THE BEAST WITH 1,000,000 EYES d: David Kramarsky and Lou Place
The Beast with 1,000,000 Eyes (1955)
Direction: David Kramarsky and Lou Place. Screenplay: Tom Filer. Cast: Paul Birch, Lorna Thayer, Dona Cole, Leonard Tarver, Dick Sargent, Chester Conklin
Despite the confusing voice-over introduction, David Kramarsky and Lou Place’s The Beast with a Million Eyes is one of my favorite 1950s alien-invasion films.
Set in an ugly, desolate landscape, Tom Filer’s screenplay focuses on a dysfunctional family whose members become the first victims of a strange force from another galaxy after a spaceship lands nearby emitting sound vibrations that turn domestic animals into aggressive killers.
First, the lady-of-the-house is pecked by a flock of chickens and, scariest of all, by the family dog. Then the teenage daughter is practically stampeded by a (single) bull. The whole family is also threatened by wild birds (nine years before Alfred Hitchcock), while silent-film comedian Chester Conklin becomes the victim of his rampaging dairy cow.
Adding to all this other-worldly drama is the strange, mute farmhand who spends much of his time drooling over his pinup-girl photo collection, and acting rather sinisterly. He is only known as "Him."
The characters are particularly dim-witted, failing to realize what danger they’re in until it’s too late. Additionally, despite all the warnings, they still trust the lunatic farmhand even though he is obviously under the influence of the alien force.
As a result, all these beasts — together with their million eyes — get even with the human race for centuries of abuse. That’s how I see it anyway. The screenwriter, however, had a different message: the alien creature takes over the animals and the weak-minded in order to control strong-minded people. (Or something like that.) But as far as the human mind is concerned there is safety in numbers, and that proves stronger than the power of the alien creature.
I’m sure there’s a message in there somewhere, but I’d rather see The Beast with a Million Eyes as "vegetarian propaganda," and a warning against animal exploitation.
© Danny Fortune
INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL
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