Attack of the Crab Monsters
Tags: cult

Plot synopsis:
We open with a montage of drawings depicting underwater scenes and the credits. A launch from a seaplane approaches a beach on a Pacific Island. The first to step ashore is Dr. Karl Weigand (Leslie Bradley) the leader of the second expeditionary team to visit the island. Next is Dr. James Carson (Richard Cutting), he is the geologist. Sporting the French accent is Jules Deveroux (Mel Welles). The only female member of the team is Martha Hunter (Pamela Duncan) and last is her fiancé, Dale Drewer (Richard Garland). The seaplane pilot, Ensign Quinlan (Ed Nelson) is anxious to leave as there is an approaching storm. He was on the island once before to rescue the first group of scientists sent to study the island. No trace of the first group was ever found. The group walks up to the house the Navy built. Quinlan supervises the second launch loaded with supplies. Seaman Tate (Charles B. Griffith) loses his footing and falls overboard. He screams underwater and by the time he is brought back on board his head is missing. Seaman Ron Fellows (Tony Miller) and Sam Sommers (Beach Dickerson) are left to assist the scientists. (Note: the characters and actors are reversed in the credits, and Sommers is identified as Jack, even though he is addressed as Sam.) They pitch a tent on the beach. They have a large supply of dynamite and hand grenades to assist the geologist with his work.Quinlan meets the scientists at the house and confirms that Tate's head was gone from his body. Hank Chapman (Russell Johnson) is a radio operator and technician. While the scientists unpack, Hank returns a box of dynamite back to the beach. Weigand questions Quinlan prior to his departure. He wants to confirm there was no trace of the first scientific group to survey the island. Only a journal was found, no other physical evidence is the reply. Quinlan speculates that they were out at sea when a hurricane swept the island; a very common occurrence.Everyone meets down on the beach to see Quinlan off. Along the way, the island is rocked by explosions and earthquakes. A rock slide comes close to the sailors. Mac (Maitland Stuart) is anxious to leave. He fires up the launch and takes Quinlan back to the seaplane. The scientists walk up to the cliffs to watch the seaplane depart. Hank explains to Fellows and Sommers what brought everyone to the island. The H-Bomb test on Bikini left a huge amount of fallout on this island. Weigand's group is here to study fallout effects. Carson is a geologist and he will be studying the soil. Deveroux is a botanist and will study the plant life for radiation poisoning. Hunter and Drewer are biologists, he concentrates on land animals; she studies sea life. Weigand is a nuclear physicist. He will collect his team's findings and relate them to current theories on effects of radiation. They wave to the departing seaplane, but just as it lifts off it explodes.Hank rushes back to the house to radio the accident. A tropical storm hits the island. The scientists decide to let Hank continue trying to contact the Navy while they start work--reviewing the journal left by the previous expedition leader, McLane. Weigand reads the journal. He covers the passage about a worm that is very large and seemingly indestructible. The journal ends abruptly, with no more detail about the giant worm-like creature. After Hank asks about the giant worm the house is rocked by an earthquake.Weigand and Dr. Dale Drewer stay up and talk. Drewer notes that he hasn't seen any insect life. They are interrupted by a ticking or crackling sound from outside. They go outside, but only discover a wire brushing against the house.The next morning, Dr. Martha Hunter puts on scuba equipment and begins her exploration of the sea. She examines some seaweed and a giant clam. Dale joins her on the bottom. They continue to explore. She collects a seaweed sample. He directs her back to the beach. They walk ashore and she complains, "You nearly frightened me to death. I was scared, and lost too. I was using a large black rock as a landmark, but when I returned it was gone." Weigand and Carson call to the couple on the beach. They are told to take the path. They warn them about recent geological activity that opened a large pit along the path. Carson wants to explore, but Weigand forbids it. Carson notes that the rocks are unusual, like they were fired in a kiln.That night Martha is awakened from a sound sleep by the voice of McLane. He calls to her specifically and by name and beckons her to come to him. She dresses and goes outside. She again hears his voice and pleas for help. She is startled by Dr. Jim Carson outside too. He tells her he heard the same voice call to him. The two walk to the pit. Carson ropes up and repels down into the pit. Another earthquake strikes and Martha falls over striking her head on a pick axe. We hear Carson scream. The rest of the team arrives and asks about Dr. Carson. Martha tells them, "He's in the pit; I saw the rope go slack." They call him and he replies, "My leg, it is broken."Weigand suggests a rescue attempt via the beach and cave system. The rest feel he is hiding something from them. The two sailors join the rescue mission and report that whole sections of the island are crashing into the ocean. They enter the cave system.Dale and Martha are in the house, reviewing the journal about the cave formations only happening at night. They hear the boom of an earthquake and a curious ticking sound. Dale grabs a pistol and they go