VCI’s New ‘Creepy Creatures Double Feature’ Set Will Appeal To Any Classic Film Fan

By: Philip Sayblack 

​“Classic movies never go out of style.”  That is the slogan displayed on screen by VCI Entertainment in its brand-new b-movie double feature release, The Crawling Hand and The Slime People, which was released Tuesday.  The movies featured in this fresh new release truly are classic in their own right even being among some of the great cheesy movies of their time.  Now thanks to VCI Entertainment, they have received new life and hopefully new respect in their new Blu-ray presentation.  Both released in 1963 by Joseph F. Robertson Productions, these vintage b-sci-fi/horror flicks are great turn-off-your-brain flicks but are also actually a little bit more than that.  They actually have some depth, albeit minimal and that is perfectly fine.  Now officially re-issued on a new single-disc Blu-ray set, a whole new generation of movie lovers will get to see how that balance of silliness and substance makes these movies classics.  In understanding how that balance makes the movies so engaging and entertaining, it is just one part of what audiences will appreciate about the movies.  Their production values add to their appeal here.  The bonus content featured with the movies’ brand-new re-issue rounds out their most important elements.  Each item noted is important in its own way to the whole of the movies.  All things considered they make VCI Entertainment’s Creepy Creatures Double Feature: The Crawling Hand/The Slime People one of this year’s top new movie re-issue releases.
VCI Entertainment’s brand-new Blu-ray re-issue of Joseph F. Robertson’s The Crawling Hand and The Slime People is a presentation that fans of classic cheesy b-horror and science-fiction movies will find fully enjoyable.  That is due in no small part to the movies themselves.  For those who may be less familiar with the movies, both of which were released only months apart in 1963, The Crawling Hand is a sci-fi flick that is a reflection of the so-called Space Race that was taking place at the time between the United States and Russia.  It centers on the dismembered arm of an American astronaut named Mel Lockhart (Les Hoyle – The Animals, Mann of Action).  When Lockhart’s ship is destroyed upon re-entry to Earth (at Lockhart’s own desperate request), the arm is apparently the only part of Lockhart that “survived.”  The thing is that it survived because of an unseen parasitic entity/energy in the arm/hand.  It is never fully explained if the arm is inhabited by an actual being or energy, but that is beside the point.  It goes around killing people and somehow manages to hypnotize teenager Paul Lawrence (Rod Lauren – Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., Combat!) to become a killer, too.  Therein is the cheese factor.  It is so silly but can be forgiven.  The majority of the nearly 90-minute movie’s story is spent with Paul battling the influence of the extraterrestrial “thing” so that it cannot completely turn him evil.  Paul eventually comes out on top, “killing” the hand with a glass bottle in a junkyard at the story’s end.  To add insult to injury, the hand/arm gets an even more gruesome fate as a pair of cats eat (yes, eat) the hand/arm right there.  They even fight over their find.  It’s gruesome but also somewhat silly in the process. 
The whole thing is silly, but noting that it is, in fact, inspired by the fears regarding man’s new ventures into space at the time is actually of some interest.  To this day, humans as a race have no idea who or what is out there and what it could be capable of doing to us as a race.  There are so many conspiracy theories about what may be out there. So many that there are whole TV series and other movies out there centered on this very matter.  To that end, it actually makes The Crawling Hand that much more believable and worth watching.  What if some unseen parasite or energy out there could in fact do the same to one of our astronauts that it did to Lockhart?  That fear, that wonderment is still there.  Again, it makes for at least some validity to this story.
Moving on to The Slime People, this movie is, like many science-fiction and horror movies of the 1950s and 60s, more than just a silly creepy creature feature.  Rather, it is also a commentary of sorts regarding Americans’ nuclear testing.  The statement is made as Professor Galbraith (Robert Burton – Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine, City in the Sea, Ride the Wild Surf) tells the few remaining humans living under the dome formed by the Slime People over Los Angeles, what the Slime People are doing is in response to the underground testing that humans had been doing.  To that end, can the Slime People really be blamed for being angry and wanting to go after humans?  Keeping that in mind, they really are not the villains here if one really stops and thinks about it.  This is all more important than people realize.
Considering that so many creature features of the age centered on giant mutant insects and other beings wiping out humanity as a result of nuclear radiation mutating them (Them!, It Came From Beneath The Sea, Godzilla, etc.) the Slime People takes things in a different direction.  Herein is a story about an ancient civilization of subterranean creatures that came to the surface because of what humans were causing.  They were already how they were.  It’s kind of that “hey you kids, get off my lawn” mentality.  Having the movie go in that alternate direction actually makes the movie more worth watching considering that even to this day, humans do not want to take accountability for what we have caused.  Interestingly enough, the military, whose testing caused all the problems in the first place, come in to “save the day” in the end after Galbraith and company already saved the day by destroying the dome and killing the Slime People.  This is something more familiar to sci-fi and horror movies of the age.  The military always comes in and takes care of the big bad, but in this case, there was nothing for them to take care of, interestingly enough.  It makes for some real laughs in hindsight.
In understanding the depth that The Crawling Hand and The Slime People actually offer, even with the movies both being so wonderfully cheesy, that duality in the movies makes for plenty of reason for audiences to give this set a chance.  It is just one part of what makes these movies worth watching.  The movies’ production values are of just as much note.  Speaking more specifically, the 4K restoration used for the movie’s presentation makes each relatively clear in their picture and sound.  Audiences can still see the film grain from the original negatives.  There is even a line that goes down the screen in The Slime People at one point, just as it would have in the original reel presentation.  The sense of nostalgia that this transfer/restoration generates makes for even more appreciation for the presentation. It shows a real concerted effort was made to offer audiences the best possible video presentation.  The sound is just as clear in each movie’s presentation from the subtle soundtracks to the general audio levels.  The overall impact of the work put into restoring both aspects makes the viewing experience all the more enjoyable for audiences.
