The Eye Creatures
Encyclopedia
The Eye Creatures is a 1965 science-fiction
film about an invasion of an unnamed American countryside by a flying saucer
and its silent, shambling alien occupants. While the military ineptly attempts to stop the invasion, a group of young people, whose reports to the local police are dismissed as pranks or wild imagination, struggle to defend themselves against the menacing monsters.
The Eye Creatures is an American International Pictures
film. It was directed by regular B-movie
director/producer Larry Buchanan. The screenplay was developed by uncredited writers Robert J. Gurney Jr. and Al Martin from the short story "The Cosmic Frame" by Paul W. Fairman (also uncredited). This is a color remake of the 1957 black and white AIP film Invasion of the Saucer Men
to fill out a package of AIP films released to television.
Movie-mocking television series
Mystery Science Theater 3000
featured the oddly-titled print of the film in a 1992 season-4 episode.
with a dome) hovering as the narrator (an uncredited Peter Graves
) describes how the U.S. military's "Project Visitor" has been tracking it, anticipating a landing in the "central United States". Properly briefed, Lt. Robertson reports back to his base near the expected target, where he berates his subordinates for their habit of using their monitoring equipment to spy on teenagers in a local make-out scene in the woods (although he eventually participates in the activity himself). One of the teens sees a mysterious object landing nearby and discusses it in a bar with his friends, including nominal hero Stan Kenyon. Stan and his girlfriend Susan Rogers later accidentally hit one of the creatures and drive off to report the incident to the police. In the sparsely-populated woodland area, they are forced to use the phone of a grumpy codger who resents the "smoochers" in his woods, frequently threatening them with his shotgun.
Meanwhile, one of two drifters (who are seeking ways to make a fast buck) comes across the dead creature and decides to put together an exhibition. When he returns to the site, more of the invaders arrive, causing him to suffer a heart attack and die from shock. When the police finally investigate, they assume that Stan committed a hit-and-run
against the hapless drifter, and arrest the young man.
Having overheard the bar conversation about the UFO
, Lt. Robertson reports to his skeptical commander, who reluctantly authorizes a cordon around the saucer. They eventually blow up the spaceship and pat themselves on the back for their effective defense, not realizing that the eye creatures had already left their craft and are still roaming the surrounding woods.
Easily escaping the indifferent police, Stan and Susan meet up with the dead drifter's friend, Mike Lawrence, and the three of them attempt to get evidence to prove the danger to the community. In the process, Mike is cornered by the creatures, and Stan and Susan manage to flee only after accidentally discovering the monsters explode when exposed to bright light. Unfortunately, after the autopsy showed that the victim earlier died from a heart attack and that Stan had not killed him, the police are unwilling to have anything more to do with Stan. The teenagers then gather their friends from the make-out park, and together they drive to the clearing where they left Mike. Surrounding it with their cars, they use their headlights to evaporate the remaining creatures. Fortunately, Mike survived his attack, and Stan and Susan resume their interrupted plans to elope, hoping that any future invasion of the creatures will be handled by a "100% certified adult".
The creature costumes in particular presented problems to the director. There were not enough full costumes for all the creature actors during crowd scenes, so some scenes include creatures with only head appliances, wearing skin-tight black outfits in an attempt to hide their costume deficiencies. In the Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode featuring the film, Joel Robinson
sarcastically suggests that "some eye creatures […] are born with tight acrylic wool-blend turtleneck sweaters from Chess King
." Crow T. Robot
also mocks, "If you're ever in a fight with an eye creature, keep in mind that his head is simply draped casually over his shoulders and should be no trouble to knock off. […] Get ready to give chase to an injured eye creature; as you can see, he's wearing his Jack Purcell athletic shoes!" Crow even points out a shot featuring a common monster-movie goof: "The eye creatures […] were also unfortunate enough to have evolved with heavy-duty zippers running up their backs." Their riffing produced the fan-favorite phrase "They just didn't care," which has been applied to other movies viewed on the show as well being a page on Tvtropes.com .
