JANET MUNRO & JENNIFER JAYNE IN 'THE TROLLENBERG TERROR'

THE TROLLENBERG TERROR aka THE CRAWLING EYE Year: 1958 Rating: ****

The originally-titled British horror THE TROLLENBERG TERROR changing into THE CRAWLING EYE is a matter of b-movie peer pressure, morphing a genuinely effective, deliberately slow-paced and mostly character-driven thriller into the kind of campy fare that never really had a chance...

The central character is imported American actor Forrest Tucker, who had just come off another British-made snowbound venture (by Hammer Studios) THE ABOMINABLE SNOWMAN... and TERROR is equally smart and cerebral, featuring scream-queen Janet Munro as a young lady with telepathic powers, who... before honing in on the impending danger at hand... was a kind of novelty act with perfectly-cast older sister Jennifer Jayne, both lovely brunettes with full lips and looking very much related...

Janet Munro in The Trollenberg Terror aka The Crawling Eye

The movie cuts from several locations: the hotel where all the characters... including token scientist Warren Mitchell and handsome British co-lead journalist Laurence Payne curbed by possessed human-antagonist Andrew Faulds... busily inhabit; an adjoined observatory where much of gooey eyeball creature battles take place; and various detours into the snowy mountainous region as the body-count builds in a spooky, intense manner...

Overall TROLLENBERG belongs to Munro, whose intense vulnerability makes her a sublime starlet while Tucker's performance is surprisingly subdued while Jayne looks lovely and emotional: learning along with the audience exactly what they're up against, equally balancing expository scientific dialogue and effective bursts of intense action.

Janet Munro & Jennifer Jayne in THE TROLLENBERG TERROR aka THE CRAWLING EYE

Janet Munro in The Trollenberg Terror aka The Crawling Eye

Janet Munro in The Trollenberg Terror aka The Crawling Eye

Jennifer Jayne in The Trollenberg Terror aka The Crawling Eye

Janet Munro in The Trollenberg Terror aka The Crawling Eye

Jennifer Janye in The Trollenberg Terror aka The Crawling Eye with Warren Mitchell

Jennifer Jayne and Warren Mitchell in The Trollenberg Terror aka The Crawling Eye

Janet Munro and Jennifer Jayne in The Trollenberg Terror aka The Crawling Eye

Warren Mitchell and Jennifer Jayne in The Trollenberg Terror aka The Crawling Eye

Janet Munro and Jennifer Jayne in The Trollenberg Terror aka The Crawling Eye

Exterior from The Trollenberg Terror aka The Crawling Eye

Janet Munro in The Trollenberg Terror aka The Crawling Eye

Janet Munro in The Trollenberg Terror aka The Crawling Eye

Janet Munro in The Trollenberg Terror aka The Crawling Eye

Janet Munro in The Trollenberg Terror aka The Crawling Eye

Janet Munro in The Trollenberg Terror aka The Crawling Eye

Jennifer Jayne in The Trollenberg Terror aka The Crawling Eye

Janet Munro in The Trollenberg Terror aka The Crawling Eye

Warren Mitchell, Laurence Payne & Forrest Tucker in The Trollenberg Terror aka The Crawling Eye

Jennifer Jayne in The Trollenberg Terror aka The Crawling Eye

Andrew Faulds and Forrest Tucker in The Trollenberg Terror aka The Crawling Eye

Jennifer Jayne in The Trollenberg Terror aka The Crawling Eye

Andrew Faulds in The Trollenberg Terror aka The Crawling Eye

Janet Munro, Warren Mitchell and Jennifer Jayne in The Trollenberg Terror aka The Crawling Eye

Forrest Tucker in The Trollenberg Terror aka The Crawling Eye

The Crawling Eye in The Trollenberg Terror aka The Crawling Eye

Forrest Tucker in The Trollenberg Terror aka The Crawling Eye

 Jennifer Jayne in The Trollenberg Terror aka The Crawling Eye

The Crawling Eye in The Trollenberg Terror aka The Crawling Eye

The Crawling Eye in The Trollenberg Terror aka The Crawling Eye

Laurence Payne, Forrest Tucker & Warren Mitchell in The Trollenberg Terror aka The Crawling Eye

Janet Munro and Jennifer Jayne in The Trollenberg Terror aka The Crawling Eye

Titles from The Trollenberg Terror aka The Crawling Eye

The real title of The Crawling Eye is THE TROLLENBERG TERROR

Janet Munro and Jennifer Jayne in The Trollenberg Terror aka The Crawling Eye

Laurence Payne in The Trollenberg Terror aka The Crawling Eye

Andrew Faulds in The Trollenberg Terror aka The Crawling Eye

Andrew Faulds in The Trollenberg Terror aka The Crawling Eye

Jennifer Jayne and Forrest Tucker in The Trollenberg Terror aka The Crawling Eye