Attack of the Crab Monsters

[Gary Wilson]

In my opinion, this is one of the greatest cult classic flicks made. It is so ridiculous that it is entertaining. It is interesting to see Russell Johnson in the process of being typecast as a scientist (see "This Island Earth" and of course "Gilligan's Island"). It is also fun to see the feet underneath the crab monsters. Definitely much better than Cormon's overrated "The Undead' (BORING!). Without a doubt his best movie from the 50's.

[peter johnson]

I agree with the other comment here.  Well, maybe not "the greatest", but damn good.  I especially dug the personality assumption by the crabs everytime they ate someone.  Parts of this threat by the psychic alien presence reminded me of an actually very good film, Five Million Years to Earth.  Indeed, one could imagine Professor Quatermass in a similar fix.  Yep, ol' Roger Corman has more than justified his existence on Earth via panders to our purient interests such as these.  Also, really cool giant rubber crab claws!!  See the film--don't YOU want a set of these giant rubber claws?

[Ken]

I saw this great (bad) film at the theatres as a pre-teen.  ...Crab Monsters, Attack of the Killer Shrews, and Curse of the Demon are my three all time favorites.  James Best (of the Duke's of Hazzard) is excellent in the Killer Shrews, as is Dana Andrews in ...Demon!  I have since bought DVD's and videos of all three for my home library.  

[Chadzilla]

This movie aired on television at something like 4 o'clock in the A.M.  Being a terrible bear to wake up I opted to stay awake until it aired and then go to bed when it was over, just so I would not missed this monster opus I had never heard of.  Imagine the look on my father's face when he discovered me up at 5:30 and I told him it was so I would not miss Attack of the Crab Monsters!  Let me say this was long before VCRs were introduced onto the market.

I thought the idea was interesting, but the movie itself was a tad weak.  Still the idea of absorbing the mind of the victim, creating not only a monster of increasing cunning, but one that could play mind games with you (pun!) as well if one or more of its victims had been a friend or loved one of yours is a great one.  Goofball exercises like this, that dared to try anything, no matter how silly the end result wound up looking, is what made the 50's such a "Golden Age" of science fiction and monster movies.  These movies just have personality to burn!

[Georgiann]

Not a great movie, perhaps, but still I found this one incredibly creepy when I was a kid with the feeling of being trapped, the disembodied voice of the crabs and the way they absorbed the personalities of the people they devoured.  

[David D. W.]

This was about the scariest thing I'd ever seen - when I was four years old.  I was scared of crabs for a month afterward.  Then we had a big windstorm and I got over my fear of movie monsters.  I had the good fortune to view it again on the Late Late Terror Theater Show when I was in junior high.  I've liked goofy s.f. movies ever since.

[Donna Frayser]

In grade school this one scared me and my best friend half to death.  When it was over I noticed his hair, which was really short, was literally standing on end.  Although land-locked in Oklahoma, we weren't taking any chances and for weeks afterward kept a sharp listen for that crackling sound of an approaching crab.

Oh to only have giant radioactive crabs to worry about these days.  

[Doug]

As a film collector (film not video) this is a 'Holy Grail' and VERY VERY hard to get.
I saw this in Theater (Empire Theater, Port Richmond, Staten Island NY) in '57. I was instantly a favorite. The claustrophobic concept of the Island shrinking to a mere slip of sand was brilliant.
Yeah...the Crabs have eyeballs...whatever...this is a tight fast fun Sci-Fi with lots of great ideas thrown around. Speaking of Crabs...that might be Jack Nicholson under the Crab! He WAS on set, and Corman is famous for putting everybody to work. Ed Nelson WAS under the Crab as well.
And yes...I JUST DID score a 16mm print of this movie. Tokk 35 years of searching...but, that's the way it goes. If you think paying $20 for a vhs is bad...try geting the film print! OUCH!

