BITE-SIZED REVIEW: The Trollenberg Terror AKA The Crawling Eye (Quentin Lawrence, 1958)

In the middle of the Swiss Alps sits the majestic Trollenberg. A popular site for climbers, the Trollenberg has gained new notoriety when climbers begin to die on the mountain. American scientist Alan Brooks (Forest Tucker) arrives at the base of the peak to study a mysterious fog that is slowly making its way down the mountain.

Are the two phenomena related? 

(spoilers)

I first saw a clip of this movie in Small Soldiers, which I watched when I was really young. The image of a giant eye with tentacles reaching for the camera stayed with me for years, until I stumbled upon the movie about a decade ago.

A UK production based on a TV play (ala Quatermass), The Trollenberg Terror is not a great movie. But it is peppered with fun b-movie touches that make me love the whole thing, warts and all.

On this viewing, I did feel the lack of forward momentum. The movie was made on a low budget, and the filmmakers do not really take the action out of the hotel lobby. What helps the movie's pace are a couple of vaguely suspenseful moments (including a surprisingly graphic murder with a pickaxe) and a peppering of odd moments.

There is a subplot involving a young psychic (played by Janet Munro) who starts to pick up messages from the unseen threat up the mountain. While the movie is slow and stagey, some of the oral storytelling is quite effective - especially when the psychic starts narrating one of the invisible enemies' attacks from their POV. 

I grew up listening to tapes of old 40s radio shows, and scenes like this carry a similar atmosphere. It might not be cinematic, but it worked for me. 

The most effective element of the movie is the fog that precedes and obscures the film's antagonists. You can see the influence on John Carpenter's The Fog, and the filmmakers behind The Trollenberg Terror milk a lot of suspense from the fog machines, particularly once the third act creaks into view. 

The third act is where I rediscovered my love for this movie. The Trollenberg Terror spends most of its runtime teasing some great 'terrifying' monstrosity, and finally turns from a pretty staid drawing room mystery to a OTT fifties monster movie, complete with a collection of bug-eyed nasties that resemble Shuma-Gorath from the Street Fighter/Marvel game.

If you like monsters, and fifties special effects, you will find a lot to like in the final 15 minutes of The Trollenberg Terror. While it is hokey, it is genuinely exciting. 

I probably have not sold this movie very well, but it is only 84 minutes long and available for free on the internet so...