to the front door. They hear the sound of wood splintering from a room in the house. As Dale enters, a giant crab claw strikes out at him. Disarmed of his gun, he retreats back to the living room.In the caves, Weigand, Deveroux, Hank and the two sailors call out to Dr. Carson. He replies and asks them to come quickly.In the house, Dale and Martha are left in the dark when a fuse pops and they hear a roar. The ticking sound fades.The rescue party arrives at the place where Carson was lost. The rope is still hanging from above the pit opening. They discover blood on the cave floor. Not finding Carson they decide to return in the morning. Weigand insists they exit the cave via the rope. When the sailors object, as their tent is on the beach and closer using the cave, Weigand orders them up the rope.Dale enters the room to find it a shambles. The radio has been damaged and the lab rats missing. The next morning the scientists examine the room more carefully. There is a hole in the wall to the outside. Deveroux asks Hank if he can fix the radio; Hank isn't sure. Dale asks Weigand if electricity may be a defense. Martha looking outside notices an entire mountain is now gone. They leave the house for another rescue attempt for Dr. Carson. Another earthquake rattles the cave and they try to seek shelter against the cave walls. Deveroux falls and a large boulder severs his hand at the wrist. They hastily improvise a tourniquet as Fellows and Sommers enter the cave. They report that most of the island has now fallen into the ocean. They also report having heard Carson's voice.In the house, Martha gives Deveroux a shot to help him sleep. He mumbles in French as she wipes his brow; He falls off to sleep. On the beach, the two sailors play cards using sticks of dynamite as currency. They hear a peculiar ticking sound getting louder. Fellows describes it as the sound of "a kid dragging a stick over a picket fence." Sommers grabs the kerosene lamp to explore and comes face to face with it. He screams and falls back, collapsing the tent.Deveroux is awakened by the voices of the two sailors. They tell him they found Dr. Carson. They tell him to come to the pit. When he exits the house and gets near the pit he is attacked by a giant crab claw. It latches on to his neck. Martha is awakened by his screams. The rest join her in the living room. They hear the voice of Deveroux from his room, despite it being empty. Weigand notices the voice is coming from a metal ash tray on the nightstand next to the bed. Deveroux promises to return the next night. They speculate on how Deveroux can be dead and why they still hear him.The remaining party meets on the beach. They examine the remains of the sailor's tent and notice most of the dynamite is missing. Hank gathers up the remaining pieces and returns to the house to work on rebuilding the radio. That evening, Deveroux talks to them via a pistol. When they ask about Carson, Carson replies in his voice. The two voices tell them to come to the pit. Weigand, Hank and Dale go to the pit. They hear the ticking and are attacked by a giant land crab. It approaches and is impervious to bullets and hand grenades. But a stalactite that is dislodged from the cave ceiling imbeds itself in the crabs brain and it stops. They are not sure if it is dead. Weigand separates the claw from its arm and they take the specimen back to the house. They hear a second crab approaching. They photograph both and set a charge of dynamite to destroy the cave. The voice of Deveroux tells them they have destroyed McLane and all of his party.As Hank works on the radio, Weigand performs tests on the claw. He concludes radiation poisoning caused a freak. It is explained that since electricity is the flow of free electrons, the crab is composed of free atoms. Like a liquid with a permanent shape. The crab eats the brains of its victims and absorbs their minds and memories. Martha, looking at the photographs, notices that one of the crabs is about to reproduce. Hank hooks the claw up to a battery and it glows, and then is reduced to ashes. They create an electrical device to destroy the crab. They place it in the cave. Weigand's plan is to disable the crab so they can dissect and study it. The earthquakes continue. Hank and Martha enter the cave and set the devices. The crab chases the two out of the cave and into the ocean. They swim for shore with the crab right behind them. The crab comes ashore. Dale shoots it with his rifle but that only annoys it. The crab continues to destroy the island leaving the humans a smaller space to occupy. They return to the house. Hank tries to get someone on the radio. He picks up a station from Hawaii, but tells Martha only the receiver works, not the transmitter. Weigand and Dale Drewer explore what little island remains. Weigand finds oil and wants to trace the origin. He traces it to the cave and trips the electronic trap set earlier. He is paralyzed. The crab attacks and consumes him. Dale, Martha, and Hank witness his death and exit the cave.They return to the house and send an S.O.S. with a telegraph key, but the crab blocks the transmission. The island is struck by another earthquake that destroys the house. They make their way to a rocky outcropping where their transmitter antenna is located. The crab walks towards them. They try explosives but they are of no use. Dale fights it off with a hatchet, but Hank has a better idea. He pulls the transmitter on to the crab and electrocutes the creature. We close with Dale and Martha embracing.

