31 days of Halloween: The Crawling Hand

The Crawling Hand is a 1963 science fiction/horror film about a demented arm that seeks out victims to strangle.

The plot involves a teenager that happens across the wreckage of a crashed space capsule and happens across the severed arm of the astronaut that detonated the vehicle upon reentry. You see, the astronaut was infected with something which wanted him to "kill" - so a power struggle ensued, causing the ultimate destruction of the capsule. But anyway, so this teenager becomes infected, and begins to go around killing people. Probably the only scene that plays out well is the after hours diner scene where the old crotchety manager/owner gets whats coming to him. The rest of the film has no suspense build up, is corny, and poorly acted.

The movie stars Rod Lauren, Peter Breck, Allison Hayes, and Alan Hale (The Skipper from Gilligan's Island).

It was later featured on the television shows Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K) but you can watch the entire thing on Hulu.

* out of *****