The Daily Dig: Island Claws (1980)

If you’re afraid of crustaceans but addicted to being scared, this creepy, clawy, natural horror may be just the pinch for you.

An experiment on crabs turns deadly when nuclear waste finds its way into the water. Let’s dig into 1980’s ISLAND CLAWS, directed by Herman Cardenas!

As I See It

Filmed on the barrier island, Virginia Key, which sits in Biscayne Bay off the coast of Miami, there’s an undeniable New England fishing town atmosphere to the whole production. The salt air battered structures, the wardrobe, and the dearth of tropical foliage squall out a northeastern setting.

My penchant for natural horror continues. I’ve never personally known anyone who suffers from kabourophobia, even though I live on an island, so the inherent fear doesn’t exist for me. Maybe someone with some childhood trauma that centers around their Italian aunts pinching their cheeks would be triggered.

The seventies hangover is readily apparent.

If you were to ask me to guess the decade this film was made in, I would lose everything. It looks and feels like the seventies, which is usually true for about four years into the following decade (which would bring us right around the time of A Nightmare on Elm Street, where things really changed).

Our big boy crab doesn’t move all that fast, or much at all, but the final image is an excellent shot of what seems like practical fabrication, if not some forced perspective.

There is often a struggle with ‘belief’ in horror films. The protagonist can’t get anyone to believe them about some supernatural menace they witnessed. The easiest device you can use is one that pushes the boundaries of reality. They don’t believe you because what you’re saying just isn’t in anyone’s real world.

Here, they use xenophobia instead. The locals are in an uproar about “the Haitians,” who they believe are the ones behind the murders and maimings. Tragically, what was once a believable motive for some podunk lynch mob has now become the machinations of political theater. In the movie, the mob halts their charge once they discover that a little girl requires medical attention. This shows the heart of the filmmakers more so than the characters. It’s the real story.

P.S. This film was written by the same people who created Flipper, the TV series. Try to figure that one out.

Famous Faces

Robert Lansing (Moody) starred in Scalpel and the similarly plotted roach horror The Nest, which rests in the Daily Dig menagerie.

Nita Talbot (Rosie) was in the Ron Howard comedy Night Shift, Frightmare, Puppet Master II, and Amityville 1992.

Jo McDonnell played cousin Marilyn Munster in the TV movie The Munsters’ Revenge.

Of Gratuitous Nature

I don’t think they’d have much of a problem getting a PG-13 rating, at most, in modern times.

Heartthrob

Jo McDonnell (Jan Raines) was cast as Marilyn Munster in the 1981 made-for-TV movie The Munsters’ Revenge. Marilyn, of course, is the “normal” but abnormally attractive member of the Munsters’ family, and McDonnell fits the part remarkably well. Platinum blonde and instantly likeable, it’s easy to see why casting directors fancied her, and easy on the eyes for us.

Ripe for a Remake

Treating the town as a character synonymous with the inevitable monster sounds like it could be a fun approach. “We’re a crab-town!” More than you know, sir!

Spawns

No progeny to report.

Where to Watch

Scorpion Releasing released a Blu-ray in 2014. You can stream Island Claws on Fawesome.