This is a made-for-TV movie that somewhat follows the same plot element of Jaws, but instead of featuring a gigantic Great White Shark, it features a gigantic squid. It takes place off the coast in a place called Graves Point, where divers vanish, and sea biologist Dr. Whip Talley (William Petersen) investigates.The special effects were pretty good and the suspense of the menacing tentacled creature keeps you on the edge of your seat at times. However, the pacing in the plot is a little slow and ***spoiler ahead, but doesn't give away ending*** the creature in my opinion does not appear enough and when it is, you could hardly see it ***spoiler ends***.There is also limited action and lots of all-talk. However, it is still pretty suspenseful and you could see it at least once for the fun of it.Grade C

Well intended but pretty boring – especially since it's nearly three hours long – monster movie about a small fisherman community named Grace Point that has a bit of a sea creature problem. It starts with the disappearance of a young couple out on a sailing trip and then it takes an awful long time (again, this movie is freaking three hours long!) before anything remotely significant happens. Thanks to the discovery of one miserable little claw, however, highly respected fisherman Whip Dalton can derive they're up against a 60ft tall squid. With his knowledge, this guy should have been the assistant of Steve Irwin. Maybe then he would still be alive today! Anyways, because of the so-called "trap-fishing" that became quite popular in Grace Point, there's hardly any fish left near the coastal town and the octopus' natural source of food is as good as extinct. This leaves the creature no choice but to go after the inhabitants of Grace Point instead. Naturally, and in good old-fashioned "Jaws" tradition, the arrival of the squid coincides with the annual town's festival and there are obviously a lot of people that want to make tons of money on the account of the exceptionally large sea monster. Of course, you can't really blame writer Peter Benchley for ripping off "Jaws", as he himself was also the creator of "Jaws". Since this is a three hour long movie (not sure if I emphasized that little detail already) there's also a whole lot of tedious, dreadful and irrelevant nonsense going on in this film. Multiple romantic sub plots, for example, involving the leading man's slow progress towards a first new relationship since the passing of his wife. Ironically enough, he eventually falls for a female coast guard member who isn't ready for a new lover in her life either. Whip Dalton's teenage daughter discovers the meaning of love for the first time in her life as well, and her story is actually hilarious if you're a cynical bastard who finds joy in the agony of others. Throughout the entire first half of the movie, this girl nags that she's stuck in a small fisherman town without cute boys, yet when she meets the oceanologist's young assistant and spends a few romantic days with him, he subsequently gets eaten by the squid. There, I just summarized altogether 60 minutes of running time for you. The second half of the film is dragging and dull, with overlong and unnecessary sequences and a sub plot that is directly stolen from "Orca – the Killer Whale" (another "Jaws" imitation) suggesting that the octopus is killing with a grudge. For you see, a couple of over-anxious hunters claimed they eliminated the monster, whereas they only killed a baby species. In the second half of the film, mommy returns with a vengeance. The make-up effects and squid models are quite good, especially the baby-squid corpse that floats around on the water surface throughout the entire second part. Decent acting performances and good casting decisions as well, with Charles Martin Smith ("The Untouchables") as the obnoxious bureaucrat mayor and Larry Drake ("Darkman", "Dr. Giggles", "Dark Night of the Scarecrow") as the sleazy, drunken and loud-mouthed troublemaker in town. "The Beast" certainly isn't a bad film, but I just wished I watched the short and simple version instead.

My Take: Enjoyable, made-for-TV monster movie.After watching "Jaws" and "The Beast", I could conclude that Peter Benchley should be proud when his novels translated well when filmed. I've heard many bad reviews about this movie, mainly because it was loosely based on Benchley's bestseller. But, hey, this is a movie. Not everything has to go by the book. Directors and screenwriters have to add a couple of twists from the novels. okay, a lot of twists, but this has been a case in many Hollywood movies, and some turn up to be very good, why can't this? The plot is quite like the plot for sci-fi monster movies, a hungry creature makes snacks out of unwary victims, and a good guy tries to stop it, while a money-hungry guy tries to capture it and put it on display. But still, that kind of plot is what makes this kind of films really good, and "The Beast" uses it effectively.The performances are fine. William L. Petersen (from "C.S.I." fame) is okay as a the hero Whip Dalton (the surname was Darling in the novel). Charles Martin Smith is fine as the profit-hungry town owner Schuyler Graves (the Liam St.John character from the novel). Creature effects were great and Don Davis' score is terrific.So I would still recommend it, although not as good as "Jaws" was, it is still a very effective B-style sci-fi sea-monster movie.TV movie rating: **** out of 5.

Yeah, it's Jaws on a budget, but just pop the corn, sit back, and have a little fun. I have sat through some atrocious horror movies (some of those in the 1950's and 60's are just awful), but this one is quite good for it's genre. Go ahead and root for the calamari, if you must! But she is protecting herself and her child as any mother would do in the same situation. The scenery is gorgeous, too--all shot in Australia, I think. I am not big on his love interest...she is a bit bland, but I do like Dana, his character's daughter. She was very believable and quite sweet. (Has she been in anything else?) Whip Dalton is my kind of guy: earthy, but charming...besides, anything with Billy Petersen in it is worth watching.