Attack of the Crab Monsters (1957)

User Rating:

4.1/10   

Director:

Roger Corman

Writer:

Charles B. Griffith (screenplay)

Release Date:

10 February 1957 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

From the depths of the sea... a tidal wave of terror!

Plot:

People are trapped on a shrinking island by intelligent, brain-eating giant crabs. Roger Corman directs.

Plot Keywords:

Island | Giant Crab | Exploding Airplane | Eating Brains | B Movie

Cast

Richard Garland	...	Dale Drewer
Pamela Duncan	...	Dr. Martha 'Marti' Hunter
Russell Johnson	...	Hank Chapman
Leslie Bradley	...	Dr. Karl Weigand
Mel Welles	...	Jules Deveroux
Richard H. Cutting	...	Dr. James Carson
Beach Dickerson	...	Seaman Ron Fellows
Tony Miller	...	Seaman Jack Sommers
Ed Nelson	...	Ensign Quinlan
Maitland Stuart	...	Seaman Mac
Charles B. Griffith	...	Seaman Tate
Robin Riley
Doug Robberts

Runtime:

62 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:PG | USA:Approved

Filming Locations:

Bronson Caves, Bronson Canyon, Griffith Park - 4730 Crystal Springs Drive, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Los Altos Productions

Trivia:

Russell Johnson broke his toe while splashing around in the water during one scene. Due to the low budget of the film, director Roger Corman had a stage tech tape up Johnson's toe and immediately ordered him back in the water to finish the scene.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Deveroux calls out to the first team upon arriving at the island, the echo does not match what he shouts.

Quotes:

Martha Hunter: But Doctor, that theory doesn't explain why Jules' and Carson's minds have turned against us.
Dale Drewer: Preservation of the species. Once they were men. Now they are land crabs.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Directors: The Films of Roger Corman (#1.5)" (1999)

A perennial favourite of all B movie buffs.

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.