Wonkette Movie Night! MST3K: The Crawling Eye
'What's a giant eye going to do, pick you up and wink you to death?'
Making fun of silly things is fun.
Whether it is poking fun at political figures like saying JD Vance fucks couches or taking jabs at ridiculous B movies, we Wonkers have a great sense of twisted humor. Sarcasm keeps us sane. Well mostly it does, it can be really hard to maintain that when the world seems engulfed in madness.
But it has been what Movie Night was about from the beginning, considering it came out of a need for community and a respite from the barrage of bad news at the end of the COVID pandemic in the spring of 2022.
My Movie Night writing has never been about being a great literary achievement, it has always been me talking to you, my friends. Hanging out on a Saturday night, getting buzzed and just forgetting the bullshit for a couple of hours. A way to make people stop doom scrolling, stop living in all the horror that Trump was dishing out by the bucketful.
Something that has stuck in my head, something that was said by Russ Vought.
It was in reference to something specific but it was a look into their entire mindset for me. Traumatized people have a tough time fighting back, it requires so much energy to keep your head above the water. The constant chaos makes it hard for even the strongest to stay ahead of the monster. I understand trauma too well but have benefitted from many years of therapy. So I knew how to fight it, at least with what tools I had.
Movies. Escapism. Friends.
During the week our amazing Wonkette writers tell us what new horrors Trump and his insane clown posse are assailing us with on that particular day. They keep us informed. Then we somehow make it to Friday and Hooper has a drink for us. We look forward to something delicious on Sunday with Cakes We Like.
Saturday night is Movie Night. How awesome is it that Wonkette allows space for things that are life affirming. Because while we are in a fight for our lives it is important to remember that there is more to life than just surviving. That is why people show up in frog costumes and make funny signs and show up by the millions to protests. The next No Kings protest is March 28. Please take pictures of your local event and send them to me so I can put together a post of pictures from Wonkers across the country.
If your voice held no power they wouldn’t try to silence you.
Robert Reich gives us the numbers. 3.5%. 12 million. That is what can topple fascists.
Now let’s go make fun of a B Movie.
MST3K: The Crawling Eye stars Joel Hodgson, Trace Beaulieu, Josh Weinstein, and Jim Mallon. Directed by Jim Mallon.
The Crawling Eye / The Trollenberg Terror stars Forrest Tucker, Laurence Payne, Jennifer Jayne, Janet Munroe, and Warren Mitchell. Directed by Quentin Lawrence.
MST3K: The Crawling Eye is available for free on YouTube and Tubi.
To make requests and see the movie lists and schedules go to WonkMovie.
The animated short is Penelope by H. Jäälinoja.
Next week’s Movie Night selection is Drunken Master, it is available for free on YouTube. Free with ads on Tubi and The Roku Channel.
𝐁𝐎𝐍𝐔𝐒 𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐕𝐈𝐀:
John Carpenter has said that The Crawling Eye, with its creatures hidden in the clouds, was partly the inspiration for his film The Fog (1980).
Similar themes are found in the 2022 movie Nope. A monster hides behind a moving cloud.
The Crawling Eye monster makes a cameo appearance in Stephen King's horror novel "It". The children run into the creature in the sewers during a 1958 segment of the novel.
𝐁𝐎𝐍𝐔𝐒 𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐕𝐈𝐀:
In the United States, The Crawling Eye was acquired by D.C.A. (Distributors Corporation of America) and paired with "The Strange World of Planet X" as a pre-packaged double feature. Both films were British productions headlined by American actor Forrest Tucker. The films were re-titled "The Crawling Eye" and "The Cosmic Monsters" for U.S. release. They would be among the last motion pictures distributed by D.C.A.