The Beast with a Million Eyes (1955)

Directors:

David Kramarsky
Lou Place

Writer:

Tom Filer (writer)

Release Date:

15 June 1955 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Screaming Terror!

Plot:

An alien space craft lands in the desert. The alien takes over the minds of some of the local humans and animals and is able to see through them...

Plot Keywords:

Farm | Isolation | Possessed | Alien | Mind Control

Cast

Paul Birch	...	Allan Kelley
Lorna Thayer	...	Carol Kelley
Dona Cole	...	Sandra Kelley
Leonard Tarver	...	Carl (segment "Him")
Dick Sargent	...	Deputy Larry Brewster
Chester Conklin	...	Ben Webber
Bruce Whitmore	...	The Beast (voice)

Also Known As:

The Beast with 1,000,000 Eyes

Runtime:

USA:75 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Approved (certificate #17594) | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

Indio, California, USA

Company:

San Mateo Productions

Trivia:

James H. Nicholson had come up with a tremendous ad and title and pre-sold the movie to exhibitors. Then they made the movie. When the distributors viewed the finished film, they were disappointed because the ads were so much more interesting.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "HBO First Look: The Haunting (#6.6)" (1999)

So bad it goes beyond "so bad it's good" and lands right back on so bad

This ten cent production just ran on TCM. It's one of the worst movies they've ever shown... but like everything they program, it's worth at least a sidelong look. That doesn't mean sitting through it -- it's a *very* long 75 minutes. In fact, I can't imagine how anybody made it through this bomb in a theater or drive-in.

Essentially what happens is this: A teakettle with an antenna lands in the desert. Our star, a portly man with his belt riding high, and his family of wooden wife and daughter, are menaced by their farm animals. This consists of closeups of cows mooing or dogs barking, with reaction shots of the actors screaming and running away. The best special effect comes when the chickens turn on their masters, which involves somebody off-camera throwing chickens at one of the actors. There's also a mute weird guy, for some (no) reason. And most surprising, there's Chester Conklin, who started his career playing opposite Charlie Chaplin in his early silents, continuing through Modern Times in the 30s. He's the finest screen presence here, which is faint praise indeed.

The soundtrack is classical music needle drops that have nothing to do with what's happening on screen (the climax to a symphony while somebody walks through the desert), plus ultra-cheapo sound effects.

On second thought, it's a masterpiece... of what Frank Zappa called "Cheepnis." (http://www.cupandblade.com/ cheepnis/cheepnis.mp3)