Review: How can anyone who reads the title or the plot, about a research team on a lonely island being stalked by giant crabs that eat the brains of their victims and then can then talk like them, and expect it to be anything other than it is?
The visual effects, the destruction of the island and the crabs themselves are a cut above the typical 1950's horror/sci-fi monster, there is something ominous about them, even if they don't movie all that well.A great popcorn film..
With this in mind, no doubt, CRAB MONSTERS gives us on screen fun within its first couple minutesWhat is there to analyze about a classic Corman film?
From the beginning, we all knew that the bad guys (In this case, the gigantic via radiation Crabs) would all get theirs in the end and the world would be safeuntil the next Roger Corman film was released a couple months later!....Ah.Those were the days, right?
Campy, creepy, bizarre, for it's time quite shocking (a decapitation) and a favorite of 10 year to 14 year old boys watching Chiller Theatre showings of this Corman classic in the mid 60's.Originally released with another classic Corman, Not of this Earth in 1957, this is one of the strangest horror films ever made.Scientists are held captive on an Island by a gang of atomic mutated giant paper-mache crabs.
I've seen Attack of the Crab Monsters just the once and this is one of Roger Corman's better movies.A group of people on a remote island come under attack from rather hungry giant crabs which are the result of an A-bomb test and to make matters worse, the island is sinking.
I'm sure there are better prints of it out there.The cast includes Richard Garland, Pamela Duncan and and Russell Johnson.A good movie, just a pity about the bad print.Rating: 3 and a half stars out of 5..
Remember now, it has been almost 20 years since I saw this feature and while I was expecting to look at this work with nostolgic dismay, I was very surprised that it was so much fun to watch.Forget logic, decent special effects or good acting, you won't find any of those things here.
Any movie that passes off a 1950s' home in the Hollywood Hills as a research center located atop a shrinking Pacific atoll, a well-foliaged hillside as a fresh landslide, Griffith Park's Bronson Caves as a passage to the sea, a dyed-blonde Mel Welles as a "French" scientist, and a rolling and flopping papier-mache model with humanesque eyes as a terrifying monster crab is MY kind of movie!
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.
Attack Of The Crab Monsters is one of the fabulous drive-in flicks of the Fifties, the kind of film it's still a pleasure to watch today.Actually producer/director Roger Corman came up with a novel idea for a monster in this one.
The last guy the thing absorbed was a nuclear scientist, so the sky was literally the limit if this thing got into civilization.Some familiar folks in this are Ed Nelson from Peyton Place and Russell Johnson the old professor from Gilligan's Island.Even though there's only one crab monster because I'm sure Roger Corman's limited budget only could afford one, it's still a fun bad science fiction film..
The cast of characters are the usual assortment we get in movies like this--a bunch of scientists (including Russell Johnson years before he played a scientist on "Gilligan's Island"), a muscular hero type (Richard Garland) and a hot woman (Pamela Duncan).
Originally on a double bill with the equally fun Not of the Earth, Crab Monsters tells the story of a group of scientists on an isolated island studying the effects of atomic fall out.Hiding in coastal caves are giant, mutated, paper mache crabs.
They are able to psychically use the departed's voice to lure more victims to their lair.It's a short, claustrophobic, low budget, campy film that I highly recommend to people who like fifties horror films and Corman's Bucket of Blood, and Little Shop of Horrors..
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..
This is undoubtedly one of Roger Corman's finest works and despite its limited budget, it still works as a compelling science-fiction film with human feelings.The story is quite simple: A group of scientists investigate another group of scientists' disappearance on a Pacific atoll used for atomic testing.
Mysterious voices of the missing scientists haunt the group and eventually, they discover a group of giant crabs that have gained intelligence by absorbing the brains of the people they eat.The crabs are effective enough for a Corman movie and the acting is excellent by all.
It's up to the remaining characters to figure it all out and steer clear of those strange hypnotic voices of the undead (really just the nasty crabs who, after nipping off a head or two have the ability to use the dead scientists' voices.)It's the atmosphere in this movie I like, that and the trapped feeling like in Night of the Shrews or Zero Year.Great late Saturday night Creature Feature fun!.
