police are beleaguered by a crime network called the Octopus. The lighthouse is beleaguered by a real octopus. The missing stepfather is presumably of interest to the first of these. When asked who he is, the young woman promptly replies, "He's the inventor of a radium ray so powerful that anyone who controls it controls the world."
Though it's a stormy night and the lighthouse is on an island three miles from shore, characters (including the nanny) keep arriving with no apparent difficulty. Such blithe staginess, along with the assembly of types, gives this little film the feeling of an extended revue skit. For most of its length, it's only a mind-clearing diversion. Then, when a certain performance shifts into high gear, it becomes a night to remember. To say more about that would be spoiling too much.
As silly as this film is, it leaves us with something of value: a renewed understanding of what it means to be a journeyman actor. Even though we think we're watching plays or films intelligently, a well-executed type can tempt us to believe that the actor hasn't much else to offer. There's usually nothing to pull us back from that temptation. When characters in an Agatha Christie mystery reveal hidden identities, the revelations come as nothing more than new information about the same people. But here, where no semblance of reality is required, the actors can drop their types and take on utterly different personalities. Several do so before the story ends, and one of these is granted the chance for a bravura turn. You may never get it out of your head, but that's all right. It will make your head a better, more freakish place.
The five-star rating I've given this movie does not mean I'm dissatisfied with it. I'd call that a high mark for a minor romp. As part of a double feature, it's worth half the price of a ticket.
Consider that the stars are Hugh Herbert and Allen Jenkins. Jenkins was an iconic supporting player: the tough-sounding but easygoing, nasal-voiced, weary-eyed New York working man or minor crook. His spirit lives on in the type, even for those who have somehow missed his own performances. However, a movie in which he's a star is bound to be small beer.
The other star, Hugh Herbert, is a study in the fleeting nature of fame. Once he must have had quite a strong presence in moviegoers' minds, for his unidentified caricature appears in a Disney cartoon, "Mother Goose Goes Hollywood" (1938), along with those of the Marx Brothers, Charles Laughton, W. C. Fields, and other enduring stars (but also others like himself who have not endured). Today, it's unlikely that anything about him would ring a bell with most non-buffs. He seems to exist not only in the past, but in a parallel past of secret fame. One would like to think that this fate was visited on him as punishment for his tedious trademark: saying "woo-woo" at crucial junctures.
The opening scene of Sh! The Octopus finds Herbert and Jenkins in their star vehicle, a police car, driving along a lonely country road on a stormy night. So you see, the glass is going to appear half full if only you're in the mood. This is a burlesque of spooky-house mysteries. It goes beyond parody -- well, beneath it -- and revels in zany riffs.
The ultimate setting, which we reach after a few more minutes on the country road, is a deserted lighthouse with as many sliding panels as one finds in the better sort of ancestral mansion. The riffs are played not only on the hackneyed situations of the genre, but also on the stock characters who turn up in it. These include the vulnerable but determined young woman with a missing inventor stepfather who screams just like Fay Wray (the young woman, not the stepfather) and the suave young man who may or may not be deceiving her.
Then there's the not-so-young woman with something to hide, the straitlaced but comforting old nanny, the gentle old salt, and the jeering old salt for good measure. The usual bumbling, bickering police detectives are played by the stars.
The metropolitan police are beleaguered by a crime network called the Octopus. The lighthouse is beleaguered by a real octopus. The missing stepfather is presumably of interest to the first of these. When asked who he is, the young woman promptly replies, "He's the inventor of a radium ray so powerful that anyone who controls it controls the world."
Though it's a stormy night and the lighthouse is on an island three miles from shore, characters (including the nanny) keep arriving with no apparent difficulty. Such blithe staginess, along with the assembly of types, gives this little film the feeling of an extended revue skit. For most of its length, it's only a mind-clearing diversion. Then, when a certain performance shifts into high gear, it becomes a night to remember. To say more about that would be spoiling too much.
As silly as this film is, it leaves us with something of value: a renewed understanding of what it means to be a journeyman actor. Even though we think we're watching plays or films intelligently, a well-executed type can tempt us to believe that the actor hasn't much else to offer. There's usually nothing to pull us back from that temptation. When characters in an Agatha Christie mystery reveal hidden identities, the revelations come as nothing more than new information about the same people. But here, where no semblance of reality is required, the actors can drop their types and take on utterly different personalities. Several do so before the story ends, and one of these is granted the chance for a bravura turn. You may never get it out of your head, but that's all right. It will make your head a better, more freakish place.
The five-star rating I've given this movie does not mean I'm dissatisfied with it. I'd call that a high mark for a minor romp. As part of a double feature, it's worth half the price of a ticket.
