What was the monster in Deep Rising supposed to be?

Question

If it is nothing more than "generic monster cooked up for bad B movie", I can settle for that. Please provide an explanation of how it can only be such.

If there is more to it (and the characters do hint at it in a few places in the movie) please explain it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_Rising

Wikipedia says that the thing is a member of a genus of sea worms, but this thing has eyes, a beak, and tentacles which, apparently, have mouths at the end. I do not think this counts as a general reference, since it clearly cannot be correct.

And don't even get me started about the island at the end.

No good images are available of the boss creature, but here is the best I could find (second image down). The head with the eyes is roughly the size of a small apartment.

Izkata also found these pictures of the smaller ones.

Answer 1

The creature in Deep Rising is a giant mutant octopus. If you watch the scene in the gallery, Treat Williams actually tells a story about putting a fish in a jar then closing the lid, giving it to an octopus which was able to open the jar and climb in and consume the fish. To which Famke Janssen replies "we're the fish".

Answer 2

Borrowed from Yahoo Answers (3 years ago - looks like it's since been removed from Wikipedia):

Courtesy of Wikipedia:
It is revealed that the ship has become infested by creatures that resemble giant worms, which swallow and digest their prey alive. Canton speculates that they are members of the Ottoia family of deep-sea worms which have evolved to immense size in the extreme depths of oceanic trenches.

However, the summary goes on to say this:
Finnegan and Trillian discover that the creatures are actually the tentacles of a much larger octopus-like sea monster.

When I checked up on Ottoia, I found this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottoia
So, it looks as if they based their monster on the prehistoric creature. I've always been curious about the Ottoia, but I never stopped to look it up before. So, we're left to wonder if this is a separate sea creature or a really enormous example of the other animal mentioned.

Aaand courtesy of Wikipedia, this is a reconstruction of an Ottoia in its burrow:

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Additionally, eHow suggests it was at least partially based off of H.P. Lovecraft's mythos.

Answer 3

There seem to be at least two creatures; Joey is chased off the boat at the same time Finnigan is fighting the big one in the banquet hall. Also of note is that the tentacle that eats Hanover seems to taper down toward the rear as if it were a worm. My best speculation is that the large adults spawn by parthenogenesis, growing smaller clones as tentacles until they are big enough to break free and move about on their own like the one that got Hanover.

Answer 4

I'm curious as well, but I found one possible source for the creatures design.

http://25.media.tumblr.com/a4802aa4b0ebd24181c55cae08ca06bc/tumblr_mm5ktw21EM1qdlh1io1_400.gif

Answer 5

Vampire squid is what it's called, it looks actually like that creature in Deep Rising, except mutated.