MST3K: The Crawling Eye

Episode Rating: 1.5 stars

Plot: A sister mind-reading act is drawn to a Swiss mountain where mountain climbers are being decapitated. Turns out that giant aliens with prominent eyeballs are invading the earth in big cheap cloud effects and spend their time lopping off heads and teasing the nearby observatory. The doctor, played by Forrest Tucker, shows up and sets himself up as the man in charge, until they're all trapped in the observatory and have to have the place bombed by a UN plane, I think.

Opening: In Deep 13, Dr. Forrester tries to align the camera while Dr. Earhart worries he may have been spotted coming down there. "I was wearing my disguise, but I'm just no good in heels!"

Invention exchange: Joel's electronic bagpipes. He plays Amazing Grace... it sounds like someone beating Dumbo with a Dustbuster. Forrester creates an antiperspirant from a dog's pineal gland and injects it into Dr. Earhart.

Host segment 1: Joel explains why humans losing their heads is bad. "How do you explain head cheese?"

Host segment 2: Gypsy uncoils herself, making a mess.

Host segment 3: Crow and Servo are more grossed out about Forrest Tucker than the monster. They also debate the aliens' choice to land on a mountain. "They fouled up big time. A giant sharp point is a giant eye's worst enemy."

End: Good thing/bad thing for a RAM chip.

Zingers

Dr. Earhart: Starring Forrest Tucker.
Dr. Forrester: Hm, good name, bad actor.

Servo: [as train pulls in] Trahlenberg, home of the Crawling Eye. All stops lead to a bloody death.

Mountaineer: They shouldn't have been climbing without a guide.
Joel: Or shoes.

Servo: [on German scientist] Why don't they give him something to say he can pronounce?

Joel: The matte painting is calling youuuu.

Stewart: What cloud?
Forrest: I don't think you'd understand, Stewart.
Crow: You're much too stupid.

Crow: [after possessed guy fails to pour liquor and light a cigarette without help] Let's get the dog drunk next!

Servo: Hans is on the fritz.

Servo: [after endless eye puns] Keep in mind that you programmed me.
Joel: That's the last time I'm giving you free will.

My Thoughts

As the first episode, there's going to be some growing pains, but I wouldn't qualify them as bad or anything. The jokes don't come as fast; it has more an air of spontaneity. The discussion of the opening credit arrows between Joel and Crow feels ad libbed. As you can see, the score has a half point in it. That's because, although the riffing isn't anywhere near as strong and the host segments aren't as good, I wouldn't say it's as far below average as some other episodes have been, and it's really only because it's a season one episode.

I'm pretty sure that this movie was solely picked because the Best Brains were still essentially new to what they did; they're movies at KTMA were all pretty much "what do we have," now they had to get movies. On paper, The Crawling Eye seems a good choice: an absurd black and white science fiction film with goofy monsters. However, the picture is really bad in a lot of places, and the audio is really atrocious. There's one point where you're wondering why the annoying sound of the lab equipment has to be so loud, and then you discover that it doesn't stop when they go into a bar at the bottom of the mountain - it's not the lab at all, but some nasty thing on the audio track. I don't think that's something that'd be permitted to happen in later seasons.

Still Store

MST3K, and all related characters are property and trademark of Best Brains.
All images from the film are the property of their respective owners.
The views expressed herein are those of the author and do not reflect the views of anyone
connected with Best Brains.
All original material copyrighted.