The Calamari Wrestler



A championship match between two Japanese wrestlers has just come to an end, and the belt is about to be handed over, when suddenly a giant squid takes the stage! The squid proceeds to take down the new champion, and claim the belt for himself. This single brazen act sends the squid skyrocketing to fame, he'll have to fight off the managers who don't want him fighting, the wrestler he defeated the first time, a giant octopus his own size, and a similarly giant mantis shrimp. Even as public opinion of him soars, can he beat the odds?

The film is entirely in live action, with rubber costumes for the monsters, cheesy monster film special effects, a romance plot intertwined, and two real-world championship wrestlers on the film's starring cast. The end result is hilariously bizarre comedy!


 * Character as Himself: Osamu Nishimura and Yoshiro Takayama are real-world Japanese wrestlers.
 * Combat Tentacles: When two of the main characters have plenty of them, and fight in the ring, what were you expecting?
 * Groupie Brigade: Calamari gets them, and how! Swarms of women rush him for autographs in restaurants and on the streets of the city.
 * Naughty Tentacles: Implied but not shown. This is a family film, after all.
 * People in Rubber Suits: Every non-human main character, of course.
 * Special Effects Failure: The rubber costumes for the squid and octopus fighters leave the actors' feet visible underneath. It's just part of the film's charm that we ignore this.
 * Vision Quest: The fighters' travel to Hunza could be considered this, though it's never shown. When they come back, they are "beyond human."
 * Virgin Power:

"Hmm. Needs more squid. Please add to this list."