Among the best-loved British monster movies of its era, the nightmarish The Trollenberg Terror, better known to U.S. viewers as The Crawling Eye, still casts a long shadow today in sci-fi and horror. Superficially this would seem to be yet another programmer about a giant menace being slowly revealed to a motley, boxed-in crew of scientists and hapless average folk, but the execution is surreal and inventive with a number of chilling moments that stuck in audience's heads for decades. Easily able to sit comfortably next to the likes of The Quatermass Xperiment and Fiend without a Face, it's still a unique creature feature that can captivate receptive newcomers.

Based on a now-lost, six-part 1956 TV serial adapted by Hammer scribe Jimmy Sangster, our story takes place in Switzerland where the Trollenberg mountain becomes the site of a gruesome beheading death of a mountain climber. While passing by on a train, psychic Anne (Munro) collapses and insists she be let off with her sister and fellow mind-reading performer, Sarah (Jayne). Meanwhile American United Nations investigator Alan Brooks (Tucker), who shared a car with them on the same train, arrives to connect with Professor Crevett (Mitchell) and journalist Philip Truscott (Payne) about the recent deaths involving the mountain and an uncanny radioactive cloud hovering around it, similar to a rash of occurrences in the Andes three years ago. Soon more people in the vicinity are being decapitated or driven into a murderous frenzy, with Anne's highly sensitive abilities seemingly linked to whatever might be lurking inside the cloud. Of course, it's just a matter of time before the monstrous entity inside (which you can guess by looking at any poster out there) shows itself and goes on a large-scale attack.

Mixing together alien terror, homicidal zombies, multiple severed heads, and a surprisingly plausible relationship between all of the rational characters, The Trollenberg Terror punches way above its class and even manages to sell some cut-rate but truly outlandish special effects in the final stretch. Tucker and Payne make for a fun team, and Munro's wildly expressive eyes are a perfect fit for her role as much as her turn in The Day the Earth Caught Fire. The film went on to become a TV staple for horror hosts for decades (plus a famously flat episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000), and it played a significant role in Stephen King's novel It to hammer its influence home. It was also widely bootlegged on VHS, with legit rights holder Corinth Films licensing it for a nice laserdisc release from Image Entertainment in 1988. A DVD edition from Image followed in 2001, featuring the British title (with BBFC card) presented at 1.66:1 with a gallery and trailer as extras. A special edition was released on German DVD (and later Blu-ray) from Anolis, also 1.66:1 from the British version and featuring two audio commentaries. The heavy hitter here is by John Carpenter, whose films have featured very overt nods to this film over the years (particularly multiple scenes in The Fog) and whose love for '50s sci-fi makes for great listening here (apart from occasionally ragging on the film too much). A second track by Ingo Strecher and Pelle Felsch is in German only. The German Blu-ray in particular is stacked, also featuring the open matte 1.33:1 German version of the film (just slugging in print-sourced opening logos and credits), a 16m29s U.K. Super 8 version, U.K., US., and German trailers, a double bill trailer with Cosmic Monsters, 3m57s and 1m17s galleries, and a 7m58s Cosmic Monsters Super 8 version. A "Special Effects of Terror" video interview with special effects artist Brian Johnson (6m57s) is worthwhile as well, covering the creation of the matte effects and the creature's tentacle mobility via fishing wire (plus an icky bit about the eye itself).

In 2026, Treasured Films debuted the film on U.K. Blu-ray as an expanded special edition porting over the Carpenter commentary, trailer, and Johnson interview. Interestingly, the film itself is presented here open matte at 1.33:1 with significantly better black levels compared to the German disc. The framing of the film differs significantly over its history; the U.S. DVD looked fine, but the German Blu-ray knocked the framing down much lower and feels cramped with the actors frequently scraping against the top of the frame. (See below for a couple of examples.) The DTS-HD MA 2.0 English mono audio sounds crisp as always with no issues, and English SDH subtitles are included. In "Jimmy Sangster – Too Modest by Half" (59m58s), Jonathan Rigby takes an in-depth look at the "self-effacing" screenwriter whose name is often synonymous with Hammer but whose massive body of work rewards exploration. He also talks about his own encounters with Sangster and thoughts on the ideas and work ethic that drove his famous and not-so-famous achievements ranging from The Curse of Frankenstein to The Legacy. In "Musical Black Magic" (31m47s), David Huckvale analyzes the score for this film by Stanley Black and the composer's life and work in general including numerous other genre films. Of course it's always a treat when Huckvale demonstrates some key ideas himself on the piano, too, which will make you hear this film in a different way. Allan Bryce also turns up for a 20m7s appraisal of the film, if you're into that. A new 4m55s gallery of posters, lobby cards, and home video art is also included, and the releases comes with a slipcase with artwork by Rick Melton and an illustrated booklet with a superb, well-researched Clive Dawson essay, "Crawling Eyes and Trollenberg Terrors," covering the TV genesis, Tempean Films, TV-centric director Quentin Lawrence, the addition of Tucker's character for the film, numerous differences between the script and final product, and the film's theatrical release, Lovecraftian elements, and legacy.

Treasured Films (Blu-ray)

Anolis (Blu-ray)

Image (DVD)

Reviewed on August 25, 2026