THE CRAWLING HAND is a 1963 cheapie from schlockmeister Herbert L. Strock, the man responsible for such classic genre fare as BLOOD OF DRACULA (1957), I WAS A TEENAGE FRANKENSTEIN (1957), and it’s sequel HOW TO MAKE A MONSTER (1958). While Strock’s gimmick of mixing familiar horror themes with rebellious teen appeal ensured success at the box office, THE CRAWLING HAND fails to score in that regard. However, the movie features a great B-movie cast led by Kent (BLOOD OF GHASTLY HORROR) Tailor as the secretive scientist, Dr. Weitzberg; Peter (SWORD AND THE SORCERER) Breck as the angst ridden leader of a besieged rocket base, Steve Curran; Rod (THE BLACK ZOO) Lauren as Paul, the teenage host body for a mysterious alien force; Shapely German actress Sirry Steffen as Paul’s squeeze, Mirta; The 50 foot woman herself Alison Hayes as the character of Donna; and Alan Hale Jr. (the Skipper from GILLIGAN’S ISLAND) plays the over-protective Sheriff Townsend. Even if the movie plays like an antique episode of THE X-FILES, the cast themselves provide plenty of camp value. Rhino Home Video releases THE CRAWLING EYE on a no-frills budget DVD to compete with Image, Anchor Bay, and others.

A perturbed space center commander Steve (Breck) waits as another of his astronauts perish in deep space. Steve calls in to space scientist Dr. Weitzberg (Tailor) to come investigate the mysterious circumstances surrounding these deaths. The two team up to solve the crisis, and are shocked to discover that the astronaut is still alive in space, even when he should be dead. The disturbed astronaut manages to get a message back to Earth: he wants them to blow up the ship and put and end to his pain. Dr. Weitzberg remotely destroys the rocket, putting the man out of his misery. Meanwhile, two young teenagers Paul (Lauren) and Mirta (Steffen) frolic like lovesick teenagers on the beach, until they discover a disembodied arm that has fallen from that now non-existent spaceship. Paul happens to be a medical student, and thinks nothing of taking the limb back with him to his dorm. But before Paul can take the arm to the authorities, it influences his behavior. The arm kills the dorm mistress, and this unexplained death prompts Steve and Dr. Weitzberg to travel to Steve’s town to get some answers. By the time they arrive, the alien force has completely possessed Paul, changing him into a dangerous killer. Steve and Dr. Weitzberg hook up with the paranoid Sheriff Townsend (Hale, Jr.) to chase Paul down, and learn about the alien menace that is growing stronger all the time.

Despite being one cheap little film, Herbert L. Strock still manages to apply his signature combination of teen angst and schlock horror into THE CRAWLING HAND. Strock also deftly balances the mood between atmospheric and unintentional camp. The campiest things in the film are the special effects, of course. We are treated to numerous clumsy shots of a stuntman’s hand stalking and choking its victims. The fully possessed Rod Lauren boasts makeup consisting of black eyeliner that couldn’t scare a two year old. There are some non-FX related moments though that stick in your memory. On one scene, two smarmy ambulance attendants haul off an unconscious Rod Lauren, and the dead corpse of his dorm lady; when Rod wakes up during transit, he witnesses the deceased dorm lady (possessed by the mysterious space force) awaken and stare at him. This ‘awakening corpse’ was pretty shocking for 1963 and foreshadows similar bits from Romero’s zombie films. THE CRAWLING HAND has one major hurdle that it fails to overcome, and that is the slack pacing which deflates any suspense. The setup for the kill scenes go on forever, and much too much time is spent trying to scientifically explains the unearthly events. The movie has the feel of one overlong THE OUTER LIMITS episode, with a mysterious space force that animates a disembodied arm and possesses human beings. THE CRAWLING HAND is also a blueprint for THE X-FILES as there are plenty of unscrupulous government types, FBI agents, and overzealous law enforcement officials wandering around.

THE CRAWLING HAND is presented full frame (1.33.1), as this is how it was originally projected at theaters. The source materials are in commendable condition, barring the expected grain. Print damage is minimal, with only occasional blemishing. The image is sharp and clear, with a perfect balance of black & white hues. The blacks are nearly perfect. The movie’s best special effect is the super-stacked Sirry Steffan; this actress will get your pulse racing faster than anything else in this flick. The soundtrack is Dolby Digital Mono 2.0 which is a bit low, especially with the vocals. Compare this mono soundtrack with the one on Columbia Tristar’s 13 GHOSTS (which was filmed around the same time) and you’ll notice quite a difference. Anyway, the soundtrack is full of spooky audio effects and bad 1950’s rock music (this is a teen movie, after all). The soundtrack gets the job done, but the vocals are too low in the mix. This is a budget DVD, and so don’t expect any extras other than a main menu and chapter selection.

THE CRAWLING HAND has its moments, but its overlong running time (which could be cut by about 20 minutes) turns this one into a snoozer. Interesting B movie casting, though. People into MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000 should get a kick out of this one. Rhino’s DVD is lacking any bells and whistles, but for the budget price, this is a pretty good transfer. The low dialog is the only technical weak spot on the DVD but otherwise a solid budget disc

THE CRAWLING HAND is available from DVDEmpire.com.

THE CRAWLING HAND (M.S.T. 3000 version) is available from DVDEmpire.com

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