The Crawling Eye (1958) (aka The Trollenberg Terror)
(goes well with Them! and The Outer Limits)
Before Rod Serling appeared on the small screen with recurring stories of science fiction, audiences had to flock to B-movies for their fill. The 50s and 60s released an industry full of such fare. For movie night these are generally a safe bet with younger viewers. Typically the plots are simple and the visuals are full of monsters. If you get to your kids early enough they won’t even seem to notice the lack of realistic special effects and accept the films for what they were. Most are, as their genre name would imply, less than par but there are gems throughout the field. The Crawling Eye is one of them!
Opening with mountaineers witnessing their decapitated climbing buddy plummeting off the side of a remote Swiss mountain, this movie starts sharp. Eventually, we’re introduced to a pair of sister (one of which is psychic) and an American professor turn “I can handle it” tough guy type. When the psychic sister insists they stop a small town the setting moves mostly to the local inn, Hotel Europa. It turns out the American was headed there to talk to a professor who has been observing a radioactive cloud that sits completely stationary on the side of Trollenberg mountain. He explains his sightings from his, essentially, fortress of a laboratory. Re-enforced this, locks on that. If that’s not foreshadowing I don’t know what is! We also hear the fears of the locals with the recurring deaths of hikers on Mt. Trollenberg. We’re lead through another failed hiking expedition that hatches forth the horrible mystery hiding on the slopes. There be alien octopus cyclop monsters up there! The town must make it to the fortress… err.. laboratory before they are frozen to death by the radioactive cloud tentacle monsters.
With it’s simple plot (and somewhat convoluted psychic twist) the movie still works hard to create a polished product. Sets, acting and special effects were all executed well. The first scene when the creature is exposed (with a peering eye, big enough to fill a doorway causing all children in the room to scream “Eeeewwww!”) is fantastic. While the monsters are obviously puppets and even my 9 year old knew they were sitting and shaking on top of a model building, the pace and execution was enough to have both kids up cheering for the death of the monsters. As with most movies, even of this day and age, The Crawling Eye works best when it shows the least. A testament of the directing and editing in the film is the suspense created in the scene with two hikers at the cabin on the mountain. With their only connection to the outside world being a single phone the residents of Hotel Europa listen in vain while the cloud descends. I heard a couple groans from the children and a tightened grip around my left arm.
Apparently the film has a warning in the beginning that no one under 16 was to be admitted. I don’t know if this was promotional or decided upon by a ratings committee but it certainly shows how accepting we have become as the years go by. I will, however, throw out a warning to those with younger children or Puritan movie habits: there are a couple quick shots of headless victims and a couple townsfolk become possessed knife wielding psychopaths.
The kids enjoyed it. I’ve got a 10 year old daughter that always has to point out that a movie is black and white and then ask “Is it black and white?” but she settled in just fine once the victims started falling and the psychic sister was passing out. The Crawling Eye is one of the better of a niche, fan-boy genre of B-rated 50-60s monster movies. It even has the dubious honor of being the first movie Mystery Science Theater 3000 spoofed! How’s that for a promo?
Mom says: It’s worth watching.
Best Guess : 6+
Grown Up Score : B
Kid’s Grade : We liked it!