Suspend Disbelief and Enjoy It!
trishjayp19 June 2006
Warning: Spoilers
Though more than a bit stagebound, this film is silly and enjoyable.
Allen Jenkins and Hugh Herbert are an enjoyable team, and we get to see some nice scenery-chewing by George Rosener (the butler in 1932's "Doctor X") as Captain Hook.
As usual, someone among those gathered at the lighthouse is the master criminal known as The Octopus - but who? It really doesn't matter, because the epilogue takes the film to yet another level!
SPOILER ALERT: As far as the on-camera "unmasking" of the villain, here is how they did it: A very exaggerated makeup was painted on the performer's face (and a couple of teeth, too) using nothing but red makeup. This person was photographed with a red filter over the camera lens at the start of the scene, rendering the red painted makeup invisible to the camera's eye. As the "transformation" took place, the filter was slowly switched to a green one, and now the lines and shadows on the culprit's face suddenly appeared as a very dark tone. The very same technique was also used in 1932 for the earliest transformations of Frederic March in "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde". (This trick does not work in color films, though, only black and white.)
Anyway, sit back and enjoy the mystery. It gets a bit convoluted, but it's still fun and runs less than an hour. Just don't take it too seriously.
Allen Jenkins and Hugh Herbert are an enjoyable team, and we get to see some nice scenery-chewing by George Rosener (the butler in 1932's "Doctor X") as Captain Hook.
As usual, someone among those gathered at the lighthouse is the master criminal known as The Octopus - but who? It really doesn't matter, because the epilogue takes the film to yet another level!
SPOILER ALERT: As far as the on-camera "unmasking" of the villain, here is how they did it: A very exaggerated makeup was painted on the performer's face (and a couple of teeth, too) using nothing but red makeup. This person was photographed with a red filter over the camera lens at the start of the scene, rendering the red painted makeup invisible to the camera's eye. As the "transformation" took place, the filter was slowly switched to a green one, and now the lines and shadows on the culprit's face suddenly appeared as a very dark tone. The very same technique was also used in 1932 for the earliest transformations of Frederic March in "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde". (This trick does not work in color films, though, only black and white.)
Anyway, sit back and enjoy the mystery. It gets a bit convoluted, but it's still fun and runs less than an hour. Just don't take it too seriously.
Fun to see it again!
c-koch1925 April 2008
Saw this movie in 1928 when I was ten years old with my sister 13 and cousin 8. My cousin had nightmares and ever since then has been afraid of an octopus. Why I remember this film I don't know but I do remember it. Had the pleasure of seeing it again on TCM. While it is not a very good movie, in fact probably a very poor one, the memory of having seen it way back when it first was released, was a good one. I do remember that as a kid I liked Hugh Herbert very much and, myself, would often utter his famous sound "woo-woo" much to the consternation of those around me. Hugh Herbert was in many films in his long career, I wonder how many remember him. At the very least, both my cousin and I both do.
Doesn't make much sense, but ENJOY IT!
Norm-308 June 1999
This film is sort of a "nautical" version of the Ritz Bros. "the Gorilla". A criminal known as the "Octopus" is trying to get a secret device from an inventor stranded on an island (with a lighthouse), along with many suspicious characters. (One of whom is the "Octopus"!).
As in the "Gorilla", the plot of this film doesn't make much sense, but sit back & enjoy the thrills & jitters of the secret panels, clutching octopus tentacles (!) and spooky atmosphere! This film is for pure enjoyment; and not to be "analyzed"!
One interesting note: at the end of the film, one of the suspects turns into the "Octopus"& the effect is AMAZING! I pride myself on how they did special effects back then, but I can't figure this out, as the film does NOT "stop action" & change the person into the Octopus; it happens "live"!
Get out the popcorn & enjoy this great escapist film!
As in the "Gorilla", the plot of this film doesn't make much sense, but sit back & enjoy the thrills & jitters of the secret panels, clutching octopus tentacles (!) and spooky atmosphere! This film is for pure enjoyment; and not to be "analyzed"!
One interesting note: at the end of the film, one of the suspects turns into the "Octopus"& the effect is AMAZING! I pride myself on how they did special effects back then, but I can't figure this out, as the film does NOT "stop action" & change the person into the Octopus; it happens "live"!
Get out the popcorn & enjoy this great escapist film!
I'm a huge Hugh Herbert fan, but....
fibbermac18 January 2008
...this film is downright silly.
Being such a fan of Hugh Herbert, I went to great lengths to acquire a DVD of this film and I really wanted to like it, but outside of a few comical moments, I was let down by this film.