Finally, in keeping with a frequent practice of B-movie re-release retitling, the phrase "Attack of the" was grafted on top of the original in the title screen. Unfortunately, the editor failed to notice that the original already included a "the", producing the redundant Attack ofthe the Eye Creatures.
's song "Never Gonna Give You Up
". Years later, the snippet surfaced on Youtube as "The First Rickroll" as the episode predates the "roboroll" from the Squaresoft game "Chrono Trigger
".
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
film about an invasion of an unnamed American countryside by a flying saucer
Flying saucer
A flying saucer is a type of unidentified flying object sometimes believed to be of alien origin with a disc or saucer-shaped body, usually described as silver or metallic, occasionally reported as covered with running lights or surrounded with a glowing light, hovering or moving rapidly either...
and its silent, shambling alien occupants. While the military ineptly attempts to stop the invasion, a group of young people, whose reports to the local police are dismissed as pranks or wild imagination, struggle to defend themselves against the menacing monsters.
The Eye Creatures is an American International Pictures
American International Pictures
American International Pictures was a film production company formed in April 1956 from American Releasing Corporation by James H. Nicholson, former Sales Manager of Realart Pictures, and Samuel Z. Arkoff, an entertainment lawyer...
film. It was directed by regular B-movie
B-movie
A B movie is a low-budget commercial motion picture that is not definitively an arthouse or pornographic film. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified a film intended for distribution as the less-publicized, bottom half of a double feature....
director/producer Larry Buchanan. The screenplay was developed by uncredited writers Robert J. Gurney Jr. and Al Martin from the short story "The Cosmic Frame" by Paul W. Fairman (also uncredited). This is a color remake of the 1957 black and white AIP film Invasion of the Saucer Men
Invasion of the Saucer Men
Invasion of the Saucer Men is a 1957 sci-fi comedy film starring Steven Terrell and Gloria Castillo and personally produced by James H. Nicholson for his American International Pictures...
to fill out a package of AIP films released to television.
Movie-mocking television series
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
Mystery Science Theater 3000
Mystery Science Theater 3000
Mystery Science Theater 3000 is an American cult television comedy series created by Joel Hodgson and produced by Best Brains, Inc., that ran from 1988 to 1999....
featured the oddly-titled print of the film in a 1992 season-4 episode.
Plot synopsis
The movie begins with a top-secret military briefing film which shows the flying saucer (resembling a yo-yoYo-yo
The yo-yo in its simplest form is an object consisting of an axle connected to two disks, and a length of twine looped around the axle, similar to a slender spool...
with a dome) hovering as the narrator (an uncredited Peter Graves
Peter Graves (actor)
Peter Aurness , known professionally as Peter Graves, was an American film and television actor. He was best known for his starring role in the CBS television series Mission: Impossible from 1967 to 1973...
) describes how the U.S. military's "Project Visitor" has been tracking it, anticipating a landing in the "central United States". Properly briefed, Lt. Robertson reports back to his base near the expected target, where he berates his subordinates for their habit of using their monitoring equipment to spy on teenagers in a local make-out scene in the woods (although he eventually participates in the activity himself). One of the teens sees a mysterious object landing nearby and discusses it in a bar with his friends, including nominal hero Stan Kenyon. Stan and his girlfriend Susan Rogers later accidentally hit one of the creatures and drive off to report the incident to the police. In the sparsely-populated woodland area, they are forced to use the phone of a grumpy codger who resents the "smoochers" in his woods, frequently threatening them with his shotgun.
Meanwhile, one of two drifters (who are seeking ways to make a fast buck) comes across the dead creature and decides to put together an exhibition. When he returns to the site, more of the invaders arrive, causing him to suffer a heart attack and die from shock. When the police finally investigate, they assume that Stan committed a hit-and-run
Hit and run (vehicular)
Hit-and-run is the act of causing a traffic accident , and failing to stop and identify oneself afterwards...
against the hapless drifter, and arrest the young man.
Having overheard the bar conversation about the UFO
Unidentified flying object
A term originally coined by the military, an unidentified flying object is an unusual apparent anomaly in the sky that is not readily identifiable to the observer as any known object...
