- Directed by Roger Corman
- Written by Charles B. Griffith
- Stars Richard Garland, Pamela Duncan, Russell Johnson
- Run Time: 1 Hour, 3 Minutes
- Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S68QJFheZaw
Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone
Giant radioactive, telepathic, mind-absorbing, morphing crabs. What will the atomic age think of next? This one mashes too many things together, weaves them together with bad science, and doesn’t have a great script. It’s watchable and kind of entertaining, but not a praise-worthy classic.
Synopsis
A group of people disembark from their dinghy onto a deserted inhospitable island. There had been a previous expedition here, and it went badly. This group has brought along a surprisingly large amount of dynamite and several cases of hand grenades. One of the men falls overboard, and we see that there’s something down there with big, hungry eyes. Except it’s not exactly a deserted island, there appears to be an abandoned motel.
Hank explains that a lot of atomic radiation fro the H-Bomb test landed here and may have done something to the plant and animal life. He describes and introduces each of the five scientists in the expedition for us. As the airplane leaves it explodes.
They read Dr. Mclane’s journal, the only remnant of the previous group, who completely vanished. They all notice the strange little earthquakes that keep shaking the island.
Next morning, Dr. Hunter goes down in her scuba suit to look at the undersea life. They don’t see any unusual life forms, but she does see a rock that she thinks moves. That night, she hears McLane’s voice calling to her. Dr. Carson hears the voice as well, and he climbs down the cliff face to investigate. He screams off-screen.
Meanwhile, back at the base, Dale and Martha are attacked by a monster that tunneled in somehow. The thing deliberately destroys their radio. Martha notices that there was a mountain in the distance yesterday, but today it’s gone. They go back into the caves looking for Carson, but have to stop when Jules loses a hand.
Two of the seamen are attacked, and soon Jules hears their voices in the night. He follows their voices to the pit until he’s killed by a giant crab claw. Soon, the others hear his voice. In the morning, they find the seamen are missing and presumed eaten, but a big portion of the dynamite is gone too.
The voice returns and reveals that he can talk through any metal object. The three men return to the caves, where they find a giant crab. Dr. Weigand explains his theory about how the mutant crabs can absorb people’s minds and melt solid stone. Martha notices from the photos that the female crab is pregnant.
Hank figures out that electricity will kill the crab. They go down to place the machines and find the female creature asleep. They wake it up and it pursues them underwater. The monster taunts them with Carson’s voice. Hank builds a new radio and tries to contact someone for rescue. They have to hurry, as the island is getting smaller and smaller due to the crab’s destruction.
They find oil in the caves, and Dale ignites it, but not before the crab kills Dr. Weigand. The earthquakes intensify as the island sinks into the sea. Hank pulls down the radio tower and electrocutes the crab monster in the fastest, most out-of-the-blue ending ever.
Commentary
It starts out really good. It’s got good pacing, interesting characters, decent acting, and it’s blissfully short, but it’s saddled by ridiculous creatures and a sillier concept. Toward the end, the script goes way off the rails as well, with far too much exposition. The actual crab monsters don’t move very much, but otherwise look pretty good.
Suspension of disbelief is one matter, but I can’t wrap my head around all those fat scientists climbing up a rope. That always looks so easy in movies.
And that ending. You know they just completely ran out of ideas and budget.