Big Octopus (2020) Frank Xiang's Chinese Monster Flick
4953DVD
original
Chinese title: DA ZHANGYU [Giant Octopus]
director: Xiang Huaxiang (as Frank Xiang)
starring: Mu Liu · Zhao Qian (as Candice Zhao) · Chong Seng Yong · Zhang
Haocheng
A group
of scavenger fishermen catch a strange octopus [see pic above, left].
The leader (played by Mu Liu) gives the creature to girlfriend/scientist
Candice to help mend a rough patch they're going through as a couple.
She discovers that - unlike other octopi - this one is exceptionally smart
and can communicate. But anyone who saw the 1961 British monster movie,
Gorgo, will anticipate what's going to happen next. That's
right... a really, really big one arrives to take back the baby.
This is the directorial
debut project for FX/computer technician Xiang Huaxiang (SNOW
MONSTER). He never allows the action to stop by introducing a
subplot [distantly related] about an underground abandoned laboratory
and bad guys who are desperate to ransack it. Of course, there's also
the fisherman and his girlfriend/scientist who inadvertently get mixed
up in the espionage caper when they attempt to get the baby octopus back
to Mom [or Dad?] before the entire coast is destroyed. Yes, something
is always happening
- car chases, monster action, gun play, even some cheesecake - there's
never a dull moment in this Chinese creature feature.
Please take note:
the English subtitles are the "need-to-know" variety (i.e.,
they tend to be spotty, conveying important plot-points without bogging
down the viewer with unnecessary details).
A Chinese
film in Mandarin language with English subtitles; widescreen format, uncut
86 minutes,
DVD encoded for ALL REGION NTSC WORLD FORMAT. Extras include selected
theatrical trailers.
