Paranormal POV

Monsters of the Deep: From Netflix’s Below to the Real Legend of the Kraken and Giant Cephalopods

If you haven’t dived into Netflix’s new supernatural thriller series Below yet, do yourself a favor and queue it up. Set in the rugged, wind-battered coastal town of Snook’s Arm, Newfoundland, the show follows a community on its absolute last legs—grappling with economic hardship, generational trauma, and a vanishing way of life.

Led by a gruff, weathered Josh Hartnett as local fisherman Calvin Penney, alongside Mackenzie Davis as a sharp marine biologist and Charlie Heaton bringing chaotic local energy, Below nails that atmospheric, salt-sprayed isolation. Three episodes in, you get everything you could possibly want: raw small-town drama, rowdy Irish pub parties echoing with sea shanties, and an ominous, colossal presence lurking deep down in the freezing bay.

Naturally, a monster in the bay makes you wonder: Where does cinematic fiction end and real-world maritime terror begin? Let’s take a deep-sea dive into the legendary history of the Kraken, giant squids, and the real cephalopods that taught humanity to fear the ocean’s dark floor.

The Kraken: Norse Terror of the Deep

Long before Hollywood dreamed up colossal entities terrorizing fishing villages, Scandinavian sailors were swapping terrifying stories of the Kraken.

First formally cataloged by Dano-Norwegian bishop Erik Pontoppidan in his 1753 Natural History of Norway, the Kraken was described not merely as a giant squid, but as a floating beast the size of a floating island—often mistaken by exhausted sailors for an uncharted landmass. According to ancient maritime lore, the Kraken possessed arms long enough to pull entire war-ships down into the abyss.

Worse still was its secondary weapon: when submerged, the beast would expel a massive torrent of dark, foul fluid that discolored the surrounding ocean and created a violent whirlpool. If a ship was lucky enough not to be dragged straight to the bottom, the vortex left in the Kraken’s wake would swallow them whole.

Giant Squids and Octopuses: When Myth Met Marine Biology

For centuries, science dismissed the Kraken as the drunken hyperbole of superstitious sailors suffering from scurvy and isolation. However, nature had a startling plot twist waiting in the dark.

  • The Architeuthis (Giant Squid): For generations, the only physical proof of giant squids came from mutilated tentacles washing up on beaches or found wedged in the stomachs of slaughtered sperm whales. It wasn’t until the 19th and 20th centuries that science caught up to folklore. Marine biologists eventually classified Architeuthis dux, a creature capable of growing up to 43 feet long with dinner-plate-sized eyes evolved to spot movement in the pitch-black midnight zone of the ocean.
  • The Colossal Squid (Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni): If the giant squid wasn’t enough, the Antarctic holds an even more aggressive cousin. Heavier than the giant squid, the colossal squid is armed with rotating, sharp-toothed hooks on its tentacles capable of inflicting devastating lacerations on anything—or anyone—that gets too close.
  • Octopuses and High Intelligence: While giant squids rule the open pelagic depths, the octopus brings an entirely different brand of psychological unease. Possessing decentralized nervous systems (where two-thirds of their neurons are in their arms), alien-like physiology, and the ability to squeeze through any gap larger than their beaks, octopuses have long fueled folklore about intelligent, shape-shifting entities lurking just beneath the surface.

From the North Atlantic to the Screen

Whether it’s an ancient Norse warning about sailing too far into uncharted fjords or modern prestige thrillers like Below capturing the grit of a dying Newfoundland seaside town, our obsession with what lives in the dark water remains undefeated. The ocean covers the vast majority of our planet, and deep down, we’ve always known we share it with things far bigger, older, and stranger than we are.

Have you started streaming Below yet? What’s your take on the beast in the bay? Drop your thoughts below and stay tuned to Paranormal POV for more deep dives into folklore and fiction!

Addendum: 10 Cinematic Masterpieces (and B-Movie Thrills) of the Deep

If Netflix’s Below has you hooked on maritime terror and colossal bay-dwelling beasts, here is a curated list of 10 essential movies featuring the Kraken, giant squids, colossal octopuses, and—for good measure—an alien water-based entity that redefines what lurks in the deep.

1. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954)

  • The Monster: A legendary, ferocious giant squid.
  • Key Talent: Kirk Douglas, James Mason, Peter Lorre; Directed by Richard Fleischer.
  • Producing House: Walt Disney Productions
  • Overview: The gold standard of cinematic sea-monster attacks. Captain Nemo’s iconic submarine, the Nautilus, is viciously ambushed during a torrential night storm by a massive giant squid that drags crew members into the abyss before a harpoon-wielding Kirk Douglas fights back.

2. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006)

  • The Monster: Davy Jones’ pet Kraken.
  • Key Talent: Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley, Bill Nighy; Directed by Gore Verbinski.
  • Producing House: Walt Disney Pictures / Jerry Bruckheimer Films
  • Overview: Modern cinema’s most terrifying realization of the classic Norse Kraken. Summoned with three heavy heartbeats, this multi-tentacled behemoth rises from the depths to violently splinter whole ships and drag entire crews down to locker purgatory.

3. It Came from Beneath the Sea (1955)

  • The Monster: A radioactive, six-tentacled giant octopus.
  • Key Talent: Kenneth Tobey, Faith Domergue, Donald Curtis; Directed by Robert Gordon.
  • Producing House: Columbia Pictures
  • Overview: A classic creature feature elevated by the legendary stop-motion animation wizardry of Ray Harryhausen. Awakened by hydrogen bomb tests, a starving giant octopus wreaks havoc on the Pacific coast and famously tears down the Golden Gate Bridge.

4. The Abyss (1989) — The Alien Water-Based Alternate

  • The Monster / Entity: The “Nmlki” (Non-Terrestrial Intelligent Lifeforms)—fluid, glowing, water-based alien entities living in the deepest ocean trench.
  • Key Talent: Ed Harris, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Michael Biehn; Directed by James Cameron.
  • Producing House: 20th Century Fox / Lightstorm Entertainment
  • Overview: While not a traditional squid or Kraken, The Abyss serves as the ultimate alternate example of deep-water terror shifting into awe. A search-and-recovery team trapped in a sunken nuclear sub encounter a breathtaking, highly intelligent liquid alien civilization lurking in the crushing blackness of the ocean floor.

5. Clash of the Titans (1981 / 2010 Remake)

  • The Monster: The Kraken (released by the gods).
  • Key Talent (1981): Laurence Olivier, Harry Hamlin; Directed by Desmond Davis. (2010): Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes; Directed by Louis Leterrier.
  • Producing House: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer / Warner Bros.
  • Overview: Both versions lean heavily into Greek myth mixed with Norse sea-monster aesthetics. In the 1981 original, Ray Humanities’ stop-motion Kraken remains iconic, while the 2010 blockbuster trades it for a towering, hyper-aggressive, amphibious titan of destruction.

6. The Meg 2: The Trench (2023) — Honorable Cephalopod Mention

  • The Monster: A colossal prehistoric Mega-Octopus (alongside Megalodons).
  • Key Talent: Jason Statham, Wu Jing; Directed by Ben Wheatley.
  • Producing House: Warner Bros. Pictures / Gravity Pictures
  • Overview: Pure, unadulterated popcorn chaos. Beyond the giant prehistoric sharks, the film features a terrifying, multi-ton prehistoric giant octopus that ambushes divers in the pitch-black ocean trenches.

7. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)

  • The Monster: The Watcher in the Water.
  • Key Talent: Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen; Directed by Peter Jackson.
  • Producing House: New Line Cinema
  • Overview: Right outside the dark doors of Moria, a multi-tentacled, squid-like ancient horror suddenly surges out of a stagnant lake, slamming the gates shut and dragging Frodo’s pony into the depths in a heart-pounding sequence.

8. Deep Rising (1998)

  • The Monster: Mutated, razor-toothed deep-sea tentacled monstrosities.
  • Key Talent: Treat Williams, Famke Janssen, Kevin J. O’Connor; Directed by Stephen Sommers.
  • Producing House: Hollywood Pictures / Cinergi Pictures
  • Overview: A high-octane B-movie classic. A luxury cruise ship in the middle of the South China Sea is boarded by hijackers, only to discover that ravenous, multi-jawed deep-sea cephalopod horrors have already slaughtered everyone on board.

9. Kraken: Tentacles of the Deep (2006)

  • The Monster: A genetic / mythical man-eating giant squid.
  • Key Talent: Mikael Davis, Shannon Day; Directed by Tibor Takács.
  • Producing House: Sci Fi Pictures / Active Entertainment
  • Overview: A quintessential creature-feature romp. Archaeologists hunting for a priceless Greek artifact deep in the ocean inadvertently awaken a ruthless, bloodthirsty Kraken that terrorizes a coastal research community.

10. Mega Shark Versus Giant Octopus (2009)

  • The Monster: A colossal, city-destroying giant octopus.
  • Key Talent: Debbie Gibson, Lorenzo Lamas; Directed by Ace Hannah.
  • Producing House: The Asylum
  • Overview: For when you want campy, low-budget brilliance. Trapped in glacial ice for millions of years, a massive ancient octopus and a megalodon break free, leading to an utterly ridiculous, globe-trotting turf war that destroys naval fleets and coastal skylines.