Die Insel der Krebse

West Germany 1975
produced by
köper+schmidt books and films/ZDF
directed by Gerdard Schmidt
starring Gerd Baltus, Margot Werner, Nokolaus Dutsch, Hans Schulze, Hans Korte, Wolfgang Preiss, Klaus Höhne, Karl Heinz Vosgerau, Ursula Grabely, Otto Tausig, Ulrich von Bock, Juergen Hilken, Curt Faber, Wolfgang Haubner, Guenter Boehnert, Josef Meinertzhagen, Rolf von Sydow
screenplay by Oliver Storz, Jochen Wedegärtner, based on the story by Anatolij Dnjeprow, music by Dieter Schönbach

review by
Mike Haberfelner

Dr Tourenne (Gerd Baltus) is convinced that humanitiy needs to cleanse itself the Darwinian way - and while this statement in itself sounds beyond dangerous, he has actually made up an experimental scenario to find out what's the best way to do it ... an experimental scenario involving robot crabs, crabs that feed on and can reproduce themselves from scrap metal. Soon enough, Wamsler (Hans Korte), head of the Atlantis foundation, grants Tourenne all the money he might need to conduct his experiments. The Atlantis foundation is a company pretending to work for the betterment of mankind but working hand in hand with the army, and in Tourenne's mechanic crabs that eat metal and reproduce, they only see a new weapon, something resembling a mechanic locust or something ...

Tourenne is dropped on an island with his crabs, plenty of scrap metal, his fiercest critic journalist Patrizia (Margot Werner) - who came along at his express request - and dim-witted jack-of-all-trades Jim (Nikolaus Dutsch) for a field experiment ... and while everything works out fine int he beginning, Patrizia soon gets so freaked out by the whole affair that she starts sabotaging the project, which only results in mutations that might prove quite lethal. Wamsler and the army soon drop out of the project, which leaves the door wide open for big business, which has long brought into the game by Wamsler's confidant Tattler (Hans Schulze) behind his back. And Jim, who always looked as if he couldn't put two and two together has of course long collaborated with Tattler - which makes both Tourenne and Patrizia mere pawns in the game they hoped to control ...

Self-reproducing crab robots might sound like the stuff trash science fiction is made from, but Die Insel der Krebse is actually a pretty intelligent film - too intelligent for its own good actually. Basically, the film does manage to make its points, but everytime it goes for satire it either completely misses its punchline or just talks down to its audience. Plus a very sterile direction with a bit too stagey performances keep this from ever coming to full bloom ...

review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

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