MovieChat Forums > The Beast (1996) Discussion > Poor Dr. Talley

Poor Dr. Talley

posted 13 years ago by titanic-kid
7 replies | jump to latest

Anyone else feel sorry for poor Talley? In the book he was permitted to live but however the film makers saw fit to have him killed off in what was a terrible death by being dragged down the deck toward the snapping beak.
I strongly feel that the character of Talley was robbed of a chance of surviving. He is my favourite character in movie because i can relate to the science of the seas. I love marinebiology.
Is it just me or does Hollywood make an annoying habbit killing off doctors of science who know the creature? Is it a rule in filming or something?

[–] SkylarX 13 years ago

The rule is to get rid of the secondary characters. In most horror-type movies, the only ones left standing at the end are the main character and their love interest.

[–] titanic-kid 13 years ago

If i could have been able to make changes for the Beast, or any other film in this regard, i'd go the opposite way. It's a new direction and it would be something different and exciting.
Perhaps it would have been better if they followed the book and let Talley survive. He didn't deserve to die in that manner.

[–] MichaelM24 10 years ago

At the time, my dad and I joked that they probably killed him off to make up for Hooper living in "Jaws," since he originally died in the novel but lived in the film. I've never read the novel, but I was upset when he got killed right at the very end, almost like a last-minute "Let's shock the audience one more time" kind of kill.

[–] titanic-kid 10 years ago

Yeah it was rather a terrible thing to do to a character who was just a decent human being and a horrible way to go.
But your quite onto something as I was thinking the same thing as Hooper got killed in the novel of Jaws and he lived in the movie where as Talley survived in the novel of Beast but was killed off in the movie.

But yeah Hollywood has the annoying habit of killing off the guy who is a Doctor who knows all about the animal causing problems in the movie. Like its now a rule that they are killed off by their quarry.

Dr James Atherton - Arachnophobia - Killed by the spider
Dr Herbert Talley - The Beast - Killed of by the mother Giant Squid.

There are more but I can't think of them at the moment.

[–] titanic-kid 9 years ago

Upon a closer examination of the scene after the squid perches on the back of the Privateer you see Talley backing away from a swaying tentacle you can clearly see at one point he has seemingly made it from it's reach then it shows a close up of Talley being seized by the tentacle which proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that this was definitely a last minute direction. So poor Talley was given a very unfortunate and very terrifying death.

[–] titanic-kid 9 years ago

It's just something i'd change if a remake was going to happen.

[–] amitynow 8 years ago

Since when does being a nice guy and a scientist mean your off limits from being killed in a horror movie?? Movies would be awfully predictable if only the villainous jerks got killed in movies sometimes the nice guys gotta go too haha.