This Blu-ray from VCI Entertainment is available for purchase on April 21st, 2026.
If you’re like me, you grew up watching and enjoying low-budget drive-in features. Admittedly, I didn’t actually see a great many at the drive-in, but rather on late-night television and video. Many of these titles are what you might call flawed but fun, with rubbery-looking monsters terrorizing towns, and cast members delivering sometimes solid, but often stiff and unconvincing performances as they ward off the various threats.
The Crawling Hand and The Slime People are two independent science-fiction/monster movies from the same producer. They played as a double-feature at cinemas and drive-ins, slowly moving around the country for two-plus years and generally playing to teenagers. Like many other titles in the genre, they have developed a cult following over the years after playing on the big and small screen countless times and making an impression with their, well, unique approach to the monster movie.
VCI Entertainment is now releasing a set called the Creepy-Creature Double-Feature “Collector’s Edition” Blu-ray, which features 4K restorations of the movies and some entertaining extras. With a low price-point, improved image quality and some nice bonuses, any monster movie fans should appreciate this release.
The Crawling Hand is perhaps the better known of the two movies. The story begins with space program scientists Steve Curan (Peter Breck) and Max Weitzberg (Kent Taylor) receiving a message from an astronaut returning to Earth. They are told to destroy the ship by the pilot, and after some debate, actually do it. Later, they determine that the astronaut was infected by an alien. Oh well! Meanwhile in California, science student Paul Lawrence (Rod Laurer) and his Swedish girlfriend Marla Famstrom (Sirry Steffer) go running on the beach together and discover a severed arm. Paul decides to study the limb, sneaking it past the owner of the home he rents a room from. The hand goes on the rampage, attacking those it comes in contact with, and eventually possesses Paul. While trying to fight its influence over him, the scientists arrive and search for answers along with a local sheriff named Townsend (Alan Hale Jr.).
This is an entertainingly silly effort. The story logic makes little sense and the performances vary from capable to amusingly awkward, but it is a unique and creative effort, featuring plenty of memorable moments and a relatively quick pace. Some of the most amusing bits involve the hand moving around the house and a character just moving every time she is about to be grasped. It happens again, and again, and again becoming funnier and funnier as it progresses.
The dialogue is hilarious and earned plenty of yuks, both intentionally and accidentally. There are two ambulance attendants (Jock Putnam and Andy Andrews) who make a lasting impression when they show up to the scene of the crime and make bizarre comments while dealing with a dead body (there’s even some talk of raiding the fridge). They even appear again later in the title.
I was also amused by an elderly and very grouchy looking soda-shop owner (Syd Saylor) who seems irritated by his young clientele and is featured prominently during the movie’s most striking attack scene. The science babble from the leads is hilarious, with their investigation techniques coming across as less-than-smooth. And Alan Hale Jr. (Skipper from Gilligan’s Island!) is always entertaining to watch. Interestingly, you’ll also see Allison Hayes (Attack of the 50th Woman) appear briefly as the assistant to the scientists. It also made me laugh to realize that, for all the efforts of the characters hunting down the alien lifeform, they could have all stayed home and nothing different would have occurred.
This is a really enjoyable B-movie for those who appreciate endearingly cheesy cinema. The picture quality is exceptional on this release. It looks really sharp and clear, with only a minor scratch or two (that has likely always been on the source material) appearing across the entire feature. It’s a great transfer and the extras are also good.
There is a film historian commentary track that is very informative and gives a lot of background information about the production, the cast and the producer. Indeed, the speaker informs viewers that, for some strange reason, The Crawling Hand has really made a lasting impression on audiences (more so than the other title on the disc). They both did well at the box office, playing together for several years, but this effort also ended up being aired a lot on TV (during this commentary, the historian even plays a radio commercial for its broadcast in Chicago on Svengoolie). The authority goes on to try to explain why people still remember it fondly and dos an excellent job of expressing its appeal.
Additionally, there is a featurette about mid-century science-fiction films. This is the only element of this Blu-ray release that is lacking and bothered me. It’s quite short (less than five minutes) and generic in its explanation of the appeal of these kinds of features. And, at the end credits, sharp-eyed viewers will note that it was generated entirely with AI. Heck, you guys should have just sent a message my way and I would have been happy to narrate and give my impressions on drive-in sci-fi monster movies.
The Slime People is the second title on the set, and it isn’t as strong as the first title, but does make an impression with its unique, lumbering monsters from underground. The film begins with pilot Tom Gregory (Robert Hutton) landing in Los Angeles with engine trouble and finding the metropolis completely deserted. The city is encased in an inescapable cloud of fog and it is soon revealed that subterranean, spear-brandishing, bipedal reptile-creatures have risen to attack after being disturbed by underground atomic tests. Tom encounters science-authority Professor Galbraith (Robert Burton), his daughter Lisa (Susan Hart), her younger sister Bonnie (Judee Morton) and a marine (Les Tremayne). They all try to find a way out and stop the monsters while they are being pursued.
There are some fun moments here as well, as the group take refuge in a Los Angeles movie theater (where a pair of drunks seeking refuge also attack them), a television studio, and a butcher shop. The latter bit, with the characters running down a street and taking refuge in the building, might remind viewers of The Mist from Stephen King. It’s all absurd. The monsters are original and look interesting, but those suits are rather bulky and much of the film involves a lot of struggling and pushing the creatures down. There is also an odd segment in which Bonnie ends up being kidnapped by the creatures, and all of the protagonists, including her immediate family, don’t really seem as panicked as they should be given the circumstances.
This one isn’t as effective, but certainly features enough over-the-top material to make it worth watching. The image restoration is also very clear on this disc, but not quite as impressive as the previous title. It’s all because several sections of the film feature heavy fog. Some sequences look great and anything without mist is wonderful, but a few of the foggy ones have a pixilated and blocky appearance. At least, for the most part, most of it looks great and this is a strong upgrade over previous titles.
Bonuses include an excellent audio interview with a film historian and co-star Susan Hart (she later appeared in Ghost in the Invisible Bikini, Pajama Party, Ride the Wild Surf, Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine). She discusses being cast in the film and her excitement working with Robert Hutton, who had been in a lot of pictures in the 1940s and early 50s. She notes her surprise when she realized he was also directing the movie (it was his lone effort behind the camera, and she suggests that he realized that this position didn’t suit him, but that he was kind and determined to have a good time making it regardless). There is also a recollection shared that while everyone got on well, co-star Morton did not like her co-star Tremayne, whom she referred to as a bit arrogant and self-obsessed.
Hart also discussed seeing the picture for the first time with her brother, and how he helped her cope with the unusual experience. The actress goes into how unsettling it is to see yourself projected on a giant screen and how hyper-critical you are about yourself. She notes that she looked like she was trying to act in the picture, and that she at least took away the idea of trying to be more authentic and naturalistic in future roles.
The disc also contains a nifty poster gallery with some great images. And the sleeve for the disc is reversible. Early editions also comes packaged in a nice slipcover, although it lists the official title as Creepy Creature Double Feature (and not Creepy-Creatures Double-Feature).
As a B-movie enthusiast, I had a lot of fun revisiting The Crawling Hand and The Slime People in the Creepy-Creature Double-Feature Blu-ray. While I have noted a couple of caveats about the release, these are fun movies from a different era that offer a few memorable, standout moments and the disc provides a much stronger picture (definitely in the case of The Crawling Hand). Fans of these titles should pick it up!