Doug
http://lionpoint.com
LionPoint 16mm

[Swamprat]

Seen it several times over the years. Everytime someone else has been there they say it..."The Professor!" Yes. The Professor...The man who could build a nuclear reactor from two cocoanut husks, a fist full of sand, a conch shell, and Gilligins hat...but couldn't figure out how to patch a two foot hole in a wooden boat. The crabs remind me of a Thanksgiving day parade float...I keep watching for somebody to trip and careen the whole thing into a nearby rock. Giant claws have never freaked me out. Why didn't these people just melt up a bucket of butter and go after the critters with a hammer? I rate movie monsters on a scale of 1 to 10...crabs, even giant mutated ones, only rate a 3...1s being monsters that are implied but never really seen, and 2s being monsters that are implied but do manage to pop up at the last minute very briefly. Has anyone ever seen Night of the Lupis? Giant man eating bunny rabbits chasing Stuart Whitman around the desert? They fried them with electricity too...the whole county had fried rabbit every night for three weeks afterwards. The giant bunnies got a 4 outta me...that should tell you what to expect from the Giant Crabs...It's a helluva choice to have to make...Giant Crabs or Giant Man Eating Bunnies. By the way...The Alien, the Predator, Karloffs original Frankenstien Creature, and Olivia Newton John in Xanadu all ranked as 10s. Sherwood Shwartz...the creator of both Gilligins Island and the Brady Bunch is an 11...

[Mike M]

I haven't seen the movie yet, but I look forward to seeing it.  Especially since Richard Garland is my wife's uncle.  I have seen him in Friendly Persuaion in a fight scene.

[CrabbyMan]

I remember with affection the 70's New York Times TV Section critic (legendary for his succinct one liner reviews; I forgot his name, but I read he passed away last year)giving this choice, blunt assessment of "Attack of the Crab Monster": "Even tartar sauce couldn't help this stinker."

[Kim]

This movie is the basis for a poem by a very good poet who teaches at Williams college named Lawrence Raab.  I read the poem first, loved it(as I'm partial to old sci-fi), and immediately bought the vhs(thanks god for the corman classics releases).

Attack of the Crab Monsters by Lawrence Raab

      Even from the beach I could sense it--
      lack of welcome, lack of abiding life,
      like something in the air, a certain
      lack of sound. Yesterday
      there was a mountain out there.
      Now it's gone. And look

      at this radio, each tube neatly
      sliced in half. Blow the place up!
      That was my advice.
      But after the storm and the earthquake,
      after the tactic of the exploding plane
      and the strategy of the sinking boat, it looked

      like fate and I wanted to say, "Don't you see?
      So what if you are a famous biochemist!
      Lost with all hands is an old story."
      Sure, we're on the edge
      of an important breakthrough, everyone
      hearing voices, everyone falling

      into caves, and you're out
      wandering through the jungle
      in the middle of the night in your negligée.
      Yes, we're way out there
      on the edge of science, while the rest
      of the island continues to disappear until

      nothing's left except this
      cliff in the middle of the ocean,
      and you, in your bathing suit,
      crouched behind the scuba tanks.
      I'd like to tell you
      not to be afraid, but I've lost

      my voice. I'm not used to all these
      legs, these claws, these feelers.
      It's the old story, predictable
      as fallout--the rearrangement of molecules.
      And everyone is surprised
      and no one understands

      why each man tries to kill
      the thing he loves, when the change
      comes over him. So now you know
      what I never found the time to say.
      Sweetheart, put down your flamethrower.
      You know I always loved you.

[David LeBoutillier Jr.]

This baby, along with 'House on Haunted Hill', made me wet my pants with fear as a sixth grader, and made me wet my pants with laughter as an adult...I am disappointed that it and others of its ilk are no longer shown on TV... sure the special effects are crap, hell, life was no fancier at the time!  'Martha, Help Me Martha' still ring in my ears 38 yrs later...

[Dan Lyon]

Another must-have B&W classic. My wife and I had a great laugh at seeing the poor schmuck from gilligan's isle playing pretty much the same role character. Buy it and play it for everybody.

[Steve]

Could the crabs have been more phoney, could Russel Johnson have given a worse performace, could the budget been much lower,god I love Rodger Corman.