YMMV / Peter Benchley's Creature

• Complete Monster: Dr. Ernst Kruger was a rival of Dr. Josef Mengele who sought to create a race of human-shark hybrids for the Nazis. Experimenting on concentration camp victims with ghastly surgery, psychological torture, and further methods, Kruger killed countless innocents in pursuit of his obsession. Taking a doctor from the camps, Jacob Franks, Kruger forced him to participate after painfully mutilating and experimenting on him as well before they discovered a suitable SS officer who was turned into a living shark hybrid via unspeakably painful procedures. Kruger intended to unleash a full armada upon the allies that would tear apart anything in their path, viewing his own genius as the future.
• Player Punch: Amanda's adorable sea lions are gorged upon by the beast for no other reason than to shock the audience. This is more poignant in the movie version where there is only one; in the novel, a few survived.
• Squick: The monster throws up green stuff as it adapts to land. One of the few scenes kept from the novel to the movie.
• Toy Ship: Elisabeth and Max.
• Visual Effects of Awesome: The shark-man from the movie version was a Stan Winston creation, so obviously it's extremely well made and realistic looking. Arguably, the best part of the movie.