On the flip side of the Rhino DVD of the 1963 sci-fi film "The Crawling Hand," Joel Robinson and his two 'bot buddies, Tom Servo and Crow T. Robot, skewer the movie in question in their typically merciless manner, and Lord knows the picture deserves such treatment! Cheaply made and cheezy as can be, featuring some pretty lousy thesping and a whackadoodle plot, the movie IS certainly ripe for the "MST3K" treatment. But is the picture also fun? Oh, yes! In it, Earth's second lunar astronaut is taken over by an alien life form during his return trip to Earth. His capsule is destroyed by Mission Control after his own pleadings, but unfortunately, the possessed, eponymous limb somehow makes it back to Earth intact, where it washes up on a California beach and is found by a hunky premed student. The student, Paul Lawrence (lamely portrayed by Rod Lauren), occasionally becomes possessed by the alien entity, too; we know when he is "under the influence" because he then develops heavy mascara smears around his eyes and turns decidedly anti-social! Anyway, a raft of "psychotronic" talent both in front of and behind the camera has conspired here to bring this loopy conceit to the screen. Director Herbert L. Strock (previously known for such enduring works as "Gog," "I Was a Teenage Frankenstein," "Blood of Dracula" and "How To Make a Monster") adds some interesting touches, and Allison Hayes (five years after "Attack of the 50 Foot Woman," and wasted here in a small, secretarial role), Peter Breck (he'd be infinitely more memorable that same year in Sam Fuller's cult film "Shock Corridor") and Alan Hale, Jr. (one year pre-"Gilligan") do their best to enliven their roles. The picture actually does feature two memorable sequences: that possessed astronaut pleading to be killed, and the possessed Paul attempting to strangle the local malt-shop owner, while lights flash stroboscopically and the jukebox blares out the Rivingtons' hit song "The Bird's the Word." Of course, the film is a sci-fi rehash of 1946's "The Beast With Five Fingers," but for what it is--a teenage rock 'n' roll sci-fi/horror flick--it remains reasonably goofy fun. Oh...the Rhino disc here looks just fine, but features some pretty lousy sound. Be prepared to turn your audio system ALL the way up...and to have a few cold ones HANDy....

I wonder if I could make it through The Crawling Hand if it weren't for the Mystery Science Theater 3000 guys along for the proverbial ride. It's a wonder if this could be made entertaining at all... then again in 1987 in Evil Dead 2 one would see what mayhem and fun could be had with a demonic hand. But in the case of this film, the plot is thin save for some "watch out for, um, radiation fall-out from space" scare-messages, and the characters are practically non-existent types. Or rather, they do exist, but you wonder where the character parts 'went'.But there are some moments of hilarity, even without the commentary from MST3K There's the guy on the TV screen out in space who is first affected by the radiation (he really goes so far into banana-land that he makes Shatner look like Olivier) and whose hand becomes THE hand that lands on the beach and attacks those by lunging for the throat. The way the hand lunges from its point of attack is also quite funny, how it creeps up and jumps off in such a manner that you're all but waiting to see the other hand that through that hand at the actor's throat! Some of the wooden acting is fun too; Peter Breck, who the same year this came out legitimately wowed me with his turn in Sam Fuller's Shock Corridor, is given little do but act and talk serious at a, (haha), crawling hand that when it attacks someone they get up and, uh, become the hand themselves! I'm sure that when this came out some of the scare scenes were possibly scary. Today it can't be helped that it's all very tacky, and despite an attempt at a shocking climax at a junkyard, where cats are the ones who really can get the most credit in doing the most damage, its a tacky sci-fi B movie in a mostly dull kind of way. But, as mentioned, MST3K comes in to save the day if one is so inclined to watch with it (i.e. any reference to 'smoking').

This is exactly the kind of low budget laugh fest that has fans of Fifties/Sixties schlock in Nirvana. A cadre of random b-movie superstars, all taking the whole absurd premise 110% seriously, a classic sci-fi/horror movie idea of disembodied body parts going on a rampage, cheap jack production, and the rocking awesomeness of "The Bird's The Word" by The Rivingtons (heard several times during the show). That's the precursor to the even more incredible "Surfin' Bird" by The Trashmen, so I'll have to give the producers thumbs up for good taste in music.An astronaut on his way back from the moon is possessed by...something. Something which is never explained, but it gives him a bad case of excess eyeliner. He begs mission control to blow up him and his spaceship, by pressing the red button (if I can quote Daffy Duck, "No! Not the wed button!") and they do so. The Head of the space agency deals with the loss of his colleague the only way that guys in bad potboilers from the 1950's can: he throws stuff and smokes a lot of cigarettes.Meanwhile, the astronaut's shredded hand and lower arm has somehow survived burning up in the atmosphere, and lands on a California beach, where budding med student Paul and his Swedish exchange student girlfriend find it. (What is it about foreign exchange student girlfriends in these cheap movies? THE GIANT GILA MONSTER has a French exchange student girlfriend. I guess if you hire a low-cost foreign actress looking to "break into the biz" you have to turn her into a foreign exchange student to have her presence there make any kind of sense.) Paul is a naughty boy and takes the severed arm home for further study. Once there, it promptly possesses him and causes him to kill his landlady.Then, guys from the Space agency show up in town, investigating the possible rogue hand. Alan Hale, the local Sheriff, wants them to stop putting their noses where they don't belong in his investigation. Can they stop the murderous Paul before it's too late? This whole thing is a riot, and appropriately, was covered by the gang at Mystery Science Theatre 3000. That version will cost you money to see, but the original version (thanks to the Public Domain) is free for streaming here online. At that price (nothing) it is certainly worth a watch. Grab the popcorn and turn off your brain.Oh, and the ending is one of those classic "The End?" cop-outs so favored by 1950's sci-fi B-movies. Okay, they don't actually use the question mark there, but it's implied. I guarantee you will get some yucks out of this film.

A spacecraft explodes and the doomed astronaut's dismembered hand and forearm are discovered on the beach by an ambitious science student. The body part is put in a food closet by the fruit jars; it does not stay there for long. The 'crawling hand' instigates randem stranglings.Cheesy Sci-Fi, but fun. Over acting cast includes: Peter Breck, Rod Lauren, Alan Hale Jr. and Sirry Steffen.