Director – Brett Piper (Muckman, Bite Me)
Starring – Michelle Simone Miller (The Unwanted), Kathryn Metz (Being…Neil Armstrong), and Richard Lounello (Scavenger Killers)
Release Date – 2015
Rating – 2.5/5
Tagline – “She has awakened…and she’s hungry”
I over think things way too much. Instead of looking at something at face value, I’ll sit and think about it for too long and come up with my own little conclusions. I notice trends in movies and then my mind starts to wonder what it would be like if other trends became popular. Back in the late 2000’s grindhouse inspired films became popular. I loved the trend and how great the movies were but I wondered what it would be like if people started making films like you would find in the 50s and 60s.
We had two sci-fi inspired horror films released a few years back titled Attack of the Brain People and Atomic Brain Invasion. Both were fun but I wanted more. Not long ago I spoke with my friends over at Wild Eye and they sent me a sci-fi horror flick title Queen Crab that was direct by Brett Piper. The film looked like a fun throwback to those atomic age monster movies so the second I had a chance to check it out I dived on it.
**Spoiler Alert**The film begins with a scientist working on a growth formula when an accident happens in his home. He rushes away from his work station and spills some chemicals resulting in an explosion killing himself along with his wife. We jump forward and their daughter is now harboring a big secret.
The local sheriff responds to a call where something big crashed through a barn. He suspects something strange and soon runs a test where he learns that it was a giant crab. A scientist comes to help him investigate and learns the secret the orphaned young lady has been hiding for all these years…and it has laid eggs!**Spoiler Alert**
I love campy horror sci-fi hybrids. When I was little I would watch them with my grandma. Mutated creatures, aliens from another planet. and so on were films I would sit with her in the living room and watch late at night on Sci-Fi. When I received Queen Crab in the mail I assumed it would be a film like that and for the most part it was. What I was not expecting was how it was pieced together.
The acting in this one is far from perfect. The scenes were pretty rough and most of the cast just spills dialogue from their mouth like shit from a goose. It honestly feels like the cast just doesn’t care about their role. That was evident throughout the entire film. No heart or conviction.
The story for this one is fun but was not properly put together. The film begins with the perfect beginning to a science run amok horror flick. The film then switches gears and tries to deliver too much character development and not enough creature. The story is centered too much around the characters getting along or not getting along and not enough around the creature.
Finally, those of you looking for gore will surprisingly find it. The film does have a few deaths. More are off screen or using CGI but some of the kills do have a decent amount of gore. The film is full of different effects. We have computer generated, stop motion, and some practical effects. All are decent but combined makes the film feel tossed together and not as great as one would expect.
Overall, Queen Crab is not the film I was expecting. The film tries to channel that classic creature feature from yesteryear but is unable to grasp the charm. The acting is far from good and the story needed rewritten and tightened up. If you are looking for something fun I would recommend grabbing another Wild Eye film and skipping it.
