azathothpwiggins
After a team of scientists, investigating the effects of atomic bombs, disappears from a remote island outpost, a second team of scientists replaces them. Tragedy strikes almost immediately, and hideous death occurs. Undeterred, the research goes on. Oh no! A series of explosions rocks the island! Soon, the scientists and their Navy escorts begin to wonder just what force they're up against. They have no idea that doom by humongous, clicking claws awaits! ATTACK OF THE CRAB MONSTERS is Roger Corman's best rubber monster movie. The behemoth crustaceans are effectively menacing, in spite of being made entirely of cheeeze! The cast is adequate, including Russell Johnson (IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE, THIS ISLAND EARTH) and the lovely Pamela Duncan. Absolutely absurd in every way, yet loads of fun to watch!...
Tom Downing
Without a doubt one of the corniest, most illogical and unintentionally funniest of the 1950s "attack monster" movies. Some familiar faces claw their way across a remote island, playing a shell game against creatures who move slower than a glacier, but somehow manage to keep catching their prey. I guess the crabs can eat their cake AND have it too.Those intrepid scientists have great difficulty doing in those denizens of the deep, and were apparently unaware that the island rests on a major fault line, causing it to be shaken into the sea.But if you think there is nothing that can surprise you in this little gem, we haven't even mentioned the absorbed brains and talking inanimate objects!
Sam Dales
Attack of the Crab Monsters is the greatest movie ever made! It has everything! It has crabs! It has monsters! It has crab monsters! It even has monster crabs! It has claws! Claws for tearing! Claws for smashing! Claws for waving! Claws for spreading terror! The crabs are so big they are monstrous! They are huge! If you ever came across a crab in a dark alley you would not want it to be one of these crabs! They are so big they send scary crab-shadows all over everything! They are terrifying! I still can't sleep! The Professor from Gilligan's Island is in this and even he is afraid! He is a genius but still he is afraid! He is smart enough to know to run in terror from the Crab Monsters! They are horrifying!!!!
BA_Harrison
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.
