Did someone order crab legs?
Released by: Wild Eye Releasing
Release Date: September 29, 2015
Production Year: 2015
Region Code: 0 NTSC
Running Time: 1:20:41
Audio: English Dolby Digital 2.0
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen (1.78 Aspect Ratio)
Subtitles: None
THE FILM [ 3 / 5 ]:
A meteor crashes into a quiet lake in the remote countryside, awakening a centuries-old beast. She emerges from the deep and tears through a nearby town and its inhabitants. The humans must fight for their lives and stop this Queen Crab before she can hatch an army of babies that will overrun the entire world.
"Queen Crab" is a the type of fun movie you typically find on the Syfy channel. The acting is not always particularly good and some of the effects are questionable, but that isn't why you watch these sort of films to begin with, is it? We have a wacky movie about a giant crab running amok, terrorizing the locals. That spells fun times ahead. Well, for the viewers but not so much for the locals.
The film starts out with a young Melissa (Liberty Asbury) and her parents. Her father (Mark Polonia, "Splatter Farm") is a busy scientist. Melissa is mostly neglected by her parents and when she comes across a little crab, she quickly forms a bond with it and calls it Pee Wee. After an accident, Melissa's parents are killed and she must then live with her uncle (Ken Van Sant, "Peter Rottentail"). The film fast forwards to an adult Melissa (Michelle Miller, "The Unwanted") who we learn is still friends with Pee Wee, only Pee Wee is not so small anymore and has a much larger appetite.
AUDIO [ 3 / 5 ]:
The "Queen Crab" DVD sports a Dolby Digital 2.0 audio track. The audio sounds good overall. However, there are several instances where an actor or actress sounds very tinny in a particular scene. It would seem to be the result of the budget and filming instead of an issue with the DVD. Otherwise, I did not notice any other problems with the audio. I thought the balance of dialogue, sound effects and score was handled well.
VIDEO [ 3.5 / 5 ]:
"Queen Crab" rises from the depths on to DVD courtesy of Wild Eye Releasing. The film is presented in 1.78:1 Anamorphic Widescreen. The video quality on the DVD looked pretty good considering the low budget for this indie sci-fi horror film. There is a fair amount of detail present in some of the close-up shots. The colors looked bold and black levels looked fine except in some darker scenes where the quality dipped, as one would expect. Skin tones had a natural appearance.
SPECIAL FEATURES [ 3 / 5 ]:
Audio Commentary - This commentary track features producer Mark Polonia, writer and director Brett Piper, actor Steve Diasparra and technician Anthony Polonia. The first thing you will notice when listening to this is that the volume for Mark Polonia is much higher than the volume for the other participants. It is a pretty fun commentary track and the participants do a good job of keeping the entertaining conversation going.
Bloopers (4:02) - Some pretty funny bloopers at the actors expense.
Behind the Scenes: Queen Crab Consequences (7:31) - A humorous behind the scenes look at what went in to the making of the film and 'working' with the Queen Crab.
Behind the Scenes: Queen Crab Conversations (7:40) - Actors Rich Lounello (Sonny) and A.J. DeLucia (Stewart) and Michelle Miller (Melissa) talk about their roles and the fun they had on set while making "Queen Crab."
Behind the Scenes: Composing the Queen (5:41) - Features an interview with Jon Greathouse, the composer for the film. He discusses what goes in to creating the score for a film.
Triclops Trailer (0:49)
Dark Sleep Trailer (1:17)
Jurassic Prey Trailer (0:55)
Trailers - There is also a Trailers section you can access from the Main Menu which includes trailers for the following films:
- "Raiders of the Lost Shark"
- "The Amazing Bulk"
- "Queen Crab"
- "The Mothman Curse"
- "Swamphead"
- "They Will Outlive Us All"
- "Paranormal Halloween"
- "American Poltergeist"
IN CONCLUSION:
"Queen Crab" is a pretty fun and cheesy movie if you give it a proper chance. But you can't go in to it expecting the latest Hollywood blockbuster. This film was made cheaply and while it shows, it was also made with the dedication of the cast and crew, who do a lot while not getting a lot in return. The DVD features pretty good audio and video quality and a few nice extras as well. If you enjoy the creature feature type films that the Syfy channel normally airs, then "Queen Crab" should be right up your alley. Plus I have always appreciated stop-motion since the first time I was in awe of Ray Harryhausen's legendary work. So that was a nice tough as well.
OVERALL [ 3 / 5 ]: