Search - The Crawling Eye (Widescreen European Edition) on DVD

Alan B. from MIDDLEBORO, MA
Reviewed on 6/15/2010...

For a horror/sci-fi movie of this era (late 50's) this was way better than I expected. Sure the effects were cheesy, but the acting, directing, and script were not bad at all. Very creepy. This movie has the added attraction of being the first movie MST3K did on Comedy Central. (Obviously the MST3K version is not included on this disc.)

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The best giant, killer, space eyeball movie you'll ever see

cookieman108 | Inside the jar... | 04/05/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The Crawling Eye (1958) had numerous monikers like The Creeping Eye, The Flying Eye, and even Creature from Another World, but started out as a British television serial titled The Trollenberg Terror (this is the title that appears in the beginning of this version of the film). Apparently the series was popular enough to warrant the making of film versions for European and American distribution. The film stars Forrest Tucker, who, while not an original member of the series, was brought in by the British studios in order to better promote the film in America. Original series actors that transferred from the television version to the film version were Janet Munro and Laurence Payne.

The film starts off with three climbers on the side of a mountain, and one of the climbers suffers a serious case of death from the loss of his head (off-screen). The other two freak out and then we cut to three characters on a train, two being the Pilgrim sisters Sarah (Jennifer Jayne) and Anne (Janet Munro) while the third being Alan Brooks (Forrest Tucker). All three get off at the same stop, and make for a hotel near the base of the Swiss Alps. Brooks arrived at the request of a friend, Professor Crevett (Warren Mitchell), who works in a nearby observatory and has disturbing news. The two sisters, one with telepathic abilities (Munro's character), are inexplicably drawn to the mountain. We soon learn that something is stealing mountain climber's heads, leading some villagers to believe an abominable snowman with a guillotine is on the loose, aptly called `The De-Nogginizer' (okay, no one said it, but I thought it). Brooks makes his way to the observatory and meets with his friend Professor Crevett. Crevett gives Brooks the ten cent tour, bragging on and on about his wonderfully amazing, technologically advanced and highly fortified observatory to which Brooks cuts it shorts and asks why he was dragged out here. Dr. Crevett shows Brooks a cloud on the mountain, and makes a reference to a shared past experience and believes there is a link to the cloud and the recent spate of deaths on the mountain. Turns out there is...

Not much point in going into the story too much more, spoiling the fun for everyone, but I will tell you this, there are more deaths by beheading, giant eyeball creatures, zombies, mysterious ice clouds, and some other cool surprises. As silly as all this sounds, the overall sense of the film is serious...even though the viewer will break out into laughter, especially at the special effects. The tentacled eyeball creatures various appearances just do not allow for the keeping of a straight face. I couldn't help wonder if they had kept the mystique of the fog, revealing less about what was inside, if that would have made the film much more scary than it was...the tension was certainly there up until the point when the creatures were revealed, as the cloud hid its' secrets well, prowling the mountain, signaling death was coming. Well, being the 50's, you needed some fantastic creature, be it giant eyeballs, flying brains, or disembodied hands. If you didn't, you were pretty much cheating the audience. I really enjoyed the number of elements involved in the story, and how nicely these things were tied together. That's not to say everything works and there are no plot holes, but the film is tight, and any missing plot points are minor and not very detectable. This film is just all out 50' sci-fi fun, much in the vein of another movie that came out in the same year, Fiend Without a Face. Cornball? Maybe, but certainly worth watching. Forrest Tucker is great taking time off from his usual westerner/action films to star here. He certainly doesn't seem to fit the part in the beginning; at least to me, but as the film progresses, he makes it work, like pounding a square peg into a round hole. Janet Munro is attractive, and I had just recently saw her in The day the Earth Caught Fire (1961), but the real eye catcher was the actress who played the character of her sister, Sarah Pilgrim, Jennifer Jayne. Yowsa! Along with being an actress, I found out she is also a writer, and is responsible for (as Jay Fairbanks) the comedy/horror/musical Son of Dracula (1974) starring Harry Nilsson, Ringo Starr, and a slew of other musical talents.

