ISLAND CLAWS (1980)

ISLAND CLAWS (1980)

Tagline: Nope

(Horror, Sci-Fi, Giant Crabs) [PG-13]

Note – this movie never got a theatrical release because no studio would pick it up. If it had been in the theaters I am guessing it would have landed a PG-13 rating. The movie did get some TV showings under the name “NIGHT OF THE CLAW”.

In this one, some biological experiment goes bad in Florida and now we’ve got a crapload of crabs running around. Normally all the seafood diners would be going nuts, but at least one of these things is 8 feet tall and that’s just too much crab and not enough butter I guess. Meanwhile, as mysterious unexplained deaths start to happen, the local idiots of course blame the Haitians that live on the island. Can we all just get along long enough for a nice seafood dinner, or will these giant crabs run up the entire island's insurance premiums?

Let me just say there are multiple “what the hell just happened” moments in this movie, particularly when anyone is driving anything or just trying to put one foot in front of the other. I wasn’t crazy about the lighting and most of this film is just hard to see due to that. This lighting and cinematography issue, unfortunately, did plague a lot of the 80’s horror genre, especially when it came to the lesser-known films. 

The acting is actually pretty decent and we do get a fairly brief John Furey sighting. Horror fans will recognize him from FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 2. We also have Robert Lansing who is pretty solid in this, as is Steve Hanks. Overall the cast does pretty well and that is a big part of what saved this movie for me. The other part is the fact that we get one of the best-looking giant crabs ever on screen. I guess the overall cost for this thing was 1 million dollars and it’s just fantastic. Far better than we got in a much newer giant crab movie QUEEN CRAB. 

Today I am guessing the divide between the Haitians and American’s in FL in this movie might ruffle some PC feathers, but the connection that does get made in the movie when the chips are down isn’t all that bad. There are just tons of misunderstandings in life overall. Outside of that though I think for most 80’s fright fans this is actually a pretty fun little giant animal horror movie, but I do wish the ending was a bit better. It feels like budget constraints might have prevented at least another half hour that would have helped put a better final act on this one. 

I have to give this one a 4 out of 7. I love the effort, just wish it had been shot a bit better with a more solid ending. I think that alone might have helped this film actually get a theatrical release back then. 

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