Monster fans, rejoice! This great-looking DVD from Image offers us the baby boomer favorite "The Trollenberg Terror," from 1958, with the original, NONspoiler British title that is so much more preferable to the American appellation: "The Crawling Eye." In the film, sturdy as always Forrest Tucker plays Alan Brooks, a U.N. physicist/investigator (or something on that order...after two recent viewings, I'm still not clear on that point) who comes to the Swiss village of Trollenberg to investigate a recent string of mysterious deaths, as well as the radioactive, stationary cloud that hovers over a nearby mountain. Viewers must wait a full hour before getting a look at the title creatures, during which time they should be amply entertained by the plight of Janet Munro's character--a pretty young woman who is in telepathic contact with the creatures--and by the zombie cat's-paw who is sent by the unseen foes to do their bidding. The viewer's patience is ultimately rewarded by some of the most memorable-looking monsters in screen history; creatures that are fondly remembered by all baby boomers who watched the classic '60s TV show "Supernatural Theatre," which showed the crawling eye expand each week during its opening credits. Though filmed on the cheap, these aliens look impressively yucky. The picture, on the whole, is uniformly well acted by all (Tucker, especially, underplays his role nicely), Stanley Black's subtle yet eerie score works wonders in ratcheting up the tension, and director Quentin Lawrence keeps things moving along briskly. I find this to be a quality example of horrific sci-fi, despite the lack of top-tier FX, and not at all campy (well, perhaps a bit cheesy!). And thanks to this great new print from Image, we may never see "The Trollenberg Terror" look any better. Reason to rejoice, indeed!
Review of The Crawling Eye
