Ataque de los monstruos

Roger Corman's Attack of the Crab Monsters is just one of many cheapo monster movies from the 50s to blame nuclear fallout for messing up nature, and features lots of the elements one might quite rightly expect from the genre—a team of brave US scientists (including the obligatory pretty female doctor), wooden acting, unconvincing locations, and crummy effects. However, it also manages to present a few unique ideas that elevate it above many of the standard 'mutated monster on the loose' creature features of the era.

The critters that grow to massive proportions in this film are land crabs that have been exposed to radiation from A-bomb tests, but rather than simply being scaled-up versions of regular crustaceans, these guys possess an atomic structure consisting of liquid in a permanent form, making them extremely hard to destroy; they also have the ability to assimilate their victims, absorb their knowledge, and lure further victims to their death by talking to them telepathically. Pretty far-fetched I know, but very creepy, the crabs eerie, echoey, disembodied voices being surprisingly effective.

Of course, given the movie's low low budget, the monsters themselves are pretty rubbish—awkwardly moving lumps of papier-mâché with gangly legs dangling uncontrollably, coat-hanger antennae, and massive human-like eyes that look really daft—but I wouldn't have it any other way: a badly designed, poorly constructed monster is half the charm of a B-movie like this.

6.5 out of 10, rounded up to 7 for a couple of surprisingly nasty moments (a decapitated body and a severed hand—in black and white, but still pretty gruesome) and the somewhat unnecessary but enjoyable underwater swim by Pamela Duncan.

I've got to tell you right from the start; I'm not a fan of these giant monster films. I am, however, a big fan of Roger Corman - and even though this silly flick isn't anything near as good as films such as his 'Edgar Allen Poe series', The Attack of the Giant Crab Monsters is a worthwhile B-movie. The film is typically low budget and not very well made, and it's not hard to believe that Roger Corman churned out dozens of these films. As the title suggests, the film follows the idea of a bunch of giant crab monsters - and when Corman says 'Giant Crab Monsters', he really isn't kidding as these things are huge! Basically, we follow a bunch of scientists researching a nuclear bomb site. The plot is hardly original, but seeing the giant crabs is fun and the acting in this film is always going to raise a smile. Attack of the Crab Monsters does show some imagination with its monsters, however, as the crabs have the ability to take in their victims conscious. It's not the greatest idea in the history of bad B-movies, but it is strangely chilling and the film is better for it. I can't say that there's a lot here for people who aren't into B-movies, but those that are should check it out.

Whether Roger Corman likes it or not this is one of the movies he will always be remembered for. Radiation gets the blame again and spawns mutant crabs who can walk forward (something no real crab can do), talk, and absorb the brains of the people they eat. These ambitious soft shelled terrors want to conquer the world and digest the brains of several scientists to gain the know-how to do that. Believe me, a giant crab with a PHd. is a dangerous thing! Corman's usual stock company does very well here. Mel Welles and Leslie Bradley sport believeable accents, Richard Garland and Pamela Duncan (both of whom would be in THE UNDEAD the same year) are a fine couple, Russell Johnson is great and Beech Dickerson is the comedy relief. If we can believe Ed Nelson, he is the one who was under the giant crab and he also dimly recalled Jack Nicholson hanging around the location pestering Roger for something to do so maybe Jack was helping move the crab around too. Gore is non existant (it was 1957 for cryin' out loud!) except for a decapitation at the start of the film (interestingly (symbolically?) the victim is Charles Griffith who wrote the screenplay). Can I get serious for a moment now? Would someone get in touch with Roger and get him to round up the cast members who are still alive and release this on DVD with an audio commentary track? There IS a market for this movie out there and a 45th anniversary edition would, in my opinion, sell very well. Roger . . .er . . .Mr. Corman, if perchance you should read this, get in touch with me.

I don't know why I am haunted by the movie. I first was it in the late 50's and for some reason it captured me. it is not shown much if at all anymore on TV. I had all but given up ever seeing it again let alone owning a DVD. I looked at all the sites that offered it and finally found it on DVD on Overstock.com. OH JOY! OH JOY!

Of course, I ordered it and found it to be every bit as entertaining as I had remembered. Mel Welles deliciously over-acting as did most of the cast. What a treat!

You don't have to wait long for the Crabs to attack. They hit as soon as the characters land on the beach. They begin dropping like flies.

If you get the chance, watch this forgotten little flick. I think you'll like it.

Ah, Roger Corman, the purveyor of the finely tuned art of ten-dollar-to-shoot-and-distribute sci-fi movies. This, Attack of the Crab Monsters, is part of the minor boom in the B-movie world of the GIANT THING THAT WILL KILL YOU craze, where anything that could be done to capitalize on the threat of *the* bomb (remember, kids, by the way, duck and cover!) could be marketable for a short time, as long as not much real solid thought or questions were raised. Charles Griffith's script posits a group of scientists- off to seek out another expedition that went missing, on some small island out in the middle of A-Bomb-nowhere's-ville, and encounter a super-atomic species of land-crab that get possessed by those that they kill. They (or rather one at a time as Corman's budget had only enough for one crab at a time to shoot) project telepathically the 'souls' of those they kill, and can only be controlled by, gasp, electromagnetic fields!

So, once you get past the fact that there's not a shred of intellectual engagement here, that there's an opening title scrawl that comes out of a video game directing 'You' to be apart of the crab team and that the voice of the crabs are like the voice of God, and that the crab itself happens to have Asian eyes, it's fun crap. Crap, of course, not to be taken likely, as you and your friends can make a very fine MST3K right in your living room for no additional charge! On that level, it's classic stuff, and seeing one guy get his hand chopped off by a random rock, lots and lots of long takes of two of the scientists in deep-sea diving gear looking around for s***, is good for a gas. And the action is a real hoot, in that no-budget 50s tradition that combines miniatures that are really the production designer's toy-towns made by their kids and stock footage of LOTS of A-Bomb explosions, plus the crumbling field or two. Did I mention you can see the strings puppeting the crab? Will these directors never learn?