Monkeys vs. Octopuses: The 1936 fever dream you didn't know you needed

Is it worth your time?

If you enjoy cinematic oddities and pre-war experimentation, you will find this fascinating. If you need a coherent plot or, you know, realism, you should probably skip this. It is a tiny, weird fragment of film history.

I honestly don't know what I expected when I hit play. Monkeys fighting octopuses? It feels like something a bored animator cooked up after a very long, strange night. 🐒🐙

The effects are exactly what you’d expect from 1936. They’re clunky. The octopuses move like they’re made of wet rubber because, well, they probably are. The monkeys have this vacant, glassy-eyed look that is somehow more menacing than any modern CGI monster.

There is no dialogue. Just chaos. It reminds me a bit of the silent era absurdity found in The Slim Princess, but with way more sea creatures and a lot less plot.

One scene lingers on an octopus tentacle for way too long. It starts to feel like a dance. Or a threat. The editing is so jumpy that it feels like the reel might snap at any second.

Why watch it?

• It is incredibly short.
• The sheer audacity of the premise.
• It’s a perfect palate cleanser after watching something heavy like Narkose.

The whole thing feels like a fever dream. You catch yourself thinking, "Did they really film this?" Yes, they did. And thank god they did, because it’s infinitely more interesting than most polished studio garbage I see today.

It doesn't try to be a masterpiece. It just tries to be a war between monkeys and cephalopods. Sometimes, that is enough. I’m still not entirely sure who won, but does it really matter?

If you like weird, forgotten history, go find this. Just don't expect a satisfying ending. It just… stops. Like someone walked into the room and turned off the projector. 📽️