The Crawling Eye

A mysterious radioactive cloud hovers on the side of the Trollenberg mountain but no cloud should be at that altitude. In an observatory atop the mountain scientists monitor the behavior of the cloud. Forrest Tucker, who has seen such a cloud before, arrives to investigate. When townspeople start disappearing the cloud appears suspect.

This movie isn't that bad but the monster creatures are so poorly done, they are truly cheesy and the ending reminds me of when I was a boy and used to light plastic army men on fire in the backyard and watch them melt. Just film that and you have the special effects for this film.

The opening scene certainly grabs your attention. There is some nice photography of the Swiss Alps. The acting is fine. Janet Munro is an eye full as the extremely cute psychic who gets manipulated by the monsters.

Crawling Eyes/Trollenberg Terror is a British horror film of the 50's like Day of the Triffids and the Quatermass films.

Not every monster to come out of the fifties was a guy in a rubber suit or a double exposed giant something-or-other. This effective British thriller offers one of the most original monsters ever. The creatures are aliens looking to colonise our planet but first they have to lower the temperature and eliminate one small obstacle . . .us! The cyclopean, tentacled terrors are prone to tearing off the heads of their victims but they possess the technology to kill certain Earth people and bring them back from the dead to do their bidding. Interestingly, the creatures brain waves are easily intercepted by anyone with even latent psychic abilities. This makes Janet Munro our required damsel-in-distress from not only the monsters but from the man (Andrew Faulds) they reanimate to get rid of her. Luckily this movie has two heroes, rough hewn Forrest Tucker (to make the movie appealing to American audiences) and British Lawrence Payne (later to star in Hammer's VAMPIRE CIRCUS). Okay I have a question. Midway through the film we see 2 mountain climbers, Brett and Dewhurst, halfway up the mountain where the aliens are. They take shelter in a small cabin. During the night Brett hears the aliens telepathic call and wanders up the mountain alone. Later Dewhurst gets up to look for him and (I guess) sees one of the aliens coming toward the cabin. He quickly bolts the door but then turns around and screams. Later a search party has to break down the front door and they find Dewhurst dead with his head torn off. WHAT THE HECK GOT HIM? The cabin is intact, not even a window broken, so how in the world did the alien monster kill him? And how does Dewhurst's head get inside the knapsack of Brett who is miles away? No, it isn't Brett who kills him because he could not have gotten into the cabin either. It is indeed a scary moment but very implausible if you stop to think about it. The rest of the movie is very good and quite memorable. Way back in 1957 it played on a double bill with THE STRANGE WORLD OF PLANET X (a/k/a COSMIC MONSTERS) in America. That was a bit before my time and now I am kind of sorry I missed the era of the drive-in. Thank goodness for home video.

I happen to think this is one of the more enjoyable films I have seen that was made in the 1950's. Deep down it is typical 50's "mutated monster" fare but it really is so much more. A strange mist overtakes an Alpine village and turns out to be a decapitating giant eyeball. It sounds pretty hokey I know and the special effects are poor but it was the 1950's afterall and there is a fair amount of blood that is featured which was a surprise to me. When the two hikers are found dead you can see their bloody, mangled faces. And in one decapitation scene you can see the blood flying. The performances are fine in this one including a robust performance from the great Forrest Tucker. Plenty of atmosphere in this one also. All in all I would highly recommend this one. It's a lot of harmless fun and when not taken seriously, as it seems to have been by some of the reviewers here, it is a highly enjoyable film.

When I first saw this movie as a kid, it really scared me. But when I finally got it on tape and saw it uncut . . . those eyes were not nearly as scary as I remembered. Some highlights: In the beginning, on the train, watch Forrest Tucker's newspaper. The plot moves along pretty well, one of the best scenes takes place in a cabin, where an unsuspecting climber suddenly finds himself alone when his friend takes a midnight stroll. As he is talking to Forrest Tucker at the lodge he hears . . . a noise outside! Has his friend returned? Go ahead, stupid, open the door. AHHHH! What is it? The line goes dead. They find him later, but he's lost his head. When we finally we get to see these creatures, one is trying to steal a little girl's ball, along with the little girl. With everyone crowded in the halls of the observatory, our hero and his scientific side-kick decide to bomb their uninvited guests. "Bomb a cloud?" Neat bomb. It leaves the eyes dripping and in need of eye drops. It doesn't hurt the building, even though it was a direct hit on the roof. Oh, and there WAS that hole in the wall made by an eye trying to grab Janet Murno. See this movie. It's a real "eyeful."

I saw this film, The Crawling Eye, on TV as a kid back in the very early 60s. Scared me to death. They keep the goodies from you until almost the end. Creepy. Kind of gross. I remember the mountain climbers at the very beginning of the flick: Why did you let go of the rope? Didn't you see him? His head was gone!! Don't miss this one- it's fun.