This is exactly the kind of low budget laugh fest that has fans of Fifties/Sixties schlock in Nirvana. A cadre of random b-movie superstars, all taking the whole absurd premise 110% seriously, a classic sci-fi/horror movie idea of disembodied body parts going on a rampage, cheap jack production, and the rocking awesomeness of "The Bird's The Word" by The Rivingtons (heard several times during the show). That's the precursor to the even more incredible "Surfin' Bird" by The Trashmen, so I'll have to give the producers thumbs up for good taste in music.
An astronaut on his way back from the moon is possessed by...something. Something which is never explained, but it gives him a bad case of excess eyeliner. He begs mission control to blow up him and his spaceship, by pressing the red button (if I can quote Daffy Duck, "No! Not the wed button!") and they do so. The Head of the space agency deals with the loss of his colleague the only way that guys in bad potboilers from the 1950's can: he throws stuff and smokes a lot of cigarettes.
Meanwhile, the astronaut's shredded hand and lower arm has somehow survived burning up in the atmosphere, and lands on a California beach, where budding med student Paul and his Swedish exchange student girlfriend find it. (What is it about foreign exchange student girlfriends in these cheap movies? THE GIANT GILA MONSTER has a French exchange student girlfriend. I guess if you hire a low-cost foreign actress looking to "break into the biz" you have to turn her into a foreign exchange student to have her presence there make any kind of sense.) Paul is a naughty boy and takes the severed arm home for further study. Once there, it promptly possesses him and causes him to kill his landlady.
Then, guys from the Space agency show up in town, investigating the possible rogue hand. Alan Hale, the local Sheriff, wants them to stop putting their noses where they don't belong in his investigation. Can they stop the murderous Paul before it's too late? This whole thing is a riot, and appropriately, was covered by the gang at Mystery Science Theatre 3000. That version will cost you money to see, but the original version (thanks to the Public Domain) is free for streaming here online. At that price (nothing) it is certainly worth a watch. Grab the popcorn and turn off your brain.
Oh, and the ending is one of those classic "The End?" cop-outs so favored by 1950's sci-fi B-movies. Okay, they don't actually use the question mark there, but it's implied. I guarantee you will get some yucks out of this film.
An astronaut on his way back from the moon is possessed by...something. Something which is never explained, but it gives him a bad case of excess eyeliner. He begs mission control to blow up him and his spaceship, by pressing the red button (if I can quote Daffy Duck, "No! Not the wed button!") and they do so. The Head of the space agency deals with the loss of his colleague the only way that guys in bad potboilers from the 1950's can: he throws stuff and smokes a lot of cigarettes.
Meanwhile, the astronaut's shredded hand and lower arm has somehow survived burning up in the atmosphere, and lands on a California beach, where budding med student Paul and his Swedish exchange student girlfriend find it. (What is it about foreign exchange student girlfriends in these cheap movies? THE GIANT GILA MONSTER has a French exchange student girlfriend. I guess if you hire a low-cost foreign actress looking to "break into the biz" you have to turn her into a foreign exchange student to have her presence there make any kind of sense.) Paul is a naughty boy and takes the severed arm home for further study. Once there, it promptly possesses him and causes him to kill his landlady.
Then, guys from the Space agency show up in town, investigating the possible rogue hand. Alan Hale, the local Sheriff, wants them to stop putting their noses where they don't belong in his investigation. Can they stop the murderous Paul before it's too late? This whole thing is a riot, and appropriately, was covered by the gang at Mystery Science Theatre 3000. That version will cost you money to see, but the original version (thanks to the Public Domain) is free for streaming here online. At that price (nothing) it is certainly worth a watch. Grab the popcorn and turn off your brain.
Oh, and the ending is one of those classic "The End?" cop-outs so favored by 1950's sci-fi B-movies. Okay, they don't actually use the question mark there, but it's implied. I guarantee you will get some yucks out of this film.