Attack of the Crab Monsters (1957)

"We are unquestionably on the brink of a great discovery.", 4 September 2007

A second research team is sent to explore a remote island and discover what happened to the first research team that disappeared without a trace. The second team finds an island that is slowly being destroyed from within. But when they begin hearing the voices of some of their colleagues from the first research team, it seems that something extraordinary is at work on the little island. What strange mutations have the nearby atomic bomb tests brought to the island? The answer comes soon enough when giant crabs are discovered that have a taste for human flesh.

For a movie made on a budget of about what I would spend on a ham sandwich at lunch, Attack of the Crab Monsters is actually quite good. It's not great by any stretch of the imagination, but it is entertaining enough. Roger Corman does a whole lot with what seems to be so very little. And the most amazing part is how surprisingly effective the special effects are. The giant crabs look like . . . well, they look like giant crabs. Compared with some of the other creatures in these low budget movies from the 50s like Corman's own It Conquered the World, this seems to have been no small feat. The plot is interesting and held my attention to the very end. It wasn't until the last moments of the movie that I had any idea how the creatures were going to be defeated. Finally, while Russell Johnson of Gilligan's Island fame is the only name in the cast I recognized, the acting is at least adequate. Other than a couple of lame accents, no one is particularly bad.

Overall, I think a 6/10 is about right.

6/10