Hugh Herbert would eventually star in a series of Columbia 2-reel comedy shorts and this film plays much more like one of those Columbia 2-reelers than a feature put out by Warner Bros./First National.
It is odd that in such a slipshod production, the special effects are surprisingly well done. Like when they used the remarkable on-screen transition effect mentioned by other reviewers to expose the true identity of the "Octopus". This was only the 4th time I've seen this effect being used in a feature film. (The other three were: The 1935 film "Werewolf of London" where the effect is used on Henry Hull in the very initial portion of his first on-screen transformation into the werewolf, the 1931 version of "Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde" where Fredric March becomes Hyde for the first time, and the 1925 version of "Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ" where the transition effect is used to show a woman being miraculously healed of her leprosy.) Although, a quick review of the career of William McGann, who directed this film, shows that his one nomination for an Academy Award came, not for directing, but for Special Effects (Visual), for the 1946 film "A Stolen Life" starring Bette Davis. So maybe the use of that transition effect in this clunky little film isn't so strange after all. Judging from this film, McGann appears to have been much better at special effects than at directing.
Fans of Hugh Herbert or Allen Jenkins will probably find this film worthwhile. I suspect all others are in for a loooong 54 minutes.
Being such a fan of Hugh Herbert, I went to great lengths to acquire a DVD of this film and I really wanted to like it, but outside of a few comical moments, I was let down by this film.
Hugh Herbert would eventually star in a series of Columbia 2-reel comedy shorts and this film plays much more like one of those Columbia 2-reelers than a feature put out by Warner Bros./First National.
It is odd that in such a slipshod production, the special effects are surprisingly well done. Like when they used the remarkable on-screen transition effect mentioned by other reviewers to expose the true identity of the "Octopus". This was only the 4th time I've seen this effect being used in a feature film. (The other three were: The 1935 film "Werewolf of London" where the effect is used on Henry Hull in the very initial portion of his first on-screen transformation into the werewolf, the 1931 version of "Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde" where Fredric March becomes Hyde for the first time, and the 1925 version of "Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ" where the transition effect is used to show a woman being miraculously healed of her leprosy.) Although, a quick review of the career of William McGann, who directed this film, shows that his one nomination for an Academy Award came, not for directing, but for Special Effects (Visual), for the 1946 film "A Stolen Life" starring Bette Davis. So maybe the use of that transition effect in this clunky little film isn't so strange after all. Judging from this film, McGann appears to have been much better at special effects than at directing.
Fans of Hugh Herbert or Allen Jenkins will probably find this film worthwhile. I suspect all others are in for a loooong 54 minutes.
Quite simply one of the coolest B movies ever made
utgard143 February 2014
Delightfully irreverent variation on the old dark house comedy thriller. This one takes place in and below a lighthouse. The plot is so weird and things are explained then unexplained then explained again that I don't fault someone for thinking it makes no sense. But that's kind of the point. It's such a completely off-the-wall bizarre movie that I can't help but love it. It's totally ridiculous from start to finish. If you're too straight-laced for that, then you'll probably be filled with anger at this unassuming movie that's not even an hour that dared to waste your time. I've read a review or two like that and had to shake my head. What kind of sour puss do you have to be to not at least moderately enjoy, if not outright love, this movie? It's got nice sets, a fun cast, and some good special effects (especially for the time). Allen Jenkins is terrific. Yes, Hugh Herbert is an acquired taste. I get that. I admit I've been annoyed by him in other roles with all of his woo-hooing and fidgeting. But that's usually because he felt out of place in those movies. Here, his shtick is right at home. Just relax, don't take it more seriously than it was intended, and have some fun with it.
What a HORRIBLE little film--one of the worst of the 1930s
planktonrules29 March 2008
This is just a god-awful mess of a film--terrible in just about every way. I thoroughly hated this movie and wonder why it didn't merit inclusion in Harry Medved's book, "The 50 Worst Movies of All Time"--it was that bad. Other than MANIAC (1934), it might just be the worst film of the 1930s. I honestly enjoyed SEX MADNESS (1938) and REEFER MADNESS (1936) more than SH! THE OCTOPUS as they seemed like Shakespeare compared to this painfully unfunny and confusing film!
Hugh Herbert and Alan Jenkins star in this B-movie and prove conclusively why they were relegated to supporting roles in films--they were amazingly annoying and unfunny here. While Herbert and Jenkins are fine in small roles, the are just awful and grating--and actually make we miss the Ritz Brothers (who, up until now, I thought were the most unfunny comedy team in history). Nothing, I mean NOTHING, they do is funny in the least. Heck, Dick Nixon and Spiro Agnew were significantly more funny than these two idiots!!
