1963 film by Herbert L. Strock
The Crawling Hand is a 1963 American science fiction horror film directed by Herbert L. Strock, and starring Peter Breck, Kent Taylor, Rod Lauren, Alan Hale and Allison Hayes.[3] It was later featured on the television shows Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K) and The Canned Film Festival.[4]
Plot
An astronaut, coming in for a crash landing, makes odd statements over the radio, including "my hand... makes me do things.... kill.... kill!" Strangely, by then, ground control was under the belief that he was already out of oxygen.
Later, Paul, a naive student, discovers a disembodied hand near the crash site and takes it home as a grisly souvenir. He is not aware that the hand is possessed by a strange, murderous alien.
The hand murders Paul's landlady. The sheriff, played by Alan Hale, suspects Paul, who begins to act more and more strangely as the hand begins to have more and more influence over him. The fictional federal agency responsible for space flight is called to the small town because fingerprints found at the first crime scene match the missing, dead astronaut.
Paul, now under control of the Crawling Hand, attacks other people around the town, including his own beloved girlfriend. Horrified at what he's been doing, Paul attempts to take the hand to the beach to destroy it, where he's confronted by federal authorities. The hand, now wounded, is held down by cats who try to eat it. Authorities capture the hand.
Paul, recovering in the hospital, appears to be forgiven.
Meanwhile the federales charged with transporting the offended appendage open the box used to confine the apprehended hand. The film ends with a quick zoom to the inside of an empty box and the sound of a scream as the words "the end" appear on black.
Cast
Note: character names are not indicated in on-screen credits.
