Here's a Fifties sci-fi horror/giant monster flick that lots of folks have seen but haven't really seen.  All they've been exposed to is either the chopped up commercial TV prints or the inappropriate "MSTing" of the self same print by that cancelled cable show.  But now the 'scoped Euro version of this flick has come out.  As a result, we can appreciate that this underappreciated little fright gem has so many real scares, creepy situations, and just plain monster fun that it's...

By JEFF BERES

(Note: This is the first of a two-part series on the horror and sci-fi/giant monster flicks made by Western actor Forrest Tucker in the UK during the Fifties.  The concluding article, concerning The Cosmic Monsters, runs in next month's issue.)

I told a friend of mine I was reviewing The Crawling Eye for HORROR-WOOD and he said, "Oh, I remember that movie. They showed it three times a day on Million Dollar Movie and five times on Saturdays."

I laughed, but thought about it later, and he wasn’t that far off. Million Dollar Movie, out of New York, showed the same film every day for a week. So it’s not unlikely we saw this movie a dozen times when we were kids.

The film was also "MSTed" by the Mystery Science Theater 3000 gang in November of 1989. And even though I don’t think it was a bad enough film to be "MSTed," I’ve watched The Crawling Eye episode at least two dozen times.

Now the film’s on DVD. And what a beautiful transfer the folks at Image Entertainment produced. The onscreen British rating is "X," not suitable for children under 16. The British were rather strict about horror movies after the war and it’s surprising that an "X" rated film in Britain would be shown in the US every afternoon, just in time for school kids like me to rush home and see it.

The onscreen title is The Trollenberg Terror, produced in 1958, starring Forrest Tucker (Allan Brooks), Lawrence Payne (Phillip Truscott), Jennifer Jayne (Sarah Pilgrim), Janet Munro (Anne Pilgrim) and Warren Mitchell (Prof. Crevett.) The script was written by Jimmy Sangster who’s famous for his work with Hammer. It was directed by Quentin Lawrence who also directed "The Trollenberg Terror" for British television in 1956.

When I was a kid, the very first scene scared the hell out of me. Two climbers watch a fellow climber plummet past them. When they pull him up, one of the climbers freaks out and lets go of the rope, telling the other climber that their friend’s head was ripped off. Decapitation was a frightening idea to an eight-year- old. In fact, almost every script I write includes a beheading. This film may be the source of that obsession.

We next join Anne and Sarah Pilgrim, a psychic sister act, traveling by train through Switzerland. Mysteriously, Anne insists they get off at Trollenberg, then she faints in the lap of Alan Brooks (Tucker). Brooks helps them get a room at the Hotel Europa, where he’s staying. Even though it’s the tourist season, the town is mysteriously empty. Anne then psychically sees the climbing accidents that occurred on the mountain. She seems to channel info from a cloud hovering on the side of the mountain.

In the hotel, Brooks introduces the women to Klein, the hotel owner, and Phillip Truscott, who seems to poke his nose into everyone’s business. Brooks later overhears Prescott checking into Brooks’ background. Hmmm.

Next we meet two climbers, Brett and Dewhurst. Dewhurst is a geologist investigating the climbing accidents and Brett is his guide. Dewhurst tells the others about another recent accident involving decapitation of a student. Hans, the bartender, makes it clear that the rope was still around the student’s waist when he was found; not around his neck.

Brooks then takes a cable car up the mountain to meet with his friend and radioactivity expert Prof. Crevett. This is apparently purpose of Brooks’ trip to Trollenberg. We learn that Brooks and Crevett have encountered this murderous cloud before in the Andes. Since no one believed them in the Andes incident, Brooks and Crevett are reluctant to tell the Trollenberg authorities that they think the cloud is responsible for these deaths. And of course the cloud is radioactive. Every film from the 50’s had to have radioactivity in it somehow. I think it was a law.