As far as the plot goes, it's sort of like an old dark house film--but with even more clichés and making even less sense. I could try to describe the plot, but it just isn't worth it--since it's THAT confusing and unimportant. Throughout all the mayhem, giant fake octopus legs appear rather randomly--and in some cases (such as when Captain Hook is struggling with it), the strings are so obvious that even Ed Wood, Jr. would laugh at the ineptitude of the special effects.
Unfunny, grating, loud and stupid--I hated every minute of this film and would rather gargle with scorpions that see this wretched mess again. Unless you have a severe head injury or are a masochist, you can't possibly enjoy this film. Please, don't trust the other reviews--it really IS that bad a film! Don't say I didn't warn you!!
Hugh Herbert and Alan Jenkins star in this B-movie and prove conclusively why they were relegated to supporting roles in films--they were amazingly annoying and unfunny here. While Herbert and Jenkins are fine in small roles, the are just awful and grating--and actually make we miss the Ritz Brothers (who, up until now, I thought were the most unfunny comedy team in history). Nothing, I mean NOTHING, they do is funny in the least. Heck, Dick Nixon and Spiro Agnew were significantly more funny than these two idiots!!
As far as the plot goes, it's sort of like an old dark house film--but with even more clichés and making even less sense. I could try to describe the plot, but it just isn't worth it--since it's THAT confusing and unimportant. Throughout all the mayhem, giant fake octopus legs appear rather randomly--and in some cases (such as when Captain Hook is struggling with it), the strings are so obvious that even Ed Wood, Jr. would laugh at the ineptitude of the special effects.
Unfunny, grating, loud and stupid--I hated every minute of this film and would rather gargle with scorpions that see this wretched mess again. Unless you have a severe head injury or are a masochist, you can't possibly enjoy this film. Please, don't trust the other reviews--it really IS that bad a film! Don't say I didn't warn you!!
Enjoyable.
gmda15 December 2011
Entertaining comedy. While I was watching this, many of the lines were said in a way that reminded me of some other people. Martin and Lewis came to mind. Bing and Bob came to mind. But then it "HIT" me. They are really, Abbott and Costello. 3-4 years early. And the act works. I am thinking that by the time A&C came along, the formula had been perfected, or at least improved on, and that the time for this type of team comedy was ready to take off. Even down to the way lines are said, many that Hugh Herbert makes down in the basement of the lighthouse, when he is alone, is totally Lou Costello. I am wondering if A&C were just mimicking this style of comedy with their own spin. Great as they were. I enjoyed them very much, as well as the others I mentioned.
The movie, as a movie, is very enjoyable and moves along at a good pace. I had a good time, and that was the point, then as now.
The movie, as a movie, is very enjoyable and moves along at a good pace. I had a good time, and that was the point, then as now.
A Warner Brothers bomb
aberlour369 October 2006
How can you make a bad movie with Allan Jenkins and Hugh Herbert? We now know it's possible. The script is hopeless. The acting, aside from the two main characters, is terrible. The sets are cheap and at times seem ready to fall down. I'll bet that the film was made in less than a week.
This is the classic two comics in a haunted house. The result makes Monogram's Charlie Chan series look professional and expensive. I rather like "B" films, but this is a "C." I'll wager that the kids in the Saturday matinées laughed when the fake octopus tentacles come reaching out of the wall to grab people. But why go on? This is a stinker, mercifully unavailable in standard VHS or DVD format.
This is the classic two comics in a haunted house. The result makes Monogram's Charlie Chan series look professional and expensive. I rather like "B" films, but this is a "C." I'll wager that the kids in the Saturday matinées laughed when the fake octopus tentacles come reaching out of the wall to grab people. But why go on? This is a stinker, mercifully unavailable in standard VHS or DVD format.
Well, Hell-o, Occy!
ptb-826 March 2005
Astonishingly occasionally like THE WIZARD OF OZ , this is a haunted fun-house comedy, like a hair raising wander through a creaky old seaside fun pier with a lighthouse ghost/train ride. Hugh Herbert is his usual bumbling chatterbox self, and abrasive Allen Jenkins ( from Footlight Parade) is the wisecracking pal. There is a great haunted lighthouse, sea caves and all sort of fake but fun spookiness. There is a genuinely astonishing and very clever scary moment with 'The Octopus" but mostly bumbling and running about in and out of caves, fogs and boats. Hugh Herbert plays his style of comedy a lot like Ed Wynn who you might remember most famously in MARY POPPINS when they had tea on this floating table. SH! THE OCTOPUS has a wonderful atmosphere, and not unlike the Columbia serial of 1937 THE SECRET OF TREASURE ISLAND or the finale of the Republic serial SOS COASTGUARD. This is a good Warner Bros programmer and if you have seen 1929 version of THE CAT AND THE CANARY or THE BAT WHISPERS it fits into the 'old dark house' - in this case a lighthouse, theme of scary comedies popular in the early 30s. I love the title! Imagine putting that up in lights on the marquee.
