Attack of the Crab Monsters

Poster tagline: FROM THE DEPTHS OF THE SEA... A TIDAL WAVE OF TERROR!!! In the 1950s, Corman made films like in an assembly line and this is one of his best. The very low budget didn't allow for any visual feasts and the actors spend the whole film shuffling between one beach, a house and a cave, and most of it was probably eaten up by the giant crab puppet – Corman didn't worry too much about the the control cables are beautifully visible (and one the extras pulling them in background is a then unknown Jack Nicholson). Then there’s the quite hilarious underwater shots, which look monotonous and unnecessary given the plot, but as a visual boost, well, why not. The script, which doesn't hesitate to have the crabs communicate telepathically with an isolated group of scientists on a deserted island, is of course terrible bullshit, but especially in the second half the shots of the crabs are not spared, there’s always something going on, so there’s no danger of boredom; and the bitten off head and the hand torn off by a boulder fall are an extra bonus. This film today is still included often in monster marathons of TV stations overseas. (2013.02.15)

Contrary to most people, I’m not going to denigrate the appearance of the crab monsters, because they still look decent to me compared to other similar movies of the same period. The stumbling block, however, is to be found in the storyline. Not that we would expect anything extraordinary, but even in 1957, those talking crabs that can imitate voices and cause earthquakes couldn’t have been taken seriously even by the most enthusiastic viewers (and don’t get me started on dialogues!) Roger Corman later produced equally naive, yet far more entertaining pieces. (2018.05.31)