SH! THE OCTOPUS was finally released to DVD through the WARNER ARCHIVES website which is one of the best things to happen to film buffs in a long time-- features that might not ever be pressed to DVD are released on demand, so that there is no upfront investment from the studio for these rare titles.
SH! THE OCTOPUS is a legendary film in the realms of Horror/Comedies-- starting off in an old abandoned lighthouse where a body is found tied to the high ceiling dripping blood down onto the guests as they arrive.
Pretty ghoulish stuff for 1937.
The film stars Hugh Herbert who gets top billing over Allen Jenkins and the rest of the cast. Herbert was a pretty big radio star at the time and all but the most die-hard film buffs will have no clue who he is. If you're a fan of Looney Toons he was often one of those parodied caricatures of celebrities who made you go "WHO?"-- Herbert was the Mickey Dolenz, the Jim Carry, the Jack Black or now unfortunately the Seth Rogan of his day-- a comedian who had pretty much one schtick and wore it out until audiences couldn't stand to look at him anymore. His was to go "woo hoo" about forty times during the course of the film and Allen Jenkins is familiar as a supporting player from a lot of Warner Bros films as well as the voice of Officer Dribble on the 60s cartoon TOP CAT.
The movie is fairly short and fast paced, Herbert and Jenkins play two unfunny inept police detectives trying to figure out the murder which features a villain who seems to be a real octopus.
Despite the leads, it's an entertaining film and something of a trip-- worth checking out.
Available for sale at the Warner Archives linked above, or for rental through CLASSICFLIX