B-comedy
SnoopyStyle23 July 2022
Police detectives Kelly (Hugh Herbert) and Dempsey (Allen Jenkins) arrive in a lighthouse during a storm after a blown tire. There are criminals and a giant octopus.
I don't know these two guys. They're not a comedy team and that's an issue here. This material seems to be written for one of those comedy teams. I don't find them that appealing or even that funny. They're both doing the clueless bumbling cop. I can see the attempt but I don't find any of it funny. One would expect more from a fake octopus.
I don't know these two guys. They're not a comedy team and that's an issue here. This material seems to be written for one of those comedy teams. I don't find them that appealing or even that funny. They're both doing the clueless bumbling cop. I can see the attempt but I don't find any of it funny. One would expect more from a fake octopus.
Fun "Haunted Lighthouse" mystery comedy with great non-CGI sFx
gortx19 June 2006
Warning: Spoilers
A couple of years ago, a 35MM print of this was resurrected for the Boston Science Fiction Film Festival and Marathon (bostonsci-fi.com). Not truly SF, but it was so rare the organizers couldn't resist the opportunity to show it.
It moves briskly along and the comedy is amusing enough to carry through the somewhat muddled 'mystery'. The ending, as others have noted, has that incredible pre-CGI morphing effect. Everybody who I talked to after the screening was truly impressed to see how well it was done 50+ years before CGI! In fact, its so seamless, I think it more effective than many a morph effect (for one thing, you feel that it truly IS happening before your eyes, not just some digital bits being manipulated by a computer).
I noticed that SH! was playing on TCM this weekend and made a point to DVR the ending of it to watch that effect again. And again. Many times. Slow motion. Frame by Frame. It's still pretty darn amazing!
SPECIAL EFFECTS SPOILER:
As noted, I agree that it is a variation on the Makeup Effect used in the classic 1932 Rouben Mamoulian version of DR.JEYKLL AND MR. HYDE. Basically, it's done with trick makeup combined with colored lenses and lighting. It's all done "live" on the set. That's why there's no 'seam' where you see an optical dissolve (like those used in the WOLFMAN or THE INVISIBLE MAN). It's possible, that some post-production tinkering was done, but doubtful.
It's still an astonishing illusion! The makeup is extremely well done, a wart seems to 'grow' on her nose, teeth get blackened and her whole complexion changes. The only 'give-away' I could detect was that the patterns on her dress get darker and harder to see when the light/filters are switched.
Thing is, that one effect is so amazing, that I had completely forgotten about the 'twist' ending...and oh, those freaky offspring!
It moves briskly along and the comedy is amusing enough to carry through the somewhat muddled 'mystery'. The ending, as others have noted, has that incredible pre-CGI morphing effect. Everybody who I talked to after the screening was truly impressed to see how well it was done 50+ years before CGI! In fact, its so seamless, I think it more effective than many a morph effect (for one thing, you feel that it truly IS happening before your eyes, not just some digital bits being manipulated by a computer).
I noticed that SH! was playing on TCM this weekend and made a point to DVR the ending of it to watch that effect again. And again. Many times. Slow motion. Frame by Frame. It's still pretty darn amazing!
SPECIAL EFFECTS SPOILER:
As noted, I agree that it is a variation on the Makeup Effect used in the classic 1932 Rouben Mamoulian version of DR.JEYKLL AND MR. HYDE. Basically, it's done with trick makeup combined with colored lenses and lighting. It's all done "live" on the set. That's why there's no 'seam' where you see an optical dissolve (like those used in the WOLFMAN or THE INVISIBLE MAN). It's possible, that some post-production tinkering was done, but doubtful.
It's still an astonishing illusion! The makeup is extremely well done, a wart seems to 'grow' on her nose, teeth get blackened and her whole complexion changes. The only 'give-away' I could detect was that the patterns on her dress get darker and harder to see when the light/filters are switched.
Thing is, that one effect is so amazing, that I had completely forgotten about the 'twist' ending...and oh, those freaky offspring!