Back at the hotel that night, Anne and Sarah do their psychic act for the hotel guests. Sarah holds a paperweight of a snowy mountain behind her back. Anne reads Sarah’s mind, then foresees the death of Brett and Dewhurst. Then Anne passes out.

As Brooks and the others question Sarah, she admits they used to use tricks in the act but then they found out Anne was actually psychic. The professor tells Sarah to get Anne out of Trollenberg immediately.

These expositional scenes at the hotel depend entirely on good acting and direction to hold our interest. Every character is believable. And lots of low angles and careful lighting create a sense of foreboding.

Alan calls the hut. Dewhurst answers but the line goes dead. Immediately, the Professor gets a call that the cloud has moved away. In this case, we don’t have to see the monster. Our imaginations fill in the blanks. Another sign of a good film.

The next day, the citizens of Trollenberg form a search party and go to the hut on the side of the mountain looking for the climbers. Back at the hotel, Anne "sees" the search party coming, like she’s in the hut. The Professor explains to Sarah that Anne is picking up the Crawling Eye’s brain waves. Again, the Professor tells Sarah to take Anne away from Trollenberg. The cloud intends to kill her since she knows too much about it.

Shortly afterwards, Anne sneaks out of the hotel and takes the cable car to the mountain but is caught by one of the professor’s assistants.

At the hut, the search party discovers Dewhurst’s headless body. The bloody, headless body was pretty graphic for 1958.

When they return to the hotel, Brett shows up, acting strangely. The first chance he gets, he tries to kill Anne, but Brooks kills him first. Turns out Brett is already dead and the cloud is controlling him. What a creepy concept. The writer’s great idea of having the cloud animate the dead and try to kill Anne knocks this film up a notch into the realm of horror, like a collaboration between Edgar Alan Poe and H.P. Lovecraft.

Brooks and Crevett take everyone to the cable car so they can get to the armored observatory. Hans decides to try to drive through the cloud. And, of course, one little girl sneaks back into the hotel to get her ball. Brooks goes back to save her just as a creature breaks through the hotel door.

Now we get our first glimpse of the title creature. Even as a kid, I was disappointed by the special effects. The creature is a rear projection miniature with string operated arms on the set. The kid’s not scared, and neither are we.

Brooks saves the kid and they head to the observatory. Once they get there, Hans returns, claiming "it’s so hot." Uh-oh. In no time, Hans has his dead hands around Anne’s neck. Brooks saves her and notes that Brett and Hans both complained of the heat. He puts two and two together and realizes the creatures need extreme cold. So he calls in a fire bomb mission, which wipes the creatures out in miniature mayhem.

Miniatures weren’t this production company’s forte, unfortunately. When the planes firebombs the creatures, the flames and smoke give away the miniature set. As I kid, I let it slide, but as an adult, I couldn’t help but cringe.

Otherwise, the film works. Why? I think because of the wonderful acting, moody direction and a script that introduced horror elements in the second act.

Even though the climax was unconvincing, we feel we’ve already gotten our money’s worth from the beheadings and the reanimated dead.

So, if you get a chance, rent or buy this DVD. If you’re a baby boomer, you’ll remember the days of laying on the living room floor after school, getting your required dose of horror. Everyone else can enjoy this film for what it is; a creative, entertaining low-budget wonder.

Thanks, Jeff.  It's true, The Crawling Eye is pretty satisfying both as a Fifties horror movie and as a Fifties sci-fi monster movie (of the "bug-eyed" type).  Forget the MST 3K misuse of this film, it doesn't qualify for that.  Buy or rent the DVD and you'll have a lot more fun watching it than Joel and the 'bots did.  Even if the "monster attack" sequences fail to convince at the end, they still don't fail to entertain...we mean, those big ol' eyeballs get fried!  Add in the effectively creepy scenes and a bit of gore (revealed in the DVD's European version of the film) and that's just plain entertainment to us.  We can't wait to see Jeff's review of the other Forrest Tucker "giant monster" Fifties flick in next month's issue.

Article copyright © Jeff Beres

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