Attack of the Crab Monsters.

Review #1007: Attack of the Crab Monsters.

Cast: 
Richard Garland (Dale Drewer), Pamela Duncan (Martha 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), and David Arvedon (voice of Hoolar the Giant Crab) Directed by Roger Corman (#368 - The Little Shop of Horrors, #684 - It Conquered the World, #852 - The Terror, and #931 - Not of This Earth)

Review: 
Giant radiation-mutated (and telepathic) crab monsters. What's there to say with a premise like that? Quite a bit, actually, although not much of it would be about the scientific accuracy of such a thing, because that spoils the fun in a movie that strives for entertainment and succeeds for the most part. This is a sci-fi horror film (released by Allied Artists) that also has injections of humor during the film, but the real star of the show is never too far behind, with action and suspense occurring at a fairly decent rate. The crabs themselves are pretty...ugly, but what does one expect other than what you get? They don't look too shabby, at least. The acting as a whole is fairly acceptable, nothing that would garner any sort of awards but also not something that would garner too much derision. It has the kind of characters you would expect, albeit with a voice of the giant crab that randomly pops up from time to time that is sometimes chilling but also sometimes ridiculous (if one thought about it too much anyway). This was made for around $70,000, with the film proving itself to be a big success that reportedly made around a million dollars, and it's not really hard to see why. It has an interesting title that it mostly lives up to while also being something you'd watch in a drive-in with company (or alternatively on the Internet on a lark). Unsurprisingly, the film has a run-time of 62 minutes, so that can make this seem like a fair breeze. It was released as part of a double bill with Not of This Earth, and while I will say they both fall under the same kind of quality, the former may be just a bit better, though they both could easily be fine films to watch for anyone looking for some good ol' ridiculous fun.

Overall, I give it 7 out of 10 stars.

Movie Night: It Came from Outer Space.

Review #464: It Came from Outer Space.

Cast
Richard Carlson (John Putnam), Barbara Rush (Ellen Fields), Charles Drake (Sheriff Matt Warren), Joe Sawyer (Frank Daylon), Russell Johnson (George), Dave Willock (Pete Davis), and Robert Carson (Dugan) Directed by Jack Arnold (#420 - The Incredible Shrinking Man)

Review
With a title like that, expecting a monster/alien is expected, without a doubt, and that certainly is accomplished, but the film manages to be more than just an "alien invades the earth" story, and though it's not a great science fiction film, it certainly is a very passable one. The actors aren't bad, given their characters. The film was originally released in 3-D, which is incredibly obvious even 60 years later, with some shots from the 1st person POV of the aliens, which even without 3-D is actually kind of creative. The film is alright to look at, and the makeup isn't that bad. The story (By Ray Bradbury) and the screenplay (by Harry Essex) are finely written, a film not easy to ignore, and it doesn't run too long, so it's easy to watch without being bored. I'd recommend this for anybody looking for some classic 50's science fiction (or sci-fi, whatever name sounds better to say) to watch.

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.