It Came from Beneath the Sea (1955)

Haven't watched this in years, but it was always one I liked.  Probably because it was one I saw as a kid, and in one of the best memories.  We were away on a family vacation and in the mountains with a small b/w tv with reception of exactly one channel.  Thank Poseidon it was Channel 4, the very station that was airing this fine movie.  I set the alarm to go off about ten minutes before the movie started, since you had to let the set warm up before you could see your show.

It follows the even by then standard plot of mysterious disappearances of ships and people seeing monsters, followed by the slow realization of our heroes that something is terribly amiss.  Then the monster will rampage, the military is useless or can barely contain it, leaving the scientists to save the day.  It's very cliched, but also works well enough for this movie.

This is one muscular octopus.  I like how when questioned she doesn't know if there are more of them in the bottom of the ocean, which would seem likely since they use reports from 1000 AD to substantiate their claims of it being real.  Which surprisingly work with the press, though they are expected to act responsibly. 

Too bad the people don't listen to them and get out of the city, or at least away from the Embarcadero when the krake attacks.  Yes, krake is singular for kraken from back in the day, but it is acceptable to use kraken as both singular and plural.  Too bad the movie didn't call the octopus that, since it deserves the title.

This is a very good movie, one of Ray's best, actually.  The heroes have to risk their lives to dispatch the beast.  And I feel sorry for it, since it was just hungry, it wasn't malicious or anything.  It's still the best movie about a giant octopus ever made.