The Beast (1996 film)

The Beast is a 1996 television movie starring William Petersen, Karen Sillas and Charles Martin Smith. Aired in two parts as a miniseries, the movie is based on the 1991 novel Beast by Jaws author Peter Benchley. The film is about a giant squid that attacks and kills several people when its food supply becomes scarce and its offspring is killed.

The film begins when a couple disappear while having a romantic night out on a yacht near the Pacific Northwest resort community, Graves Point. The next day, local fisherman Whip Dalton William Petersen finds the empty lifeboat from the missing yacht and finds a large claw stuck into the boat. Whip sends the claw to a university to be analyzed and it ends up in the hands of marine biologist Dr. Herbert Talley Ronald Guttman, who comes to Graves Point claiming it is from the tentacle of a Giant squid. The island harbor master Schuyler Graves Charles Martin Smith tries to hire Whip to kill the squid, but he refuses, so Graves sends out Lucas Coven Larry Drake instead. Coven succeeds in slaying the squid and the carcass is promptly sold by Graves to Sea Land Texas owner Osborne Manning Denis Arndt then unknown to the fishermen the sonar that isnt being watched detects another squid. It turns out the squid is much bigger than the one they killed and instead of following the boat or attacking, it resubmerges.When Whip and Talley arent allowed to see the squid to examine it, Dr. Talley organizes a submersible expedition to explore the squids habitat. After analyzing the carcass of the dead squid, the scientists determine it is just a baby. The information comes too late, however, and the huge adult squid attacks the submersible and everyone on board is killed. Whip angrily blames Graves for the submersible incident because Graves wouldnt allow them to see the squids carcass. That way they would have known it was the wrong one and Jamison, the innocent helpful assistant Graves sent, would not have been killed on board the sub with the others. Dana, Whips daughter, discovers her scientist boyfriend Christopher was also killed on board the sub and is devastated. Graves then blackmails Lucas to go back out to the sea and hunt the real squid or hell shut Lucas down for illegal trap fishing. Lucas agrees to go. ........

Source: Wikipedia