, Lt. Robertson reports to his skeptical commander, who reluctantly authorizes a cordon around the saucer. They eventually blow up the spaceship and pat themselves on the back for their effective defense, not realizing that the eye creatures had already left their craft and are still roaming the surrounding woods.
Easily escaping the indifferent police, Stan and Susan meet up with the dead drifter's friend, Mike Lawrence, and the three of them attempt to get evidence to prove the danger to the community. In the process, Mike is cornered by the creatures, and Stan and Susan manage to flee only after accidentally discovering the monsters explode when exposed to bright light. Unfortunately, after the autopsy showed that the victim earlier died from a heart attack and that Stan had not killed him, the police are unwilling to have anything more to do with Stan. The teenagers then gather their friends from the make-out park, and together they drive to the clearing where they left Mike. Surrounding it with their cars, they use their headlights to evaporate the remaining creatures. Fortunately, Mike survived his attack, and Stan and Susan resume their interrupted plans to elope, hoping that any future invasion of the creatures will be handled by a "100% certified adult".
Critical review
The Eye Creatures is infamous for its many production errors and goofs. The story takes place during a single night, but movie criticism website Rotten Tomatoes points out that these night scenes include intercut shots from obvious daylight shoots. (This is particularly confusing given the eye creatures' sensitivity to light.) A string can be observed during a scene where a creature's severed hand creeps toward Susan and Stan.The creature costumes in particular presented problems to the director. There were not enough full costumes for all the creature actors during crowd scenes, so some scenes include creatures with only head appliances, wearing skin-tight black outfits in an attempt to hide their costume deficiencies. In the Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode featuring the film, Joel Robinson
Joel Robinson
Joel Robinson is a fictional character featured in the American science fiction comedy television series Mystery Science Theater 3000...
sarcastically suggests that "some eye creatures […] are born with tight acrylic wool-blend turtleneck sweaters from Chess King
Chess King
Chess King was a United States men's clothing retailer created by the Melville Corporation. From its founding in 1968 it grew to over 500 locations by the mid 1980s, before an eventual decline, sale, and closure of the chain in 1995.- History:...
." Crow T. Robot
Crow T. Robot
Crow T. Robot is a fictional character from the American science fiction comedy television series Mystery Science Theater 3000 . Crow is a robot, who, along with others, quips and riffs upon poor-quality B movies.- Overview :...
also mocks, "If you're ever in a fight with an eye creature, keep in mind that his head is simply draped casually over his shoulders and should be no trouble to knock off. […] Get ready to give chase to an injured eye creature; as you can see, he's wearing his Jack Purcell athletic shoes!" Crow even points out a shot featuring a common monster-movie goof: "The eye creatures […] were also unfortunate enough to have evolved with heavy-duty zippers running up their backs." Their riffing produced the fan-favorite phrase "They just didn't care," which has been applied to other movies viewed on the show as well being a page on Tvtropes.com .
Finally, in keeping with a frequent practice of B-movie re-release retitling, the phrase "Attack of the" was grafted on top of the original in the title screen. Unfortunately, the editor failed to notice that the original already included a "the", producing the redundant Attack of
Legacy
In the MST3K version, Joel riffs Rick AstleyRick Astley
Richard Paul "Rick" Astley is an English singer-songwriter, musician, and radio personality. He is known for his 1987 song, "Never Gonna Give You Up", which was a #1 hit single in 25 countries...
's song "Never Gonna Give You Up
Never Gonna Give You Up
A group of London dance producers, called The Rickrollerz made a house music cover version of "Never Gonna Give You Up" on that day, and in honor of that event....
". Years later, the snippet surfaced on Youtube as "The First Rickroll" as the episode predates the "roboroll" from the Squaresoft game "Chrono Trigger
Chrono Trigger
is a role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1995. Chrono Triggers development team included three designers that Square dubbed the "Dream Team": Hironobu Sakaguchi, the creator of Square's Final Fantasy series; Yuji Horii, a...
".