Queen Crab (2015) User Reviews (12)

Attack of the crab

[TheLittleSongbird · 3/10 · 1 August 2018]

My main reason for seeing 'Queen Crab' was it being part of my "seeing low budget films out of curiosity" quest. Expectations were conflicted, with the premise being somewhat intriguing if silly and with the potential to be a guilty pleasure. With it not looking particularly good and the low rating, part of me was nervous.

Watching 'Queen Crab' taking all that into account, with conflicted expectations and taking it for what it is, the film certainly could have been far worse and there are definitely worse films out there, of its genre, kind of film and in general. Is it an irredeemably bad film? No. Is it a good film? Not even close. Did understand what 'Queen Crab' was going for, that it seemed to pay homage to 50s creature films and it was clear for it to not take itself seriously, but felt that it didn't execute either very well. And this is coming from someone who gave the film a chance with no intention to dislike it with prejudice, and saw the whole thing.

The effects are not great at all with some awkward movements and cheapness, not blending well often with the environment, but they could have been far worse. While the intention to not take itself too seriously is to be applauded, 'Queen Crab' too often gets on the wrong side of silly absurdity.

Story-wise, it is ridiculous with a lot of draggy pacing, as a result of paper thin, often unevenful and over-stretched story-telling, and clumsy and far from tense or suspenseful action. The acting is a bad mix of overdone and bland, no real standouts while the photography is relatively drab, the ending is far-fetched and the dialogue is cheesy and ham-fisted.

For all those faults, 'Queen Crab' is not a complete mess. The titular creature has a little menace and is not too goofy. The sound isn't too intrusive or too much of a drone.

'Queen Crab' has the odd fun moment, it doesn't confuse and at least it was clear what tone and approach the film was aiming to go for, that cannot be said for a lot of low-budget viewings seen recently.

Overall, very lame with a lot of huge flaws but at least didn't insult my intelligence. 3/10 Bethany Cox

This movie is a garbage plate

[draftdubya · 5/10 · 19 June 2020]

That's good because a garbage plate is a Rochester New York dish. It has a low budget, super cheesy, and good for what it is. I had no problem with this 1950's type of cheese fest. Other horror movie with the same budget takes themselves way to serious.

Truly Deeply Madly Original

[marydm-43470 · 4/10 · 18 December 2021]

Way to go Tubi! What a brilliant creature feature!

Girl with awful parents befriends freshwater crab who strokes her hand with her (it's a girl crab!) mandible and thus an unbreakable bond is established between the two.

A bond that will dictate the girl's entire life and the crab's own life right into "adulthood".

Every creature feature convention trope is broken in this brave little flick, even though the special effects such as they are are cartoonish apart from those scenes towards the end lit by a phosphorescent full moon. Brilliant mood setter.

You can tell which idiots in the movie will meet their just ends at the crab's mandibles. You can also tell which characters are going to be positive and support the unlikely friendship between the girl and her pet with an exoskeleton. It's so sweetly rewarding that the morons die. I've NEVER forgiven Spielberg for killing off Eddie in Jurassic Park II, The Lost World.

The movie is rich in so much subtext: parents suck, some people don't deserve to be parents, freaks bond, girls bond, science is the only way to deal with freaks, quiet natural scenery can harbour unseen wonder and terror...and the ending just what I emotionally wanted to happen.

A 50s B grade SciFi flick with a difference. Parody with a heart of gold. Just loved the freshness of its themes.

Trash and the synopsis is wrong!

[mhorg2018 · 1/10 · 27 August 2018]

This is a terrible film. The acting, directing, story and special effects are TRASH! The only thing done right are the few instances of stop motion. Add to this that that there is no meteor and no sleeping monster. That's entirely wrong! This is about a little girl (also a terrible actor) who finds a crab that lives in a fresh water lake behind their home. She feeds it grapes filled with daddy's plant growth (to stave off future starvation). They die in a freak accident and years later the girl is the Queen of this particular crab, gigantic now (think Harryhausen's Mysterious Island) runs rampant There's also a blatant lie about this movie, they claim there's only good, old fashioned stop motion and no CGI. While many of the crab scenes are indeed, Stop Motion, there is some really pathetic CGI in the movie. It's on a par with anything The Asylum, home studio for the SyFy channel uses. A really stupid film that might be too dumb to even be on the Syfy(less) channel.

Some things should just stay submerged and out of sight...

[paul_haakonsen · 3/10 · 21 May 2017]

I found "Queen Crab" on Amazon marketplace, although it was titled "Claws" on the DVD release. And being a sucker for creature features, and the low price of the movie, made me pick it up and give it a chance. I didn't know anything about the movie prior to buying it in terms of story or cast ensemble.

I managed to sit through about 30 minutes or so of this movie before I gave up out of sheer and utter complete boredom. Very little, and I do mean that literally, happened throughout the course of this movie.