Forget about a plot but enjoy the gags and the gasps.
mark.waltz19 November 2014
Warning: Spoilers
A spooky lighthouse is the setting for this enjoyable but mindless nonsense about two wacky detectives (Hugh Herbert and Allen Jenkins) on the search for a criminal mastermind known simply as the Octopus. Yes, there is a real octopus present (one of the silliest looking ever on-screen until Bela Lugosi went up against one in "Bride of the Monster"), and it never is made clear whether or not the octopus tentacles which keep appearing mysteriously are actually those of the one who gets Herbert in his grip or some man-made contraption. There's all sorts of wacky characters including a sinister looking man known as "hook" the sinister villain whose face changes upon their revelation. That sequence alone is frightening enough but funny and is straight out of the exit given to the Wicked Witch of the West in "The Wizard of Oz". Jenkins and Herbert together are pretty much Warner Brothers' version of the Two Stooges. George Rosener and Elspeth Dugeon are among those who stand out among the supporting cast. Still, with all the excitement in the film's short running time, the conclusion is a major let-down, making it seem like an extended short rather than a feature which obviously played on the bottom of a double bill.
A plotless, gagless comedy mystery?
SimonJack1 October 2022
"Sh! The Octopus" is supposed to be a comedy mystery. If there are gags in this film, they are terribly dated because I found nothing to even chuckle about. Even the big studios over the years would made a dull and bad movie once in a while. Every so often, one would be so dumb that it was actually funny and somewhat entertaining. But this isn't one of those.
This is essentially a plotless menagerie of people tossed together to create a little suspense, some attempted humorous horror, and laughs with a constant stream of gibberish by Hugh Herbert and yelling and shooting a pistol by Allen Jenkins. It's not too hard to understand why these comic actors had so very few films as leads. Their roles in supporting casts varied and some were quite good over the years. But these personas are not the endearing or long-enduring type to keep movie fans pleased very long.
I would like to say that most or all of the cast did well with what they had, but the plot and screenplay are so nebulous that I can't even say that. This is just a dumb flick that has one pining for it to end.
This is essentially a plotless menagerie of people tossed together to create a little suspense, some attempted humorous horror, and laughs with a constant stream of gibberish by Hugh Herbert and yelling and shooting a pistol by Allen Jenkins. It's not too hard to understand why these comic actors had so very few films as leads. Their roles in supporting casts varied and some were quite good over the years. But these personas are not the endearing or long-enduring type to keep movie fans pleased very long.
I would like to say that most or all of the cast did well with what they had, but the plot and screenplay are so nebulous that I can't even say that. This is just a dumb flick that has one pining for it to end.
An ending in search of a story.
jellopuke9 October 2022
Two numbskull detectives get caught in a lighthouse during a story while an octopus captures people and random events transpire. SPOILER ALERT, it's all a dream.
For a while I thought this was an actual comedy duo from the vaudeville days because the two cops played off each other like they had experience doing it. Only problem was they weren't funny and their dynamic was one dimensional. But as the nonsense plot added up I started to dislike the movie a lot. It was only the oddball ending that saved it. Also the implication that one cop slept with the other one's wife I suppose.
Not really much here worth seeing, but if it's on, whatever.
For a while I thought this was an actual comedy duo from the vaudeville days because the two cops played off each other like they had experience doing it. Only problem was they weren't funny and their dynamic was one dimensional. But as the nonsense plot added up I started to dislike the movie a lot. It was only the oddball ending that saved it. Also the implication that one cop slept with the other one's wife I suppose.
Not really much here worth seeing, but if it's on, whatever.
Sh - this is a very noisy film
AAdaSC17 August 2022
The film is set in a lighthouse where various characters congregate on a stormy night, including a comedy detective duo of Allen Jenkins (Dempsey) and Hugh Herbert (Kelly). These two characters are instrumental in ruining the film. They indulge in slapstick comedy incorporating pratfalls and the like and I'm sorry to say that the lack of entertainment doesn't stop there. Allen Jenkins, in particular, shouts all his lines and is just unpleasant - kind of like the obnoxious horrible one in Abbott & Costello, only not so street smart as he plays a dumb-ass. Herbert also plays a fool and litters his performance with his cries of "woo hoo". These two are so irritating! Herbert definitely reminded me of the fat one in Abbott & Costello. Add a loud screaming lady into the mix - I mean constantly screaming - and the film is just a discordant racket!
The film's story is different and I didn't mind it especially at the end where the film goes off the scale and provides a twist ending. Is everyone who they say they are? Absolutely not. And what about that genuinely scary transformation - straight out of a horror movie. It will stay with you. So, the film scores marks for this alone. And there is an octopus on the premises as well. I like to eat octopus but this one is not at all palatable.
The film's story is different and I didn't mind it especially at the end where the film goes off the scale and provides a twist ending. Is everyone who they say they are? Absolutely not. And what about that genuinely scary transformation - straight out of a horror movie. It will stay with you. So, the film scores marks for this alone. And there is an octopus on the premises as well. I like to eat octopus but this one is not at all palatable.
