- Directed by William McGann
- December 11, 1937
- Based on the 1925 play The Gorilla by Ralph Spence and the 1928 play Sh! The Octopus by Ralph Spence, Ralph Murphy, and Donald Gallaher
Two detectives in pursuit of the master criminal The Octopus find themselves inside a lighthouse full of suspicious characters including the very villain they are after.
Sh! The Octopus is a rarely scene 1937 horror comedy that’s heavy on the comedy and light on the horror. At about an hour it certainly doesn’t qualify for what modern audiences would think of as a movie but back then such a limited runtime was not unusual though not too common.
What it’s best known for these days is a rather impressive special effect for the time. That’s how I first heard of it. It’s a scene that occurs towards the end of the film where an elderly woman transforms into us hideous old hag. I think it’s just cool but it’s cool as it was accomplished by changing camera filters. The individual went on camera and performed the scene normally and when the transformation occurs they simply switched filters. It’s a simple thing that could not be accomplished on color film. But it looks amazing.
I even give kudos to the octopus prop they used. You get just tentacles and at points can see the wires. That though is part of the charm. This is just a cheesy bit of low brow entertainment back from the day.
This film was never edgy even in its time. Sh! The Octopus may have been funny to audiences of the day but you won’t get any belly laughs out of this. You will smile and maybe chuckle but there are no guffaws to be had. It is simple mindless entertainment.
On the title, I’m willing to bet that’s as close as they could get to “Shit! The Octopus” for the time. Maybe it’s because I grew up with parents of a different era, but I understood that’s what they were going for the moment I saw the film’s name.
The main issue I have with Sh! The Octopus is the ending. Not to ruin too much but it turns out the events of the story are all a dream for a passed out individual. It’s a dream that connects to nothing that’s going on in real life other than those present in the dream are present in reality though their real activities have little in common with their fictional activities.
It felt lazy and a total copout. I know this was a disposable comedy but to not have an actual conclusion to the narrative really irritates me. Wrap it up even if you must make the story all a dream. This is not the first nor will it be the last such film I will view with an ending like that and it ruins them all.
Sh! The Octopus is an okay movie that’s largely undone by the ending. It’s entertaining enough and creative enough that if you’re a fan of older style movies you will enjoy this but has no strength beyond that BECAUSE OF THE ENDING. To the best of my knowledge TCM occasionally shows this however it is free to view on YouTube.
Warren Watched A Movie 