TCM broadcast a good print of this Roger Corman favorite late Fri/early Sat--the best I've seen it look since its frequent horror show telecasts in the 70s. The gray-market tapes in circulation are exhausted and washed out in comparison. It's never going to be BLADE RUNNER in terms of pristine image potential but it's certainly worth recording the next time it comes around, and perhaps a DVD is on the cards.

Terrific fun and still creepy (the cracking noises the monsters make): "Once they were men, now they are land crabs." :lol:

Those gray-market tapes may have been taken from the official pre-record VHS I used to have (can't remember the label), because it was a brutal, washed-out print. I can't believe this isn't on DVD yet. It's a fun movie. I love that the big crabs are Highlander crabs that take their victims’ Quickening and taunt their next victims by speaking in the voices of their friends. It's also fun to see Russell Johnson stranded on an island and struggling to fix a radio!

. . . thanks for the information; I need to record this one . . . so, who does have the rights to this AIP stuff from the 50s . . . it was sad to watch the mess Lionsgate made of their SAMUEL Z. ARKOFF COLLECTION CULT CLASSICS releases; hopefully, whenever someone comes up with Corman's CRAB MONSTERS (1956), NOT OF THIS EARTH (1956), and IT CONQUERED THE WORLD (1956) - gosh, 1956 was a heck of a year - as well as Cahn's INVASION OF THE SAUCERMEN (1957), and the many other (usually) A.I.P. drive-in double features I pulled my parents/brother/ friends-who-had-access-to-a-car to each and every weekend, they will have some understanding of their place in cinema (to say nothing of my) history and exhibit a degree of respect in their DVD presentation . . . for starters, a CORMAN AT AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL PICTURES set would not be too out of place next to my FORD AT FOX box . . .

Even more exciting was the fact that the TCM print was the original theatrical version, not the restructured and padded TV prints which most have seen. Even the American Cinematheque a few months ago had to show a 16mm print of the TV cut as there was no print available (same for NOT OF THIS EARTH) of the theatrical cut. It's a terrific, rare delight to see this version.

Now, if TCM could do the same for NOT OF THIS EARTH, it'd be like Christmas in, well, whatever month they decided to show it!

In the same regard, TCM is showing FAST AND THE FURIOUS near the end of the month.

The original VHS cassette was released by Allied Artists Video in a box with a white cover, back in the early 1980s. The print used for the video was indeed murky. In the mid-nineties, there was a "reissue" of sorts, done by a "company" calling itself Allied Artists Classics, which was released in a more colorful display box. However, I suspect that the later release was a backdoor deal, done by somebody who used to work for Allied Artists Video and who may have "borrowed" the print when Allied Artists Video ceased operations. A few years ago, reports circulated that there was a DVD available, but that was probably struck from the same poor quality master that was used over the years for the two VHS releases. I definitely concur that the version which aired on TCM last Friday was a much better looking print.