THE CRAWLING HAND (1963)
Tagline: It Came From Outer Space!
(Horror, Sci-Fi, Hey…Watch Your Hand!) [PG-13]
Note: This movie was not given an MPA rating, but would have likely gotten a PG-13. On streaming services, it is rated TV-14.
Operator long distance please! I'd like call a Dr. Max Weitzberg in Washington DC! No! No! Operator! Listen operator this is an emergency! No! No! I'll hold on! Ok!
In this one an astronaut is returning to Earth when he loses contact with Earth. Upon regaining connection, he tells his superiors to blow up the rocket while he is ranting about a red button and killing. They do it, but the wreckage lands on Earth leaving a severed arm on the beach. Back in the 1950s and 60s cosmic radiation could do anything, so this time, it animated the astronaut's arm turning it into a killing machine. Can anything stop THE CRAWLING HAND?
First off, as the 1960s rolled up on us, there weren’t a ton of black-and-white flicks coming out anymore, but this is one of those. I am guessing they chose to make a hand with part of an arm attached because it was just too expensive to get a full dude to be the killer (yes, I am kidding). The arm takes over the mind of a full guy for a large portion of this movie. It’s never a bad idea to give the radioactive arm “mind control” powers if you are making a horror flick. I would be worried about spoilers, but come on ladies and gentlemen this movie is exactly 60 years old, so I feel like most people had a chance to see it.
One thing that I can say about this movie is that the cast is outstanding. Richard Arlen (THE HUMAN DUPLICATORS) is solid as Lee Barrenger. I really liked Rod Lauren (TERRIFIED) in this. He plays Paul Lawrence and does a pretty solid job of showing a wide range of emotions. Sirry Steffen plays Marta Farnstrom and does a decent job, but doesn’t get much screen time after the first 15 minutes or so. She does get asked to show range however and nails it every time. Peter Breck (TERMINAL CITY RICOCHET) crushes it as Steve Curan. I haven’t seen his other stuff, but he appeared in quite a few TV shows from the era. Allison Hayes (ATTACK OF THE 50 FOOT WOMAN) plays Donna in this. Like Marta, the character doesn’t get a ton of screen time, but she was a well-known actress so it was nice to see her in this. Then to round out the main cast we get Alan Hale Jr. as Sheriff Townsend. Alan Hale Jr. is best known as The Skipper from Gilligan's Island.
Regarding the pacing, this thing slows down to a crawl after about the first 20 minutes, then kicks back in with about 22 minutes to go. Just never forget about the calming power of old-time rock and roll. Also never underestimate how fast a hand can crawl. If that sucker wants to get going, forget about catching it, that thing is in Pasadena by now. Unfortunately, a lot of the side story doesn’t really draw you into the story. I did find myself rooting for Paul because he seems like an okay guy.
Overall I think this was a pretty cool concept that could have used a better story, especially with this cast to work with. Having said that, it’s far from bad, I actually thought some of the sequences were pretty fun if you can suspend disbelief for 89 minutes. It also might have helped if they took 10 minutes of dialog out. We do get a pretty fun ending.
THE CRAWLING HAND gets a 4 out of 7.
GRAPHICS ARE THE PROPERTY OF JOSEPH F. ROBERTSON PRODUCTIONS AND ARE USED FOR REVIEW PURPOSES ONLY.
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