Queen Crab

If I had to guess, I would say this was a SyFy Original, but I don't know that for sure.

I love b-movies, but if you're going to make a b-movie, it has to be compelling to make up for everything else--the meh acting, poor special effects, and typically meh plot or story. These don't always show up in b-movies, but all are here.

This is not a terrible movie, it's just not a good one, nor a terribly compelling one. Unfortunately, it wanted me to take it seriously, which I think is part of my problem with it. Worse, the pacing feels slow. There were some moments of fun, but I felt like I had to wait too long for something interesting to happen.

Not enough gore for my tastes, no nudity, no babes in bikinis--these elements are not requirements, but audiences who watch these movies tend to expect these things. Michelle Simone Miller does briefly appear at the very end in a tank top and underwear, and we get a scene with Katherine Metz in a bikini. That's it for the babe factor, which is a shame, because Miller in particular is gorgeous.

Not the worst thing ever made, just not interesting.

1-3 Don't waste your time 4-6 Good 7-9 Great 10 Outstanding.

That's good because a garbage plate is a Rochester New York dish. It has a low budget, super cheesy, and good for what it is. I had no problem with this 1950's type of cheese fest. Other horror movie with the same budget takes themselves way to serious.

A small freshwater crustacean mutates into a giant monster crab and attacks a small town! This silly send-up of 1950s sci-fi knows exactly what it is and never takes itself too seriously. The acting and screenplay is amatuerish but everyone appears to be having fun. The mix of low-level CGI and Harryhausen-style stop motion effects works perfectly here. Look... this is not a big budget summer blockbuster like Jurrasic World or Kong Island. It's just a fun little sci-fi creature feature that was made by Brett Piper his crazy friends. Take it for what it is and you'll enjoy it.

The film poster should be sticked next to "trash" in the dictionary

Following a series of accidents, the sheriff of a small-town come to believe the stories about his niece raising a monstrous crab from her youth that was ingested with a growth hormone that made it huge which has now gotten loose and terrorizing the community, forcing him to deal with her creature to save the town.

This was a pretty solid and enjoyable throwback offering. Most of that fun is based on the old-school charm found throughout here in the special effects. Dripping with a wholly enjoyable dedication to the stop-motion effects work found for the main creature, both in the opening set up in the past that it shows it around the more traditional size or the full-size creature running wild on its rampage or acting gently with the girl who raised it that serves as s fun start to the action in the second half. This has a lot of screen time letting it get quite a lot of impressive elements to like here. There's also a lot to like with the fun reveal of the town they live in which sets things in motion. From the interactions at the barn showing off the citizens in the town to their different individual plotlines showing how they back together as friends to the various histories of everyone involved, this offers a fun way to get into things. That then allows for enough motivation and general information to be had that it remains quite interesting to dive into so that those action scenes feature some heartwarming moments as it interacts with the townspeople. These here are what makes for a fun time for the most part. There isn't much to dislike with this one. Taking the goofiness and low-budget indications into effect which may not be for everyone, the main aspect that feels off here is the supposed backstory involving her friendship with the actress who returns to town. They seem to be quite at odds and somewhat unrealistic to be that kind of friends, especially with her desire to protect the creature so their backstory makes no sense. The other issue here is the somewhat bland and pretty horror-less beginning to this one, as although we get an idea about the residents' nothing much really happens and it takes a while to start letting the crab loose. These are what hold the film back.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence and Graphic Language.