Putting the final touch to this double feature from VCI Entertainment is the bonus content that accompanies the movies.  Four extras are included with the movies: A nearly hour-long discussion from author and film historian Tom Weaver on the history of The Slime People titled “Unearthing the Slime People”; a feature-length audio commentary included in The Crawling Hand by podcaster Rob Kelly; a brief three-minute featurette titled “Rubber Monsters, Real Fears: Mid-Century Sci-Fi and a gallery of classic sci-fi/horror movie posters.  The poster gallery adds nothing to the viewing experience, but the commentary in “Rubber Monsters, Real Fears: Mid-Century Sci-Fi” makes for a good starting point.  The featurette’s narrator (who is uncredited anywhere on the box and in the featurette) points out how much movies have changed over the decades since these movies’ release in regard to special effects.  He points out how making those rubber costumes and the sets was an art that has basically been long since lost.  Additionally, he points out here, the most important piece of information bout The Crawling Hand, that while it is a silly movie, it is more than that.  It is the noted commentary about humans’ fears of the unknown in regard to what could be out there in space.  The revelation is a great starting point in regard to motivation to watch the movie.
Weaver’s expansive discussion with The Slime People star Susan Hart, who played one of Prof. Galbraith’s daughters, is enlightening in its own right.  Hart reveals, for instance, that working with co-star William Boyce (The Nation’s Health, Café Purgatory, Bill Boyce: Money Actor) was anything but enjoyable.  According to Hart, Boyce was known to make lots of exaggerations about himself and his life.  She did not appreciate his ways, either.  She also talks about the film’s very low budget and how it played into her equally low clothes budget for the movie.  She also shares anecdotes about her own career among many other topics.  The whole of Weaver’s discussion makes for plenty of engagement and entertainment in its own right.
Staying on the matter of the movies’ discussions, the feature-length commentary from Rob Kelly included with The Crawling Hand offers its own insight, too.  One of the most notable items that Kelly points out in the course of the movie comes in the beach scene in which Marta and Paul were changing into their swimsuits.  Marta (Sirry Steffen – Bedtime Story, Hitler, The Beverly Hillbillies) actually strips down in the scene but in the American version there is obviously no nudity.  However, overseas, this moment was a full nude shot according to Kelly.  Even without the nudity, Kelly points out that there was some outrage from certain groups here stateside.  Considering how tame that moment was in comparison to the explicit content out there today in movies and on television, it makes that revelation interesting in its own right. 
Kelly also spends plenty of time highlighting the negative reviews that movie received in its initial premiere in 1963.  One critic’s review, he states, read that said critic actually laughed more than screamed.  It is a telling statement about this movie and somewhat justified, too.  It really is that silly even with its serious nature.
Information related to the movie itself is not all that Kelly shares throughout the movie’s run.  He also shares little tidbits about other famous Hollywood names and places.  For instance, the mortuary featured in the movie is real, as it turns out.  Kelly points out that the mortuary in question was in fact the same one where Hollywood legend Bela Legosi’s funeral was held.  On a related note, the funeral director, played by G. Stanley Jones, was quite the accomplished voice actor.  He was the voice of Lex Luthor in the Superfriends cartoon series, as well as the voice of Professor Xavier in Spiderman and his Amazing Friends.  Allegedly he also did quite a bit of voice work in the original Transformers animated series. 
All of this is interesting considering that his role here in this movie was so small.  It is right along the lines of the revelation Olan Soule, who played choir director John Masters in The Andy Griffith Show, was also the voice of Batman in a number of Filmation’s DC superhero series.  Additionally, he played a newscaster in the live action Batman television series.  For those who may not know, Soule’s character in The Andy Griffith Show  only appeared in a very small handful of episodes early in the series’ run but then never again.  So, to that end, his role there was essentially a bit part yet by contrast his voiceover work was far more expansive.  It just makes for an interesting juxtaposition.  Bringing things full circle in this discussion, it makes the revelation about Jones’ part in this movie all the more interesting.  He was essentially a successful actor, just more so in regard to voiceover work than on camera.  That in itself is sure to make for plenty of discussion.
Moving on from there, the information that Kelly provides throughout his commentary offers plenty of information and in turn, appreciation for this movie and its cast.  When his commentary is considered alongside Weaver’s own discussion, the whole therein makes for so much for audiences to appreciate.  If there is any one negative that can be said about the bonus content, it is that the double feature does not present the Mystery Science Theater 3000 episodes that feature these two movies.  VCI Entertainment cannot be blamed here, either.  Shout! Factory owns the rights to the series, so negotiating even those two episodes is likely very difficult.  It just would have really put the accent on the bonus content and the presentation in whole.  Even without those episodes, the bonus content still offers lots of appreciation.  To that end, the whole of VCI Entertainment’s Creepy Creatures Double Feature: The Crawling Hand/The Slime People proves a great piece for any vintage film buffs and one of this year’s top new movie re-issues.
Creepy Creatures Double Feature: The Crawling Hand/The Slime People is a surprisingly enjoyable offering from VCI Entertainment that is sure to appeal to so many audiences.  That is due in part to its general presentation.  Both movies are presented in whole on a single Blu-ray disc and in quite positive condition in regard to their production values.  The bonus content that accompanies the movies in their home release is expansive in its own right, adding another layer of appreciation to the whole.  Each item examined is important in its own way to the whole of the collection.  All things considered they make Creepy Creatures Double Feature: The Crawling Hand/The Slime People a must have for any classic movie fan.
Creepy Creatures Double Feature: The Crawling Hand/The Slime People is available now.  More information on this and other titles from VCI Entertainment is available at:
Website: https://vcientertainment.com