THE TROLLENBERG TERROR

pitiful victim of Trollenberg Terror

THE TROLLENBERG TERROR (aka The Crawling Eye/1958). Director: Quentin Lawrence. 

Alan Brooks (Forrest Tucker), who works for the United Nations, arrives in the Swiss town of Trollenberg -- named for its mountain -- along, coincidentally, with two sisters, Anne (Janet Munro) and Sarah (Jennifer Jayne), who form a mind-reading act. Anne is a genuine telepath, and she senses that something strange is happening up on the Trollenberg, where climbers are having "accidents" in which their heads are inexplicably torn off. Alan's friend, Professor Crevett (Warren Mitchell), runs an observatory on top of the mountain that is studying cosmic rays and he has observed a strange radioactive cloud on the Trollenberg that never moves, until ... 

Janet Munro and Jennifer Jayne

The Trollenberg Terror is a feature-length version of a now-lost British TV serial. Say what one will about the absurdities of the story and production and the occasional lapse in logic, the fact remains that the film, better-known as The Crawling Eye, piles one creepy incident on top of another -- bizarre decapitations, ax-wielding maniacs, dead men who walk and talk, clouds that move without wind and can freeze telephone wires to brittleness, tentacled monstrosities with huge eyes that pop out of the cloud -- quickly and methodically building up eerie atmosphere and suspense in equal measure. Quentin Lawrence, who also directed the TV version, worked mostly in television and did very few feature films, but he does a fine job with this flick. The actors are also on target, and these include Laurence Payne [The Third Alibi] as a reporter and Colin Douglas as the frightened bar man, Hans, among others. 

Warren Mitchell and Forrest Tucker

The FX work in Trollenberg is quite good, especially when you consider that this is a low-budget production. Although the crawling eyes have somewhat limited movement, they prove lively enough when they need to be, and the sounds they make are unnerving. Stanley Black's music summons up plenty of chills during the scary scenes, and Monty Berman's photography adroitly turns pleasant locations into sinister ones. One of the best scenes has a group of people trying to escape via cable car high, high above the mountain when the cables start to freeze, and it's a question if they'll make it. The climactic attack on the observatory is also well-handled, and the miniature sets are first-rate. One could quibble that the characters don't quite display enough amazement about the nature of these alien creatures, but since they're fighting for their lives they have other things on their minds! NOTE: For more on this film and others like it, see Creature Features: Nature Turned Nasty in the Movies. 

Verdict: Crackling good British horror sci-fi. ***.