Crabs! (2022) Film Review
Trying to justify a B movie today is pointless. You either love them or hate them. And in the small niche where these kinds of movies are celebrated, every approach seems valid. There are no limits to what you can do or shoot. It’s kind of ironic but the creative freedom you can take advantage of in B movies isn’t attached to a production issue. Your imagination sets the boundaries.
It’s why a film like Crabs! is actually many things at a time. It’s a fun flick, no question about it. But it’s also a proud statement by someone who understands the rulebook of Hollywood and does everything at hand to give the industry a middle finger. All this without much intention. I’m quite sure they just want to have fun. And that they did.
Crabs! (and not Crabs) is a creature feature that passes off as a gorefest, summer film, and teenage romantic comedy. At some point you find yourself trying to yell at the screen asking for more logic, but that’s only the big studio anchor that sometimes tricks you into comparing huge films with smaller efforts. Sometimes, it’s worth letting go, and with Crabs! you won’t regret it.
About the plot? Yeah, we won’t dig deep. A coastal town is invaded by meat eating crabs that have the ability to move freely. A weed smoking cop, a teacher, and two cool teens, decide to defend the town from a threat that literally gets bigger every second. Yeah, there’s a huge “godzicrab” that fights a huge robot at some point.
Don’t try to make sense of it.
Crabs! is also undeniably paying tribute to a trend that dominated cinemas decades ago. Monster movies could be huge, or they could be condemned to midnight shows and still have some presence. After all, they were viewer experiences that served escapism in a very distinct fashion. People enjoyed them. And today, some of them are regarded as “so bad it’s good” cinema. Crabs! falls under that category, but it does so with an explosive pride I wish Hollywood would start seeing again.
Yes, sometimes cinema takes itself too seriously and films like Crabs! are discarded just because they aren’t as good as people want them to. But this small flick (with cool special effects!) isn’t poised to address something grounded nor serious. However, a specific character plot line took me by surprise and made me look. All this to say, B movies don’t always translate to bad performances. Crabs! is very well performed considering the subject, and there are scenes in which you can laugh out loud. That introduction was a bloody mess, and hilarious.
I can’t “sell” Crabs! to viewers who don’t like this very specific kind of cinema, or to those who aren’t willing to relax a while and enjoy a different film. It would be a lie if I said this is a film that everyone will enjoy. If you like to revisit memories of B movies playing in cinemas, then watch this one. You will have as much fun as you did back in the day.
