Here's another great title from Roger Corman, but it's a shame about the movie itself which has a lot of potential but doesn't really take that anywhere. The silly script and bizarre storyline seems to have been made up on the spot (knowing Corman's track record, maybe it was) and is a far cry from the acclaimed Poe adaptations he would be creating a few years later. Instead what we have is a campy, no-budget B-movie in which giant, poorly-designed crabs go around and kill a few people with their rubber claws. Oh, and they're indestructible and can communicate telepathically with people, okay? Still, it's not the worst film ever made and will pass the time moderately well for bad movie lovers, and the best thing is that it's admirably short.
The strange storyline and ridiculous plot elements (the island on which our cast are stranded is shrinking all the while) make for one weird film which plays like a bad nightmare. To make matters even more bizarre, a scene halfway through the film which shows a man falling down a rope into a pit is actually tacked on to the beginning of the movie, so you start off in the thick of the action and wonder what the hell is going on! There is no explanation for this error and it just added to the experience for me.
The cast will be an unfamiliar one to people who don't watch a lot of these type of films, although Mel Welles appears in a small supporting role as a scientist. Richard Garland is the boringly straight hero while Pamela Duncan makes for a voluptuous heroine who looks great in a swimsuit. The movie is surprisingly gory in places for the time in which it was made, with the standout being the discovery of a headless corpse. However, the crabs fail to be the least bit threatening - or even plausible - with one risible moment showing a crab apparently "snoring". That's a new one on me! It's a shame that the budget and technical proficiency behind this film was so low, as the spirit was indeed willing as you might say. This is a film which will only appeal to those devoted to Corman's career or crappy B-movies of the '50s in general.
The strange storyline and ridiculous plot elements (the island on which our cast are stranded is shrinking all the while) make for one weird film which plays like a bad nightmare. To make matters even more bizarre, a scene halfway through the film which shows a man falling down a rope into a pit is actually tacked on to the beginning of the movie, so you start off in the thick of the action and wonder what the hell is going on! There is no explanation for this error and it just added to the experience for me.
The cast will be an unfamiliar one to people who don't watch a lot of these type of films, although Mel Welles appears in a small supporting role as a scientist. Richard Garland is the boringly straight hero while Pamela Duncan makes for a voluptuous heroine who looks great in a swimsuit. The movie is surprisingly gory in places for the time in which it was made, with the standout being the discovery of a headless corpse. However, the crabs fail to be the least bit threatening - or even plausible - with one risible moment showing a crab apparently "snoring". That's a new one on me! It's a shame that the budget and technical proficiency behind this film was so low, as the spirit was indeed willing as you might say. This is a film which will only appeal to those devoted to Corman's career or crappy B-movies of the '50s in general.