{"id":10522,"date":"2016-02-06T11:22:44","date_gmt":"2016-02-06T19:22:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=10522"},"modified":"2016-02-06T11:22:44","modified_gmt":"2016-02-06T19:22:44","slug":"gregs-movie-night-the-crawling-eye","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=10522","title":{"rendered":"‘s Movie Night: The Crawling Eye"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Crawling Eye<\/b> (1958) (aka The Trollenberg Terror)<\/span><\/p>\n

(goes well with Them! and The Outer Limits)<\/span><\/p>\n

Before Rod Serling appeared on the small screen with recurring stories of science fiction, audiences had to flock to B-movies for their fill. \u00a0The 50s and 60s released an industry full of such fare. \u00a0For movie night these are generally a safe bet with younger viewers. \u00a0Typically the plots are simple and the visuals are full of monsters. \u00a0If you get to your kids early enough they won\u2019t even seem to notice the lack of realistic special effects and accept the films for what they were. \u00a0Most are, as their genre name would imply, less than par but there are gems throughout the field. \u00a0The Crawling Eye is one of them!
\n\"the_crawling_eye_by_abonny-d5ipjaz\"<\/a>
\nOpening with mountaineers witnessing their decapitated climbing buddy plummeting off the side of a remote Swiss mountain, this movie starts sharp. \u00a0Eventually, we\u2019re introduced to a pair of sister (one of which is psychic) and an American professor turn \u201cI can handle it\u201d tough guy type. \u00a0When the psychic sister insists they stop a small town the setting moves mostly to the local inn, Hotel Europa. \u00a0It 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. \u00a0He explains his sightings from his, essentially, fortress of a laboratory. \u00a0Re-enforced this, locks on that. \u00a0If that\u2019s not foreshadowing I don\u2019t know what is! \u00a0We also hear the fears of the locals with the recurring deaths of hikers on Mt. Trollenberg. \u00a0We\u2019re lead through another failed hiking expedition that hatches forth the horrible mystery hiding on the slopes. \u00a0There be alien octopus cyclop monsters up there! \u00a0The town must make it to the fortress\u2026 err.. laboratory before they are frozen to death by the radioactive cloud tentacle monsters.<\/span><\/p>\n

With it\u2019s simple plot (and somewhat convoluted psychic twist) the movie still works hard to create a polished product. \u00a0Sets, acting and special effects were all executed well. \u00a0The 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 \u201c<\/span>Eeeewwww<\/span><\/i>!\u201d) is fantastic. \u00a0While 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. \u00a0As with most movies, even of this day and age, The Crawling Eye works best when it shows the least. \u00a0\u00a0A 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. \u00a0With their only connection to the outside world being a single phone the residents of Hotel Europa listen in vain while the cloud descends. \u00a0I heard a couple groans from the children and a tightened grip around my left arm.<\/span>
\n\"12094271964_fc75a75dfd_b\"<\/a>
\nApparently the film has a warning in the beginning that no one under 16 was to be admitted. \u00a0I don\u2019t 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. \u00a0I 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. <\/span><\/p>\n

The kids enjoyed it. \u00a0I\u2019ve got a 10 year old daughter that always has to point out that a movie is black and white and then ask \u201cIs it black and white?\u201d but she settled in just fine once the victims started falling and the psychic sister was passing out. \u00a0The Crawling Eye is one of the better of a niche, fan-boy genre of B-rated 50-60s monster movies. \u00a0It even has the dubious honor of being the first movie Mystery Science Theater 3000 spoofed! \u00a0How\u2019s that for a promo?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

Mom says: It\u2019s worth watching.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

Best Guess<\/b> : 6+<\/span><\/p>\n

Grown Up Score<\/b> : B<\/span><\/p>\n

Kid\u2019s Grade<\/b> : We liked it!<\/span> <\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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. \u00a0The 50s and 60s released an industry full of such fare. \u00a0For movie night these are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":10523,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[8635,9319,11676,17775],"class_list":["post-10522","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-feature-articles","tag-gregs-movie-night","tag-horror","tag-kids-movies","tag-science-fiction"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10522","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10522"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10522\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10522"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10522"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10522"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}