The Crawling Eye (1958) – Review

A series of murders in a remote location is standard fill for an Agatha Christie mystery but with 1958’s The Crawling Eye cinema-goers were treated to a mystery with a bit of a twist, one that would see a group of heroes facing off against a truly terrifying killer.

Originally a British television mini-series called The Trollenberg Terror – which is the original title of this movie – the plot of this movie deals with a series of decapitations on a Swiss mountainside and that of United Nations troubleshooter Alan Brooks (Forest Tucker) who has a “holiday” set aside when he’s pulled in to solve the mystery. Joining in on the mystery are two sisters, Anne (Janet Munro) and Sarah Pilgrim (Jennifer Jayne), who are a mind-reading act that finds their trip to Geneva interrupted when Anne faints and becomes plagued with images of death and horror up on the Swiss mountain Trollenberg, and for some reason, this results in her insisting they get off the train at Trollenberg and book a hotel room.

 

“Sis, how about we stop for a bit of terror and death?”

Alan Brooks suspects that the recent deaths up on the Trollenberg are related to a series of similar incidents which occurred three years earlier in the Andes Mountains, which involved an unexplained radioactive mist and an odd cloud formation believed by locals to be inhabited. Brooks plans a trip to Trollenberg’s observatory to meet with Professor Crevett (Warren Mitchell) a renowned scientist who believes that a stationary and possibly radioactive cloud is responsible for several deaths up on the mountain but Brooks dismisses the idea as he’s already had his reputation damaged by prior claims that couldn’t be proven. Still, later, Anne and Sarah put on a mind-reading demonstration back at the hotel which leads to Anne having a horrifying vision of mountain climbers Brett (Andrew Faulds) and Dewhurst (Stuart Saunders) being led to their deaths.

 

Add this to my reasons for never climbing a mountain.

Dewhurst is found decapitated and Brett murders two members of a search party, who had found Dewhurst’s severed head in his backpack, and he then shows up at the hotel to try and murder poor Anne. But what could be causing such behaviour? Well, it turns out that the cloud hovering around the mountain is cover for the evil machinations of an alien invasion. Anne has become a target because her psychic abilities are a threat to their mission – that or they are just jealous that she can make money off of this talent while all they can do is hang around mountaintops – but before you can say “War of the Worlds” Brooks has figured out that the aliens have a weakness for heat, so after a few Molotov cocktails are made and a call to an Airforce bombing wing is made the alien threat is flambé.

 

“I love the smell of burning aliens in the morning, it smells like cheese.”

Stray Observations:

• One of the young climbers refers to The Abominable Snowman, which was a Hammer Film that also starred Forest Tucker.
• Aliens clearly love resurrecting and controlling dead bodies, having done so in such films as Plan Nine from Outer Space and The Invisible Invaders.
• The monster from The Crawling Eye makes an appearance in Stephen King’s horror novel “It” as a creature the children run into in the sewers during the 1958 segment of the novel.
• It’s no surprise that creatures hidden in the clouds, stalking a group of people, were partly the inspiration for John Carpenter’s film The Fog (1980).
• Jordan Peele’s Nope also dealt with a mysterious creature that hid behind a movie cloud. When you think Hollywood had popped out an original concept, we find it was done decades earlier.
• I can buy an alien creature with mental powers and the propensity to rip people’s heads off a lot more than I can the idea of a base camp up on a mountain having a phone line.
• This film contains one of my least favourite tropes, where a little kid will drop a toy and later return for it and thus encounter the monster/threat of the day.

 

 Not to sound callous, but there’s a thing called Natural Selection.

Directed by Quentin Lawrence, The Crawling Eye stands as a quintessential relic of its time, embodying both the charm and limitations of 1950s science fiction cinema. While revered by some as a cult classic, a critical examination reveals a film that struggles to transcend its formulaic narrative and technical constraints. At its core, the film follows a conventional sci-fi horror template: a group of characters, including an intrepid hero and a resourceful heroine, confront a mysterious and malevolent force in a remote location. In this case, the setting is a Swiss mountain village besieged by ominous fog and unseen terrors lurking within. While this premise has the potential for intrigue, the execution falls short of delivering a truly gripping narrative as the menace doesn’t prove all that threatening in the end.

 

A sharp stick would end this threat pretty easily.

The real stars of the show, however, are the titular crawling eyes—glowing orbs of menace that lurk in the misty Alps. Picture it, a bunch of grown adults cowering in fear from what can only be described as illuminated beach balls with a vendetta. It’s like a game of dodgeball gone intergalactic, only with an enemy that can be thwarted by a liberal dose of lit gasoline. While commendable for its time, the creature’s design and execution appear crude and laughable at times and the puppets used for titular crawling eyes, portrayed as glowing orbs surrounded by mist, fail to evoke genuine fear or suspense, detracting from the film’s intended horror elements. Additionally, the reliance on off-screen violence and implied threats further diminishes the impact of the creature encounters, resulting in a sense of detachment rather than visceral terror.

 

“My dear, there is nothing to fear but fear itself, also one-eyed puppet monsters.”

Despite these criticisms, The Crawling Eye possesses certain redeeming qualities that merit acknowledgement. The atmospheric cinematography by Monty Berman is excellent, particularly the use of mist-shrouded mountain landscapes, creating an eerie and foreboding ambience that effectively enhances the film’s sense of dread. Likewise, the film’s evocative score by Stanley Black contributes to the overall mood, heightening tension during key sequences. On the acting front, Forrest Tucker delivers a solid performance as the intrepid scientist, anchoring the film with his unwavering determination and rationality. Janet Munro does a great job as Anne Pilgrim, injecting the character with a sense of agency and resilience that defies the era’s conventions of female roles in genre cinema.

Note: The character of Alan Brooks is not to be found in the original television mini-series but to get an American distribution deal Forest Tucker’s character was created.

In conclusion, while The Crawling Eye holds nostalgic appeal for enthusiasts of vintage sci-fi cinema, its critical merits are overshadowed by formulaic storytelling and technical shortcomings. It is a fun genre entry with its atmospheric setting and intriguing premise – even if its titular monster is less than effective – so there is a lot to enjoy from this genre entry. As such, it remains a curious artifact of its time, best appreciated within the context of 1950s sci-fi cinema rather than as a groundbreaking work in its own right.