Ridiculous Fun
Maleejandra5 June 2009
Sh! The Octopus was recommended to me by a friend who bought a few lobby cards from the film. I wondered why he had such an interest in a movie that I had never heard of. He told me he was afraid to tell me too much because it might spoil the fun, but that I should definitely see if I had the chance.
My time arrived.
The story begins with a sea-faring man selling the deed to a lighthouse to a polished-looking gentleman in a suit. In comes Captain Hook (that's right- Captain Hook!), a crazy sailor who goes insane at the sound of a ticking clock. Cut to two cops, Kelly (Hugh Herbert) and Dempsey (Allen Jenkins), who are racing to the hospital on a rainy night because Kelly's wife is having a baby. But they get a flat tire, and in the midst of their struggle to fix it, a woman comes tearing through the woods at them, begging for help. She has just seen her step-father's dead body in the lighthouse! The plot is laughable, and thankfully the actors and the director seem to be in on how ridiculous the story is, because it is presented as a comedy. Therefore, we're allowed to laugh at how silly it is that the villain is a murderous octopus with tentacles that creep in through doorways. And it is okay to laugh at the exaggerated plights of the characters and their overzealous performances. And we're expected to giggle at the constant twists and turns that often make no sense.
So why do I rate this movie so highly? Simply for the amount of fun I had watching it! It is packed with hilarious bits, by two comics who are generally relegated to being the 2nd or 3rd banana. Now, they're the leads, and they pull it off quite nicely. Jenkins is a great blend of comic and straight-man. He's too stupid to be taken seriously, but he is tame compared to his partner. Herbert, who often rubs people the wrong way with his giddiness, contributes nicely to the show.
My time arrived.
The story begins with a sea-faring man selling the deed to a lighthouse to a polished-looking gentleman in a suit. In comes Captain Hook (that's right- Captain Hook!), a crazy sailor who goes insane at the sound of a ticking clock. Cut to two cops, Kelly (Hugh Herbert) and Dempsey (Allen Jenkins), who are racing to the hospital on a rainy night because Kelly's wife is having a baby. But they get a flat tire, and in the midst of their struggle to fix it, a woman comes tearing through the woods at them, begging for help. She has just seen her step-father's dead body in the lighthouse! The plot is laughable, and thankfully the actors and the director seem to be in on how ridiculous the story is, because it is presented as a comedy. Therefore, we're allowed to laugh at how silly it is that the villain is a murderous octopus with tentacles that creep in through doorways. And it is okay to laugh at the exaggerated plights of the characters and their overzealous performances. And we're expected to giggle at the constant twists and turns that often make no sense.
So why do I rate this movie so highly? Simply for the amount of fun I had watching it! It is packed with hilarious bits, by two comics who are generally relegated to being the 2nd or 3rd banana. Now, they're the leads, and they pull it off quite nicely. Jenkins is a great blend of comic and straight-man. He's too stupid to be taken seriously, but he is tame compared to his partner. Herbert, who often rubs people the wrong way with his giddiness, contributes nicely to the show.
A marvelous "B" from Warner's "B" unit!
JohnHowardReid28 August 2014
Warning: Spoilers
This amazingly surrealistic comedy spoofs just about every horror classic you can think of, and also throws in a good few nifty, original ideas as well. It's acted with superb timing by a great cast of farceurs led by Hugh Herbert, Allen Jenkins, and John Eldredge (who manages to keep a delightfully straight face in the midst of all the fantastic, surrealistic mayhem of this inspired, delightfully ridiculous take on all the trappings of the old dark house). Also in the cast: Australian actress Marcia Ralston (as Vesta Vernoff), Margaret Irving (as Polly Crane) and the long-time British stage actress turned Hollywood character walk-on, Elspeth Dudgeon, who has the best role here of her entire Hollywood career of mostly uncredited "old woman" walk-ons. Some may feel that the leads, Hugh Herbert and Allen Jenkins, are too idiotic and far too garrulously stupid, but I thought they were just right both as good comics and as contrasts to the more level-headed players. John Eldredge of course also acts as a stabilizing influence, but wow! People like George Rosener, Brandon Tynan and Eric Stanley have a field day here. Produced by Bryan Foy with superb photography by Arthur L. Todd and really great, highly ingenious sets by Max Parker, this is a marvelous movie in more ways than one. Available on a superb Warner Archive DVD.
You'll surely hate it...
AlsExGal7 November 2010
... if you don't' watch to the last scene, in which he inanity of everything that preceded it is clearly explained. Walk away with five minutes or more of the film to spare, and you'll most likely agree with the current low rating this film has.