At the end of this movie (Attack of the Crab Monsters) he gave his life to save others trapped on the island.
This, Attack of the Crab Monsters, is part of the minor boom in the B-movie world of the GIANT THING THAT WILL KILL YOU craze, where anything that could be done to capitalize on the threat of *the* bomb (remember, kids, by the way, duck and cover!) could be marketable for a short time, as long as not much real solid thought or questions were raised.
Charles Griffith's script posits a group of scientists- off to seek out another expedition that went missing, on some small island out in the middle of A-Bomb-nowhere's-ville, and encounter a super-atomic species of land-crab that get possessed by those that they kill.
I am, however, a big fan of Roger Corman - and even though this silly flick isn't anything near as good as films such as his 'Edgar Allen Poe series', The Attack of the Giant Crab Monsters is a worthwhile B-movie.
Roger Corman directed this cult favorite about a group of scientists(played by Richard Garland, Pamela Duncan, and Russell Johnson) and soldiers who are investigating a remote island that had been used for atomic bomb testing.
Directed by the King of Schlock, Roger Corman, "Attack of the Crab Monsters" is about a group of soldiers and scientists who journey to a distant "uncharted" atoll to try to determine what happened to a group of US Marines who disappeared on the island some time before.
It has Russell Johnson, better known as the Professor on "Gilligan's Island" some 12 years later, and we have some preposterous monsters, in this case talking giant crabs.
Of course, it's only a matter of time before one them goes outside after dark to investigate a strange noise - enter the "unspeakable terror" that lurks within the shadows.Trivia buffs will note the prophetic casting of Russell Johnson (later to become famous as "The Professor" on the TV sitcom "Gilligan's Island") as one of the team members.Shot at Leo Carrillo State Beach in Southern California, "Attack of the Crab Monsters" cost just $70,000 to make and raked in a cool million according to Roger Corman in his autobiography "How I Made a Hundred Movies in Hoillywood and Never Lost a Dime".Although it lacks much of the zany sense of humor that made "Creature from the Haunted Sea" so appealing, this picture does have its redeeming features.
People are trapped on a shrinking island by intelligent, brain-eating giant crabs...The film was written by Charles B.
But then we stray a bit -- there are not just mutated giant crabs, but ones who have gained intelligence by absorbing the minds of their victims.Interestingly, because the film is set on an island, one of the stars is Russell Johnson, best known for his role as the Professor on "Gilligan's Island".
It's hard to believe that just three years before Roger Corman would begin his Edgar Allen Poe cycle of films that would bring him international acclaim, he made this - a dirt-cheap black-and-white radiation movie about giant crabs who can communicate telepathically with humans (yes, you read that right).
Griffin is on writing duties (who also worked with Corman on B-movie classics It Conquered the World (1956), Not of This Earth (1957) and A Bucket of Blood (1959)) and he delivers a humour-laden script that is well aware of just how ridiculous it is.After the Bikini Atoll nuclear tests, a group of scientists are sent to a remote island to investigate the disappearance of a former party and further there research into the effects of nuclear testing on plants and wildlife.
With the island collapsing before their eyes and with one of their group missing, they must destroy the crabs and escape.Corman manages to make the film just about as entertaining as it can be, given the budget limitations and the bunch of cornball actors (apart from Russell Johnson of Gilligan's Island fame).
Richard Garland(Beverly's husband), Richard Cutting, Leslie Bradley, Pamela Duncan, and Mel Welles(Mr. Muscnick in Corman's Little Shop of Horrors) play the scientists out to discover what is causing all of the life on the island save gulls and crabs to disappear, huge pits form that were not there a day before, and eventually race against time to defeat the killer giant crabs with the minds of their fallen friends.
It's just the quality you would expect from a Roger Corman but it at least still has got some entertainment value, which is mainly thanks to its clumsiness but also due to its entertaining concept of giant brain eating crab monsters.The crabs themselves are not too bad looking.
Unfortunately for the crew, one of the effects was creating a giant crab monster (not a spoiler, it's basically the name of the film.) But one of the real mysteries is what happens to those who are attacked by the monster, which by the way is pretty well done in comparison to other early Corman creatures.Fair acting, Pamela Duncan is lovely but seems to have to cook for the others due to being the only female & despite being a doctor.
ATTACK OF THE CRAB MONSTERS is Roger Corman's best rubber monster movie.
After the first team go missing without trace a second team of scientist visit a Pacific island, investigating the effects of nuclear radiation, but encounter giant, intelligent, speaking (yes, I did say speaking!) crabs!
