Island Claws, Moby Dick Watch Out!

No doubt, Herman Melville's "Moby Dick" is a flawed work of literature.  The would be classic story was finally perfected by the creature!  That's right....the creature from the Black Lagoon himself....Riccou Browning.  After terrorizing sultry babes in white swimsuits, the creature wrote 1980's "Island Claws." Yep, the sight of Gregory Peck mounting and harpooning the white whale left us all wanting more.  Fear not, the creature, in "Island Claws" gives us a much more rewarding spectacular....Robert Lansing mounting and harpooning a giant crab.

The beautiful Jan (Jo McDowell, a Cheryl Ladd look-a-like) arrives on a Florida island to study Dr. McNeal's (Barry Nelson) crabs.  All right, cut it out! Get your mind out of the gutter.  The good doctor, in order to fight world hunger, is playing around with crab DNA to make the species bigger, so more people can dine at Red Lobster.  Uh oh, the island's nuclear power plant, run by Jan's dad just happens to have some sort of accident. Double uh-oh....the crabs start acting funny and seek out humans to devour.

As some unfortunates fall prey to hordes of crabs, a giant one also starts wreaking havoc. Most on the island are too drunk to put two and two together, but after Jan is almost eaten by the creatures, she and her new beau, Pete (Steve Hanks) start investigating.  Meanwhile, Moody (Lansing), after some of his friends are picked apart, also starts snooping.  As Jan and Pete fall in love, and we are treated to a spirited harmonica and banjo duet featuring Lansing...our giant monster converges on the population base.  Will our crabby monster eventually find the nuclear power plant? Will the perky and vulnerable Jan don a white swimsuit to fight the beast (remember who wrote this film)?

In a Mystery Science Theater 3000 type of way, "Island Claws" will surely please. If you found Gregory Peck's Ahab annoying and judgmental, you will enjoy Robert Lansing as the usually drunk barkeep as he tries to save this pitiful island from monsters. Available on YouTube, take a look at "Island Claws" with a couple of robot friends.