One thing I have to give "The Crawling Eye" is originality. Though the title characteer does not appear till near the end of the film, what comes befoe succeeds in building up tension and suspense. We know there is a meanacing cloud atop Mount Trollenberg, that it moves, and that climbers who vanish into it never come out. Why?
Supposedly, this inspired John Carpenter's 1980 film, "The Fog." And, I wouldn't be surprised if Stephen King's 2007 film, "The Mist," (where Marcia Gay Harden walked off with the film, as Mrs.Carmody) came from this, too.
Janet Munro gives the film's best performance, as Ann Pilgrim, the telephathically gifted traveler, who stops in Trollenberg, with her sister, Sarah (Jennifer Jaynes). Janet at once channels Jennifer Jones as Bernadette, Audrey Hepburn, and Leslie Caron, till the viewer does not know what the hell she is doing.
Again, the question must be asked--how did American B-actor, Forrest Tucker, get involved in this British cheapie? This is not "Black Narcissus," darlings; the art direction of the mountains, the cloud, and the climbers on cheap sets, show a lack of art direction, let alone innovation.
The rest of the actors are props.
But--the filmi is worth sitting through for the most orginal monster, next to "Cucumbo" in "It Conquered The World." And how does a mother lose her child? The scene where the litttle girl gets entangled in The Crawling Eye is hilarious; she screams, as if even she knows the whole thing is a joke. Credit to the person who created, and those who designed, this monster--or monsters, as it turns out to be.
This was so much fun, after several decades. It will never see the lights of Broadway, as a musical, but don't miss this cheesey thiing when you have the chance!
I think all opthamalogists should be required to see it!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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