The storyline, at least from what I managed to sit through, was about a scientist's formula that could rapidly increase growth, that quickly got out of control.

"Queen Crab" (aka "Claws") had some questionable CGI effects right from the very beginning, and the CGI animated crab wasn't looking particularly convincing in most scenes. This just meant that the movie took on a comical demeanor.

The characters in the movie were sort of one-dimensional, and no one was in particularly memorable. I am sure that the people on the cast list were doing good jobs with their given roles, but they just had very little to work with in terms of script and storyline from writer and director Brett Piper.

Actually I was ready to get up and turn off the DVD way before the approximate 30 minutes I endured, and that was when an explosion destroyed the Laboratory. It was so inconsistent, because the parents were down in the basement, yet the explosion happened in the tower, and that still managed to kill the two people in the basement. It was just so stupid. And the fact that the explosion and CGI effects here were not even anywhere near being believable.

I have no plans to return to finish watching "Queen Crab", as it just didn't have anything to offer in terms of entertainment value.

unbelievable

[duncanidaho123 · 1/10 · 6 April 2020]

The film poster should be sticked next to "trash" in the dictionary

Written with just a bit too much hate

[drystyx · 4/10 · 11 October 2021]

This low budget movie about a giant crab keeps to its cheap roots, which is good, but makes the mistake of trying to appease the "hate mongering crowd".

In one respect, this does okay. There's a bit of a fresh approach. The idea itself was well founded, but the group picked the worst writer to pen this story, as if usually the case when too many cooks spoil the broth. The idea that "voting" on the right route and right way and right writer is a guarantee to get the most predictable and stereotypical product one can get.

It actually helps that the actors can't act, but it hurts that they can't do comedy. In fact, they're so bad, that one wonders if they were so distressed and disgusted with the amount of "hate" written into the story, that they purposely didn't try.

And that's the thing. The "hate" is there. The "small town camaraderie motif of golden age sci fi and of the Japanese Godzilla series was a positive and refreshing approach.

Here, it looks like a small group commandeered this into the direction of "no artistry" and "no enjoyment". The "joy" is totally gone from this.

It's a summation of the little things. The contrived death of a man caring enough to try to help a woman, the contrived death of a woman defending her land, the protagonist's sensible ward becoming a sheriff, a position voted upon by people who don't respect "respect".

Overall, a bad movie, but the fact that it doesn't "waste" resources or talent gives it a pass, and it is slightly watchable. It flops against golden age sci fi and Japanese monster movie sci fi, but fares well compared to the totally depressing and horrible sci fi of the 21st century.

Lots of flaws, but for modern sci fi, this is actually a safe pick for viewing. It should have had a better writer.

Boring

[voliveri · 4/10 · 11 January 2024]

If I had to guess, I would say this was a SyFy Original, but I don't know that for sure.

I love b-movies, but if you're going to make a b-movie, it has to be compelling to make up for everything else--the meh acting, poor special effects, and typically meh plot or story. These don't always show up in b-movies, but all are here.

This is not a terrible movie, it's just not a good one, nor a terribly compelling one. Unfortunately, it wanted me to take it seriously, which I think is part of my problem with it. Worse, the pacing feels slow. There were some moments of fun, but I felt like I had to wait too long for something interesting to happen.

Not enough gore for my tastes, no nudity, no babes in bikinis--these elements are not requirements, but audiences who watch these movies tend to expect these things. Michelle Simone Miller does briefly appear at the very end in a tank top and underwear, and we get a scene with Katherine Metz in a bikini. That's it for the babe factor, which is a shame, because Miller in particular is gorgeous.

Not the worst thing ever made, just not interesting.

1-3 Don't waste your time 4-6 Good 7-9 Great 10 Outstanding.

Enjoyable and cheesy old-school throwback effort

[kannibalcorpsegrinder · 6/10 · 12 October 2020]

Following a series of accidents, the sheriff of a small-town come to believe the stories about his niece raising a monstrous crab from her youth that was ingested with a growth hormone that made it huge which has now gotten loose and terrorizing the community, forcing him to deal with her creature to save the town.

This was a pretty solid and enjoyable throwback offering. Most of that fun is based on the old-school charm found throughout here in the special effects. Dripping with a wholly enjoyable dedication to the stop-motion effects work found for the main creature, both in the opening set up in the past that it shows it around the more traditional size or the full-size creature running wild on its rampage or acting gently with the girl who raised it that serves as s fun start to the action in the second half. This has a lot of screen time letting it get quite a lot of impressive elements to like here. There's also a lot to like with the fun reveal of the town they live in which sets things in motion. From the interactions at the barn showing off the citizens in the town to their different individual plotlines showing how they back together as friends to the various histories of everyone involved, this offers a fun way to get into things. That then allows for enough motivation and general information to be had that it remains quite interesting to dive into so that those action scenes feature some heartwarming moments as it interacts with the townspeople. These here are what makes for a fun time for the most part. There isn't much to dislike with this one. Taking the goofiness and low-budget indications into effect which may not be for everyone, the main aspect that feels off here is the supposed backstory involving her friendship with the actress who returns to town. They seem to be quite at odds and somewhat unrealistic to be that kind of friends, especially with her desire to protect the creature so their backstory makes no sense. The other issue here is the somewhat bland and pretty horror-less beginning to this one, as although we get an idea about the residents' nothing much really happens and it takes a while to start letting the crab loose. These are what hold the film back.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence and Graphic Language.

