Customer Reviews

Elvira: Crawling Hand [VHS]

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Spaceman possessed in space by some evil force. At his bidding, his friends on the ground blowup the ship on re-entry. His hand/arm lives (still evil) and some cheeseball guy and his girlfriend find it on the beach. Guy becomes controlled by the hand that can't stop killing. Excellent BAD acting, some great lines, lots of fun.

This is one of those movies they showed on TV that scared the crap outa' me as a kid! I was a little too old to get nightmares (like "Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark" gave me) but some of the scenes were very memorable and a little disturbing. There's something about an amputated arm crawling around at night and leaping at peoples throats! And that ending with the hungry alley cats chewing the skin off of the arm! Classic! It's just an old sci-fi B-movie so if you're an uptight cinema critic, blow it out your ass! Turn the lights out, pop some popcorn and enjoy it!!!

I have to agree with the reviewer who titled their review "Thank Goodness for Kevin Murphy." Kevin's Tom Servo is where MST3K really fell into place and found its comedy heart. Elvis Weinstein as Servo had his moments, but Kevin turned the little gumball machine into a real character. The beginnings of MST3K often look like just that, beginnings. A formula had yet to be worked out and the jokes don't shine like they do later. Thankfully, The Crawling Hand is actually a pretty likeable movie with some interesting B-movie ideas. As there is more silence between jokes with this MST3K crew, you get to listen to great big chunks of this movie and it's actually pretty good. This show is definitely one of the better ones of the 2nd season ... the third season would hit the ground running and become what we all know (knew) and loved.

The Crawling Hand was producer Joseph F. Robertson's second feature, after The Slime People, and while lacking the latter's gnarly rubber-suited monsters, is actually the more satisfying movie. For starters its got a far more interesting and eclectic cast, including 1930s leading men Richard Arlen (Island of Lost Souls) and Kent Taylor (The Gracie Allen Murder Case), Alan Hale Jr. (Gilligan's Skipper), 50s bombshell Allison Hayes (Attack of the 50 Foot Woman), Peter Breck (Shock Corridor), serial veteran Tristram Coffin (King of the Rocket Men), whitebread TV regular Ross Elliott (Dick Van Dyke Show, etc.), and keen teens Rod Lauren (Terrified, The Black Zoo) and "stacked" Swedish would-be starlet Sirry Steffen (she played a maid on The Beverly Hillbillies a few times). This was also the last film for Arline Judge (she'd appeared before with Taylor in College Scandal in 1935). It should be no problem tying Kevin Bacon in with this lot. Herbert L. Strock (Teenage Frankenstein, How to Make a Monster) directed and co-scripted with William Idelson (the same Bill Idelson who played Sally's boyfriend Herman Glimsher on Dick Van Dyke!). The plot (Lauren is possessed by the dismembered arm of a dead astronaut) is fairly original, not to say believable, and the usually uninspired Strock actually works in a few moments of clever visual humor (pay attention), not to mention at least one jarring visual non sequitur-check the scene of Ms. Steffen and Beverly Lunsford (The Secret Storm) in the malt shop, accidentally (?) posed in perfect symmetry in shot-reverse shot. The acting varies from competent (the veterans) to pretty awful (the teens), although Rod Lauren does manage a few moments of genuine pathos (I think he was trying for James Dean, but he looks more like Eddie Munster's teenage brother, especially in "possessed" mode). As far as the hand itself, I think they should have stuck with the mechanical one; the inserts of the makeup-encrusted human hand are both cheesier and more laughably obvious than the shots of the fake one. This flick is also famous for featuring the Rivingtons' Papa Oom Mow Mow, heard on the soundtrack during the assault on the janitor, and should be infamous for somehow turning the normally stunning Ms. Hayes (see Corman's The Undead) into a pasty-looking frump in a really ugly dress (and wasting her in a bit part to boot!) While no classic, The Crawling Hand is consistently amusing and never boring, which is more than you can say about lots of these cheapies. (Joseph F. Robertson went on to direct and co-write Ed Wood's softcore The Love Feast, and directed a dozen or so pornos in the `80s and `90s [Debbie Does Dallas 3, The Long Ranger] under the pseudonym Adele Robbins.)
Like other Rhino/Acme DVD releases, this one defines "bare bones." Twelve chapter stops are the only "extra," there's not even a trailer in sight. Fortunately the source print is generally of excellent quality. There is the usual light speckling and blemishing throughout, but otherwise virtually no other visible damage. The contrast, sharpness, and detail are fine overall, though the print seems a little bit dark in the gray tones (my Video Gems VHS pre-record has a similar murky look). Photoshop users will wish they could just open the Curves dialog and drop the midtone about 10 to 12%, but the DVD transfer still blows the VHS away in every category. If you're already a fan of this film you really can't miss at the price.