It is true that almost from the first scene of what appears to be a comedy/thriller nothing makes sense, but please stick around and just go with it. I won't even begin to try to explain the plot, but be prepared for people that have first one identity and then are all revealed to be federal law enforcement agents of one type or another, a human criminal mastermind that is called "the octopus" whose actual identity is unknown that they all are seeking, and an actual octopus whose tentacles are repeatedly reaching out from the walls of the old abandoned lighthouse into which everyone is congregated in order to grab someone. Warner contract players Allen Jenkins and Hugh Herbert as two local cops are probably the best known actors here, and they provide the outright comedy to counterbalance the ham served up by the dramatic overacting of the rest of the cast. After you've seen the whole thing you'll have to marvel at how this film comes together. It's hard to overact in such a way that the audience gets that this is all tongue-in-cheek versus believing that you're simply giving a poor dramatic performance.
The final scene has what could almost be considered a precode moment, but it is quickly explained that what is being implied is not at all the case. I'm being intentionally vague here because I don't want to spoil it for you. If you like older cult comedy films, I believe you'll really like this one. Since Jack Warner generally didn't like to take chances, I don't know how he ever let this one slip by.
It is true that almost from the first scene of what appears to be a comedy/thriller nothing makes sense, but please stick around and just go with it. I won't even begin to try to explain the plot, but be prepared for people that have first one identity and then are all revealed to be federal law enforcement agents of one type or another, a human criminal mastermind that is called "the octopus" whose actual identity is unknown that they all are seeking, and an actual octopus whose tentacles are repeatedly reaching out from the walls of the old abandoned lighthouse into which everyone is congregated in order to grab someone. Warner contract players Allen Jenkins and Hugh Herbert as two local cops are probably the best known actors here, and they provide the outright comedy to counterbalance the ham served up by the dramatic overacting of the rest of the cast. After you've seen the whole thing you'll have to marvel at how this film comes together. It's hard to overact in such a way that the audience gets that this is all tongue-in-cheek versus believing that you're simply giving a poor dramatic performance.
The final scene has what could almost be considered a precode moment, but it is quickly explained that what is being implied is not at all the case. I'm being intentionally vague here because I don't want to spoil it for you. If you like older cult comedy films, I believe you'll really like this one. Since Jack Warner generally didn't like to take chances, I don't know how he ever let this one slip by.
A mass entertainer!
stellakrishna13 July 2021
Just have fun
Michael_Elliott11 March 2008
Sh! The Octopus (1937)
** (out of 4)
Another version of The Gorilla but this time the old dark house is replaced with a lighttower and the gorilla is replaced with an octopus. Veteran character actors Hugh Herbert and Allen Jenkins play wannabe detectives trapped inside a lighttower with several others who are being attacked by the octopus. This version pretty much stays in tact with other versions and the other remake, which followed two years later with The Ritz Brothers and Bela Lugosi. Herbert and Jenkins aren't nearly as obnoxious and they do manage to get some good laughs. The octopus looks very nice and the scene where the killer "transforms" is quite memorable. The film moves at a lightening pace yet for some reason, one I don't know, the 56-minute running time felt overly long. This certainly isn't a bad movie but it's not a good one either.
** (out of 4)
Another version of The Gorilla but this time the old dark house is replaced with a lighttower and the gorilla is replaced with an octopus. Veteran character actors Hugh Herbert and Allen Jenkins play wannabe detectives trapped inside a lighttower with several others who are being attacked by the octopus. This version pretty much stays in tact with other versions and the other remake, which followed two years later with The Ritz Brothers and Bela Lugosi. Herbert and Jenkins aren't nearly as obnoxious and they do manage to get some good laughs. The octopus looks very nice and the scene where the killer "transforms" is quite memorable. The film moves at a lightening pace yet for some reason, one I don't know, the 56-minute running time felt overly long. This certainly isn't a bad movie but it's not a good one either.
Saw movie as a child, want to see it again.
d-ort8 June 2006
I was a child of perhaps 5 or 6 in 1940-1941. I went to the movies for the first time with my parents and my older brother. I think it was at the Sanford Theater in Irvington, NJ. The movie we saw was "Sh. The Octopus". I have been searching for this movie for many years, to no avail(I thought the name was "Shush Goes the Octopus"), until I found it listed at TCM for playing in June 2006. I plan to view this movie again and this time I plan to remember it all. I think the only scene that I remember is a scene where a couch in a living room is opened ( the cushions are removed)and access is obtained to a lower level in the building. The next time I see it, I will verify my pubescent memories!
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