Creepy Crawly 1950s Style Giant Monster B Movie Fun!!

[dubiouslineage · 10/10 · 17 April 2022]

A small freshwater crustacean mutates into a giant monster crab and attacks a small town! This silly send-up of 1950s sci-fi knows exactly what it is and never takes itself too seriously. The acting and screenplay is amatuerish but everyone appears to be having fun. The mix of low-level CGI and Harryhausen-style stop motion effects works perfectly here. Look... this is not a big budget summer blockbuster like Jurrasic World or Kong Island. It's just a fun little sci-fi creature feature that was made by Brett Piper his crazy friends. Take it for what it is and you'll enjoy it.

starsMYSTERIES CONFUSE ME

[nogodnomasters · 6/10 · 10 November 2018]

Melissa (Michelle Simone Miller) grows up befriending a giant crab that lives in her pond. When the crab lays eggs, things become a problem for this small western New Jersey community (note license plate and mountains).

The film is a Polonia Brothers production which surprised me since John had passed on in 2008. Apparently Anthony Polonia, a make-up artist is part of the act. The Polonia brothers were infamous for bad films with long boring dialogues and unrealistic rubber headed monsters. It seems now utilizing CG we have gotten away from rubber heads, but everything still looks fake. The acting has picked up from "F" to "D-" at least it is moving in the right direction. Their films have a more professional look to them as far as sound, camera angle, and ceasing using Super 8 film.

Terrible fight choreography. Looks like slow motion with no one landing a punch. Look out Sonny Liston.

Queen Crab is a low budget SyFy type of film. Not for everyone. In fact, not for most people.

Guide: No swearing, sex, or nudity. At one point it appears Melissa is dancing nude. but it is filmed at a distant and she is wearing a nude body suit.

She'll Give You Such a Pinch

[NoDakTatum · 6/10 · 20 October 2023]

Billing itself as a throwback to the stop-motion work of Ray Harryhausen, "Queen Crab" is a goofy sci-fi/horror flick with everything you would expect from those exploitation pictures of decades past- including promising more than it delivers. Melissa (Michelle Miller) is a young woman who keeps to herself on a patch of rural farmland near a pond. She has lived there since her scientist dad and harpy step-mother were killed in a lab explosion inadvertently caused by Melissa's new pet crab, Pee-Wee. She had been feeding it some of her father's experimental specimens- he seemed to be working on an early version of GMOs- and the crab started to get big. All grown up, and being raised by her uncle/sheriff Ray (Ken Van Sant), Melissa threatens anyone who trespasses on her property. Old high school friend, now B-movie actress, Jennifer (Kathryn Metz) stops for a visit, and the two reconnect after years apart. Also stopping in the small Crabbe County town is Stewart (A. J. DeLucia) from the state wildlife commission. Local cattle have been getting slaughtered by an animal that leaves bizarre prints, and Stewart arrives to investigate. What the cast and the viewer eventually find out is that Pee-Wee the crab has grown to the size of a large pickup truck, and has started to have "little" babies (the eggs are as big as basketballs). Melissa tries to save her pet, Stewart wants to study it, Ray wants to kill it, and all the while Pee-Wee wanders from her home pond to wreak stop-motion and computer-animated havoc across the countryside.

Writer/director Piper is well-versed in the Harryhausen canon, and does a nice homage to the master. This is not complicated stuff, but neither is it scary or even smart. It serves its purpose- to deliver surface thrills and chills, while the audience waits for a scene that even remotely resembles the DVD cover art. In this day and age of winking "bad" films like the Sharknado series, Piper and his cast and crew jump on the bandwagon. The special effects are obvious, although they are a nice mix of old and new school techniques. The sound recording is difficult to hear, but the cast seems to be having fun and are in on the joke. Old chestnuts from those monster movies are trotted out, and I had a nice time reminiscing. "Queen Crab" offers the viewer a warm, fuzzy feeling of nostalgia, and not much else- the gore is just over the PG13-level and there isn't any nudity. I smiled during most of it, I had fun watching it, but if anything I want to rewatch the original "Clash of the Titans" or "Jason and the Argonauts" again over this.

Contains physical violence, gun violence, gore, some profanity, and alcohol and tobacco use.