The Trollenberg Terror unleashes chilling alien terror in snowy mountains.

• Entertainment factor: ★★★★★
• Alien factor: ★★★★★
• Science fiction factor: ★★★★★
• Scare factor: ★★☆☆☆

The Trollenberg Terror also called The Crawling Eye is a science fiction horror where creepy looking aliens are trying to invade our world. It is a very exciting and thrilling story with different people who all play an important part. It mixes elements of physical horror, the supernatural and science fiction with a lot of suspense and also some playfulness and of course the horror of an alien invasion. The structure and style offers a great time with a lot of mystery and great looking aliens. It stars Forrest Tucker, Laurence Payne, Jennifer Jayne, Janet Munro, Warren Mitchell, Frederick Schiller, Andrew Faulds, Stuart Saunders, Colin Douglas. It was directed by Quentin Lawrence and written by Jimmy Sangster and Peter Key. 

Duration: 1h 24m

Plot

Sisters Sarah and Anne Pilgirm are on a train on their way to Geneva to perform their mind reading act, when Anne suddenly feels ill. The first train station is Trollenberg and they decide to get out and to recover, at Anne’s request. Luckily Alan Brooks the man who sat with them in the compartment knows the owner of the hotel Herr Klein. 

Alan has come to Trollenberg at the request of professor Crevett who’s in charge of the Observatory high up in the mountains and he has seen something very strange. A kind of radioactive cloud and he wants Brooks’ opinion, because it’s not the first time that they both have encountered this dangerous threat. 

When the next day a geologist Dewurts and a climber go up the mountain they encounter something terrible, while Anne has a vision about them. And the town is soon to be in danger and they have to act quickly before the aliens come.

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Short Review

The 1950s were all about alien invasion and science fiction (horror) movies. Not only did they serve as a symbol for the fear of being invaded by communism, but in 1947 an unidentified object crashed in Roswell, New Mexico. This was a welcome inspiration for the existence and invasion of real aliens. This film is a great mix of the supernatural and  science fiction, while fighting the elements and a horror with some action and great thrilling scenes. It has a great structure that slowly unravels more about the main characters and how they are going to be involved and what roles they have to play. Because it’s not a coincidence that Anne and Sarah got out of the train. 

We also follow mountain climbers, the people at the Observatory and some other people in the hotel. That slow reveal of everybody’s part keeps the story very intriguing and interesting while the aliens don’t play a major part yet. Although the title suggests a B-movie and so does the design of the aliens who are very much reminiscent of the Daleks from Doctor Who without their armor, the story itself is very fun and thrilling and doesn’t feel cheap like a B-movie at all. 

It’s all about the strange clouds and the main characters. They are all solid and fleshed out to make the story work and prepare the viewers for some very fun aliens.  They all act wisely and logically and are interestingly connected to the plot. It starts with a group of three mountain climbers and one of them encounters something horrific in the fog and falls down the mountain. But the worst part is, he is decapitated. It’s a great thrilling beginning although you don’t see the decapitated body. 

They are not the first climbers who died or went missing, though. When Dewurst and Brett go up the mountain and stay in a little cabin they also get attacked. Which Anne sees in a vision. A search party goes looking for them and then the real horror is about to start. A head in a rucksack, a missing Brett who appears again but acts very strangely. A decapitated body and a body whose arm burns to the bones in contact to heat. And then I haven’t mentioned the mind possessing aliens who set people on murderous behavior yet. 

It’s shot in a very fun way, first only showing the clouds where the aliens dwell without even given the audience a glimpse. The black and white shots make it more wintery and cold and the setting of the mountains, the Observatory, a little cabin up in the mountains and the hotel give it a claustrophobic vibe. 

Finally the aliens come down to the village to attack and come out of their hiding places in the clouds and they are a feast for the eye. They look like huge Daleks, naked, have a lot of tentacles and are slimy with one big creepy eye, hence the other title The Crawling Eye. They were physical props brought to life with puppeteers and lighting to give them that unearthly glowing look. Why they have come to earth is never revealed. It’s all about the destruction and mayhem they cause and how they can be defeated. And that part has some pretty thrilling and exciting scenes. Especially when they have to get everybody in town up the mountain in the Observatory. 

I was really surprised by this movie. It looks like a B-movie but I think it’s a classic that deserves to be watched. Not to laugh at, but it does have genuine thrills and action and a great mystery with a splendid structure that focuses on the great characters first and the aliens second. Every part of the film has different horrific scenes, from subtle but gruesome to the creepy alien attacks. The scene with the ski-lift or cable car is a great thrilling scene and heroic and a bit epic as well. If you enjoy old movies then this one is highly recommend for a guaranteed good time.