Peter Breck (Big Valley) plays a very intense scientist with the space program. How intense? So intense that I expected his head to sail off at any minute! You see, one of his astronauts (named Lockhart) has gone nuts, pleading with ground control to "push the red button" and blow up his ship. They comply, detonating Lockhart. Meanwhile, a young med student and his girl go swimmig on a california beach. Low and behold, they find a severed arm in an astronaut uniform sleeve! Paul (the med student) comes back for it later, taking it home in a shower curtain. He hides it behind some preserves in his landlady's pantry. The arm starts creeping around, knocking some jars over, waking the landlady, who must investigate. Of course, she gets choked bug-eyed! Unfortunately, the hand doesn't do much else, as it possesses Paul and uses him to cause further mayhem. Enter Alan Hale jr. as the portly sheriff. The rest is pretty dull. Watch it late at night and don't feel too bad if you fall asleep...

I just knew there was a hand crawling up the bed at night. Maybe 5 years old was a bit too young to be seeing this, but my cousins talked me into it.
Fun movie for teens.

bads: needs more action, esp. at start-they could've shown the alien in space gettin dude and scene of hand goin to ocean-u know, action. the skipper makes the film and other scene actor/s. the ending was the best-2 catfishes fightin over da hand, new orleans tyle-whatever. drag that live in lady after film start got choked-thats mean! the possessed dude was too mean, yellin at his goylefriend so bad.

The reason I title my comments, It's Not Peter Breck's Fault, is because the only good parts in this movie are when he is on the screen. He is the only real actor in the cast. If you like low budget horror movies that were churned out weekly for the local Saturday matinee, this would be one of them. A disembodied dead astronaut's hand goes on a killing spree and somehow(?) takes over this guy's (not Breck - some other actor I don't recognize) identity, whereby, it uses him to carry out it's dasterdly deeds. The movie isn't scary but Breck looks handsome and that was the reason I bought this. Mystery Science Theatre 3K does a fairly funny take on this but I've seen them do better with other films.

This is a review of the Rhino DVD for the Crawling Hand. It is not a review of the MST3K version. I really enjoy this old turkey. Maybe it is the crude acting, the inane dialogue, or the fact the Alan Hale, Jr (The Skipper) and Allison Hayes (Attack of the 50-ft Woman) are in it. I also think there are some genuinely good moments (okay, they may be few). First a few comments about the plot, before I commnet on the DVD.

The movie starts out well as the Earth has lost contact with the space probe returning from the moon. After we learn that the oxygen is gone in the capsule, we hear a voice asking for help. It is the poor pilot whose body has been invaded by some alien creature. He begs to be blown up and eventually is. His hand of course survives.

The plot slows considerably after this as a college student finds the hand in California. Let me tell you, this kid is no actor (whew!). His girlfriend is even worse. Anyway, the student hides the hand in his boarding home and it prompty kills the landlady. He figures out that the hand is guilty, but Alan Hale (as the sheriff) is positive it is the boy. There is lots of fun until the movie finally ends. I won't spoil it, but you will love the hearse drivers.

Now, the DVD. Rhino's picture quality is quite good, but I have two problems with this DVD. First, there are no extras, not even a trailer. Secondly, you have to turn the volume up to almost full to hear the soundtrack and in doing so it sounds distorted. Not terrible, but annoying just the same. Overall, it is worth it, because there will probably not be a better release.

Just remembered the other reason I like this film, it includes the Rivington's version of, "The Bird is the Word."

Weird little film should keep most viewers' interest due to its offbeat combination of skill and schlockiness. To be more specific:

1) The story has both genuinely interesting and pretty stupid developments.

2) The acting is mainly okay but peppered with highly cheesy moments.

3) The direction is mostly effective (with lots of subtle and original touches, in fact), but also rife with ham-handedness and overstatement.

4) The special effects are often effective and downright creepy, but at other times laughable.

5) There is much knowing, intentional humor, but also many laugh-out-loud moments that clearly weren't meant to be so (often as a result of the moments of bad acting and bad special effects mentioned above).

One doesn't often see these wildly diverging quality levels within the same film, and this duel nature was enough to keep me watching. Also, though this DVD is bare bones (no extras at all), the visual quality is pretty good-- so you won't be distracted by bad splices or a faded or grainy print. So, definitely recommended for those who enjoy discovering or re-visiting lesser-known horror/sci-fi entries from the 50's and 60's. Conveniently, this movie has something to offer both genre-loving camps: those who enjoy genuinely good examples of such movies and those who prefer titles of the so-bad-it's-good variety.

Keep the titles coming, Rhino! They're fun.