The film's budget was $70.000 and it made a whole million back at the box office, thus making 'Attack of the Crab Monsters' most profitable film Roger Corman ever directed.It's title is classical 'That Monster From There' type they made tons in the fifties, but very few could get close in the department of originality.
Sadly, this is the best Roger Corman movie I have seen.It has all the things a normal Corman movie has like terrible acting, a worse plot and no budget but somehow it's not as bad as usual.Black and white was Corman's best friend, I bet he was mad when he had to start using color.So scientists with guns go to an island where they know other scientists have disappeared and then they all split up.You can guess what happens next.Of course Corman adds in some scuba diving, it seems to be in all of his movies.The Professor from Gilligan's Island is in this and he's by far the best actor.I really believe that never seeing a Corman film is the way to go but if you must see one, make it this one..
Attack of the Crab Monsters (1957) ** (out of 4)Early Roger Corman film is a major disappointment for me especially since I've been trying to track it down for years now.
When i was a kid in jersey i remember watching this on creature features on channel 5,i thought it was cool.giant crabs attacking scientists on a small pacific island that keeps getting smaller.however turner classics cut about 5 minutes of the intro out,there's a forward and a tidal wave earthquake at the beginning.i have the VHS and its all there uncut.i wonder why it was cut out.this is one of Roger Cormans better films although now the crab does look silly,the legs don't move,the claws do.but that was back before cg.and monster maker Paul Blaisdell did'nt have a lot of money to make a better crab monster,Russell Johnson did this a few years before Gilligan's island.Pam Duncan and Richard Garland went on to star in Cormans;the undead.and Mel Welles in little shop of horrors as mushnik.as for my monster memories,it was more entertaining back then before VHS,DVD,and cable.there was always creature features every Saturday,and chiller theater on the rival station.I'm giving this 7 out of 10..
When the plane that brought them to the island goes down in a freak accident, their only contact with the outside world severed, the team of botanists, biologists and nuclear physicists attempt to discover the fate of their predecessors, missing in similar fashion, presumed dead.Short-lived leading man Garland is the passive hero, essentially standing far enough back to survive myriad calamities while his more intrepid colleagues run afoul the mutated crab monsters and their audible echoes of the past.
While the talking crab aspect is absurd to say the least, the dialogue they utter is certainly wry and witty (after one of the crew substitutes for his hand lost to the crabs in a cave-in, a rather facetious crab projects "very clever, will you grow a new body too when I take it?" Widely regarded as one of the penultimate B-grade sci-fi flicks of its era, "Attack of the Crab Monsters" remains one of the more memorable, and quirky nature run amok movies to have emerged and has no doubt inspired the sub-genre (notably "Island Claws") despite its low budget origins..
The cause of it all is the title crab monsters -- huge telepathic creatures of the deep!A memorable cast including Russell Johnson ("the professor" of TV's "Gilligan's Island") and Mel Welles as a frenchman.Within the space of its 60 or so minute running time, it manages to introduce a love melodrama (the "star" trio) and some nice monster/human confrontations.
Plus, because the movie is so bad, I suggest you don't ignore this film but look at this as a great party movie--you know, one you watch with friends so you can make fun of it because of its ineptitude and silly "scary" monsters.By the way, even though it was several years before he became a regular on "Gilligan's Island", Russell Johnson ("the Professor") is playing pretty much the role he played on the show.
Drewer together with the last two remaining members of his expedition his fellow biologist the shapely Martha Hunter, Pamela Duncan,and electronic expert Hank Chapman, Russell Johnson, are left to either take out the rampaging crabs or end up dead, with their minds becoming part of the crabs mental makeup, trying.Like many movies made in the 1950's "Attack of the Crab Monsters" had to really do with man screwing up the environment by testing atomic and hydrogen bombs both in the atmosphere as well as underground.
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.
The ending will blow your mind, more then how the island gets blown up throughout the film.Watch this classic piece if you are a fan of black-in-white B or even Z monster movies.
Attack of the Crab Monsters starts as a team of scientists are dropped off on an island where a previous team of scientists studying the effects of H-Bomb testing in the area mysteriously disappeared.
I'm still partial to IT CONQUERED THE WORLD and NOT OF THIS EARTH, but this is still lots of fun and competently made on a very low-budget by B-movie master Roger Corman, with a breezy running time of only 62 minutes.
Roger Corman directs and produces this horror/Sci-Fi flick about brain eating giant crabs.