Not of This Earth / Attack of the Crab Monsters

Movie Information

In Brief: In 1957, this pair of Roger Corman cheapies played on a double bill and was advertised as a “Terrorama! Double Horror Sensation!” As with most sci-fi horror pictures of its era, the ad campaign smacks of wishful thinking. Yet there’s no denying that Not of This Earth (a premise Corman liked so much that he produced two remakes) and Attack of the Crab Monsters are perfect — and perfectly enjoyable — examples of the type of movie that was being churned out at the time. Surprisingly, they’re also frequently stylish and have remarkably well-written screenplays. Bear in mind, however, that we’re talking well-written within the context of movies about a kind of vampire from outer space and giant mutant telepathic crabs bent on world domination. (In the case of the latter, I’ve never been quite clear what they planned on doing with the world once they got hold of it.)  This excerpt was taken from a review by Ken Hanke published on July 5, 2011.
Score:

Genre: Sci-Fi Horror
Director: Roger Corman
Starring: Paul Birch, Beverly Garland, Jonathan Haze / Richard Garland, Pamela Duncan, Russell Johnson
Rated: NR

The Asheville Film Society will screen Not of This Earth and Attack of the Crab Monsters on Tuesday, May 22, at 7 p.m. at The Grail Moviehouse, hosted by Xpress movie critic Scott Douglas.

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About Ken Hanke
Head film critic for Mountain Xpress from December 2000 until his death in June 2016. Author of books "Ken Russell's Films," "Charlie Chan at the Movies," "A Critical Guide to Horror Film Series," "Tim Burton: An Unauthorized Biography of the Filmmaker."

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