The Kraken are preparing to scare the pants off you this winter.
No, not Joey Daccord, Brandon Montour and friends. The Seattle Kraken only want to scare the rest of the NHL. Film producers in Norway and Russia, on the other hand, are Releasing The Kraken in a whole different way.
Above are screenshots from the trailer for Kraken, a Norwegian film creating buzz from Europe to South America.
“Johanne is a marine biologist who is doing research on a fish farm in a rural community located by the fjord,” is the plot summary on the Norwegian film’s website. “She encounters several strange occurrences, along with the brutal deaths of two local teenagers. At the bottom of Norway’s deepest fjord rests a mythical monster as large as a mountain, with a myriad of arms ready to crush and devour anything they can grab.”
Released just two weeks ago, the trailer already has 900,000 views – not counting yours.
“The Kraken has roots in 18th-century Norwegian folklore,” explains intrafish.com, “first described in writing by Danish bishop Erik Pontoppidan, who likened the beast to an island with arms and masts. In director Pal Oie’s new film, the mythological creature is brought back ‘home’ to western Norway.”
IMDB.com says, “The film releases in cinemas in Norway in October and has been picked up by Samuel Goldwyn for United States distribution,” most likely this winter.
From Kraken With Love (Actually, With Destruction)
Russian filmmakers, using the same one-word title, got to market first with their own take on the mythical sea creature.
“A Russian missile submarine disappears during a secret mission. Meanwhile, a research operation at the North Pole awakens the Kraken, a giant deep-water monster with an incredible ability to camouflage and an uncanny intelligence. As the search party narrows in on the missing submarine, they will encounter the legendary creature of the deep.”
One Russian film critic offered a mixed review: LOVED the Kraken creature, not so hot on the rest. “The monster itself does not fail,” writes Timur Aliyev at weekend.rambler.ru. “First, only its parts, hidden in the dark, but closer to the middle of Kraken’s story are shown in a larger way.” What’s more, the Kraken brings people of different cultures together. “In its own way, Kraken promotes the idea of solidarity of various forces in the face of common evil.” Awww.
The movie falls victim to the same flaw plaguing many Hollywood productions. “What the picture lacks is a clear story. How could small shells of scientists awaken a mythical creature sleeping for hundreds of years? If Kraken reacts to an electronic satellite sound stimulus, then why in former times the monster dragged ordinary wooden ships to the bottom? These and many other questions the film does not answer, offering viewers not to go into details, but to enjoy the attraction.”
According to IMDB.com, the film was released in Russia in April. Plans for North American distribution aren’t yet known, but the film’s trailer is below.
The two new starring roles for the Kraken add to an already impressive list of film credits. These include Clash of the Titans and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest. Most eagerly awaited in Seattle, of course, is the Kraken wowing audiences in a Stanley Cup highlight reel.