- For the episode, see MST3K 606 - The Creeping Terror.
- For the MADS presentation, see MADS - The Creeping Terror.
| “ | The monster next appeared in Lover's Lane. Anyone who experienced that catastrophe and survived would never go there again. | ” |
| - Narrator |
The Creeping Terror is a 1963 made-for-TV monster movie directed by Arthur Nelson.
Plot[]
The Creeping Terror
A mute alien creature lands on Earth in a NASA rocket and starts ingesting people. A newly-married deputy sheriff, a handsome scientist and an army "special unit" manage to defeat the creature.
It is eventually revealed that the spacecraft containing the creature also contains another, similar creature that gets loose as soon as the first one is stopped. The second creature goes on a rampage as well, but is eventually defeated.
Cast[]
- Arthur Nelson as Martin Gordon
- Shannon O'Neil as Brett Gordon
- William Thourlby as Dr. Bradford
- John Caresio as Col. Caldwell
- Brendan Boone as Barney
- Byrd Holland as Sheriff
- Larry Burrell as Narrator
Notes[]
- It is rumored that a more impressive-looking monster was originally designed and built for the movie, but it had been stolen a few days before shooting was to begin. Pressed for time and out of money, director Arthur Nelson and his crew hastily threw together the infamous "pile-of-carpets" monster that appears in the film.
- Another rumor is the claim that Shannon O'Neil was a minor at the time the movie was shot. As her IMDB profile only lists her death date at this time, the truth of this cannot be conclusively ascertained.
- The reason for the lack of dialogue is unclear. It has been stated that the recordings were lost (with some rumors claiming that they were dropped in Lake Tahoe somehow), or that sound was never recorded as a cost-saving measure, or that most of the recorded sound was too low-quality to be used. The narrator was a local radio announcer.
- Production of The Creeping Terror inspired the 2015 film The Creep Behind the Camera. Part documentary, part dramatization, the film explores the personality of director Vic Savage and his (somewhat unscrupulous) efforts to get the film made. Trace Beaulieu spoke highly of the film and promoted it on Twitter.
- Received two nominations in The Golden Turkey Awards series: Most Ridiculous Monster and Most Laughable Concept for an Outer Space Invader. It lost the first one to Robot Monster, but "won" the second.
- The music was composed by Dr. Frederick Kopp, whose grandson Pierre played the boy in the fishing scene. Kopp claimed that Pierre was never paid for his performance.
- The song played at the large party that the monster attacks is called "The Dance Hall Twist". It was included on The Golden Turkey Album, along with the song "She Left Me Lonely" from this film.
- There is no known familial connection between Arthur "A.J." Nelson and Mike Nelson (or any of the other people with the surname Nelson who appeared in MST3K movies).
MST3K Connections[]
- Writer Robert Silliphant was also writer for The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies (in which he also portrayed the second barker).
- Visual effects technician Clifford Stine also did special photography for This Island Earth (for which he was also cinematographer), The Mole People, The Deadly Mantis, and The Thing That Couldn't Die.