Image and Wade Williams present a really nice looking wide screen print here. The picture is crisp and clear, and suffers little deterioration. Also, this is the European edition; hence the beginning credits stating The Trollenberg Terror as the title. A trailer is available on the disc, but it certainly suffered the ravages of time, looking very worn and damaged. There is also liner notes written by journalist, columnist, film historian, radio and television commentator David Del Valle, who is considered to be one of the leading authorities on the horror/science-fiction/cult and fantasy film genres. If you can find a better giant, killer eyeballs from space movie I'd like to see it.

Cookieman108"

My favorite sci-fi movie of all time.

Steven Hellerstedt | 10/03/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I saw this film as a child and it really scared me. It doesn't scare me any more, but I still love it. It has a great script, excellent directing, and really cool monsters. The horror begins gradually with mountain climbers disappearing and later being found with their heads ripped off. Enter Forrest Tucker (star of many fims and the TV series F troop)as a U.N official dragged into the investigation of the "accidents." Also starring in the film is the lovely Janet Munro as a psychic who can communicate with the aliens. The tension builds up as the cloud, where the monsters hide, gradually moves towards the local village. The first appearance of the giant, crawling monsters with one eye is superb. Although the limited special effects show in the climactic scene as the besieged humans fight back with Molotov cocktails, it is still first rate. Trivia note: following this film Janet Munro would do a series of Walt Disney flicks including Darbey O'Gill and the Little People (where she sings a duet with Sean Connery!), and Swiss Family Robinson. She would also star in the sci-fi classic The Day the Earth Caught Fire."

His head! It was... torn off!

Steven Hellerstedt | 07/02/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"There's a radioactive cloud, a mutation (great, great big crawling eyes), an isolated Swiss village named Trollenberg, a dyad of diverting cuties (Jennifer Jayne and Janet Munro as the Pilgrim sisters), and Forrest Tucker. Mountain climbers are experiencing the weird and mysterious in and around the radioactive cloud that clings - "It's not moving, Alan!" - to the western face of the mountaintop and the alarmed scientist (Warren Mitchell) in his state-of-the-art aerie laboratory - there are two television cameras on the roof! - is worried. Remember the Andes Incident, Alan...?
The cover art on the dvd jacket kept me from opening this one for about three months. Radioactive mutations may have been all the rage in the `50s - THE CRAWLING EYE, a.k.a. THE TROLLENBERG TERROR, was made in 1958 - but I'm not much of a fan of the genre. I expected to loathe this one, or maybe, if I was lucky, it would be mildly amusing.
So it was with a great deal of surprise that I found myself caught up in this story. I enjoyed it quite a bit. The script contained real tension and the situations weren't nearly as absurd as I feared they'd be. Even the special effects, though primitive, were relatively effective. Especially the first on-screen appearance of the eye - although later, during the `March of the Crawling Eyes' sequence the tattiness of the special effects unfortunately imposes itself.
Forrest Tucker plays Alan Brooks, a man with vague ties to the investigative arm of the United Nations. Janet Munro is Anne Pilgrim, a stage psychic with a seeming ability to communicate with whatever is contained within that radioactive cloud. There are assorted other interesting characters - the scientist in his fortress laboratory, a town full of frightened villagers, and enough foolhardy mountain climbers who scoff at danger and, if they don't find themselves with their heads ripped off at the roots, return with a weird and wild look, a lose of depth perception and an inability to tolerate a warm room.
THE CRAWLING EYE is one of those rare movies that should entertain the whole family. Don't let the opening title card announcing the production company - Eros Films and the Censor Board's title - Approved for audiences, no child under 16 allowed - concern you. No obscenities are uttered, no clothes are removed, and no unseemly act of violence is committed.
The dvd comes with a two-page booklet with a bit of information on the film, a dark, blurry and scratched original trailer and 3- count `em 3- stills, which look like simple screen capture shots. The transfer print is in very good condition. Solid entertainment.

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