Jerome Max is known for his work as the writer on Tentacles (1977), a film that embodies the essence of 1970s exploitation cinema. Set against the backdrop of a seaside town, the film explores the chaos unleashed by a monstrous creature lurking beneath the waves. Max's writing contributes to the film's blend of horror and camp, making it a staple for fans of cult and grindhouse films. His work in Tentacles highlights the era's fascination with the bizarre and the grotesque, solidifying its place in the annals of cult cinema.
Tentacles
Solana Beach, a seaside tourist resort, has come under attack by a giant octopus, which captures and devours human swimmers and boaters, picking the skeletons clean of flesh and bone marrow. Marine expert Will Gleason (Hopkins) and crusading newspaper reporter Ned Turner (Huston) suspect the construction of an underwater tunnel by the Trojan company, owned by Mr. Whitehead (Fonda). Trojan has been using radio signals that have been "above regulated levels", somehow maddening the octopus and causing it to attack human beings. In the end, the octopus is killed by Gleason's pair of killer whales. Several people disappear from and at the sea. Their bodies are found gnawed to the skeleton, even the marrow is missing. The scientists have no idea which animal could do such things. Dr. Turner begins to suspect that the company which builds a tunnel beneath the bay might have poisoned the environment and caused an octopus to mutate to giant dimensions.
