The Crawling Hand

The Crawling Hand
The Crawling Hand
	One-sheet
Directed by	Herbert L. Strock
Screenplay by	Wm. Idelson; Herbert L. Strock
Based on	from an original story by; Joseph Cranston; Malcolm Young; Wm. Idelson
Produced by	Joseph F. Robertson
Starring	Peter Breck; Kent Taylor; Rod Lauren
Cinematography	Willard Van der Veer
Edited by	Herbert L. Strock
Music by	Marlin Skiles (uncredited)
Production; company	A Joseph F. Robertson Production
Distributed by	Donald J. Hansen Enterprises
Release dates	September 4, 1963 (Hartford, Connecticut);
Running time	89 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$100,000 (estimated)

The Crawling Hand is a 1963 American science fiction horror film directed by Herbert L. Strock, and starring Peter Breck, Kent Taylor, Rod Lauren, Alan Hale and Allison Hayes.^[3] It was later featured on the television shows Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K) and The Canned Film Festival.^[4]

Plot

An astronaut, coming in for a crash landing, makes odd statements over the radio, including "my hand... makes me do things.... kill.... kill!" Strangely, by then, ground control was under the belief that he was already out of oxygen.

Later, Paul, a naive student, discovers a disembodied hand near the crash site and takes it home as a grisly souvenir. He is not aware that the hand is possessed by a strange, murderous alien.

The hand murders Paul's landlady. The sheriff, played by Alan Hale, suspects Paul, who begins to act more and more strangely as the hand begins to have more and more influence over him. The fictional federal agency responsible for space flight is called to the small town because fingerprints found at the first crime scene match the missing, dead astronaut.

Paul, now under control of the Crawling Hand, attacks other people around the town, including his own beloved girlfriend. Horrified at what he's been doing, Paul attempts to take the hand to the beach to destroy it, where he's confronted by federal authorities. The hand, now wounded, is held down by cats who try to eat it. Authorities capture the hand.

Paul, recovering in the hospital, appears to be forgiven.

Meanwhile the federales charged with transporting the offended appendage open the box used to confine the apprehended hand. The film ends with a quick zoom to the inside of an empty box and the sound of a scream as the words "the end" appear on black.

Cast

Peter Breck as Steve Curan
Kent Taylor as Dr. Max Weitzberg
Rod Lauren as Paul Lawrence
Alan Hale as Sheriff Townsend
Allison Hayes as Donna
Sirry Steffen as Marta Farnstrom
Arline Judge as Mrs. Hotchkiss
Richard Arlen as Lee Barrenger
Tristam Coffin as Security Chief Meidel
Ross Elliott as Deputy Earl Harrison
G. Stanley Jones as Funeral Director
Jock Putnam as Ambulance Attendant
Andy Andrews as Ambulance Attendant
Syd Saylor as Soda Shop Owner
Ed Wermer as Prof. Farnstrom
Beverly Lunsford as Patsy Townsend
Les Hoyle

Note: character names are not indicated in on-screen credits.

Home media

The Crawling Hand was featured in Episode 6 of Season 1 of the TV series Mystery Science Theater 3000. This episode was released on VHS by Rhino Home Video in October 1999 and on DVD in June 2002, including the uncut film as a bonus feature.

In other media

Rick Moody's novel The Four Fingers of Death, released in July 2010 by Little, Brown and Company, is a metafictional novelization of a 2025 remake of The Crawling Hand (which means that Moody's fictional 'novelization' is set in a future very different from that of the 1963 film).^[5]

References

^ Vandergriff, Rick (September 5, 1990). "Aspiring Mogul Back in Action Film". Los Angeles Times. p. F1. Archived from the original on November 4, 2012. Retrieved December 6, 2010.
^ Internet Movie Database ^{[better source needed]}
^ Robinson, Johnny (November 2, 1963). "Next Week's Films". Lewiston Evening Journal. p. 4-A. Retrieved December 6, 2010.
^ Margulies, Lee (June 10, 1986). "'Canned Film Festival' on TV, Worst of the Big Screen On Its Way". Los Angeles Times. p. 10. Archived from the original on November 4, 2012. Retrieved December 6, 2010.
^ Martin, Clancy (August 6, 2010). "Book Review - The Four Fingers of Death - By Rick Moody". The New York Times.

External links

The Crawling Hand at IMDb

Mystery Science Theater 3000

[lat900904-1] Vandergriff, Rick (September 5, 1990). "Aspiring Mogul Back in Action Film". Los Angeles Times. p. F1. Archived from the original on November 4, 2012. Retrieved December 6, 2010.

[2] Internet Movie Database ^{[better source needed]}

[lej631102-3] Robinson, Johnny (November 2, 1963). "Next Week's Films". Lewiston Evening Journal. p. 4-A. Retrieved December 6, 2010.

[lat860610-4] Margulies, Lee (June 10, 1986). "'Canned Film Festival' on TV, Worst of the Big Screen On Its Way". Los Angeles Times. p. 10. Archived from the original on November 4, 2012. Retrieved December 6, 2010.

[5] Martin, Clancy (August 6, 2010). "Book Review - The Four Fingers of Death - By Rick Moody". The New York Times.

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