Octaman is a 1971 Mexican-American science-fiction monster film written and directed by Harry Essex, with the costume design by future Academy Award winner Rick Baker.

A scientific expedition to a remote Mexican fishing community, led by Dr. Rick Torres and Susan Lowry, discovers unhealthy amounts of radiation in the local waters.

Reception from the scientific establishment is lukewarm, so Torres makes a deal with Johnny Caruso, a circus owner who is interested in the bizarre mutation as a carny act.

The next day, the scientists find another small mutant octopus, and Octaman has gone to the camp and killed a crew member and escaped.

When it reappears at the RV and captures Lowry, they blind it with their flashlights to stop it in its tracks, then light a ring of gasoline around it.

[1] Fred Beldin from AllMovie gave the film a negative review, writing, "Though the silly rubber suit affords the viewer a fair amount of yuks, Octaman is a cheap, sluggish vehicle that gets tiresome long before the monster finally gives up and dies, and bad day-for-night shooting renders many sequences murky and hard to decipher.

[3] Dread Central wrote, "Octaman I recommend strictly for fans of old school monster movies and cult cinema, as well as bad movie aficionados, and even then there’s a part of me that suggests you be prepared to fast forward when things get bogged down with dry, talky dialogue and a needlessly long cave searching scene that only results in the characters ending up pretty much back where they started.