The Beast with a Million Eyes
We open with narration, as told by the Beast (voice of Bruce Whitmore), "I leave this world. From millions of light years away I approach your planet. Soon my spaceship lands on Earth. I need your world. I feed on fear, live on human hatred. I, a strong mind, without flesh or blood want your world. First, the unthinking: the birds of the air, the animals of the forest, then the weaker of men shall all do my bidding. They shall be my ears, my eyes until your world is mine. And because I see your most secret acts you will know me as the beast with a million eyes." Titles and credits follow, shown over black and white ink drawings.We open on a vista of a date ranch in the California desert. Allan Kelley (Paul Birch) tells us his ranch is losing money and has for the last three years. He senses something out in the desert. Sandra Kelley (Dona Cole) approaches the house with the family dog, Duke. She is the only child and daughter of Allan and his wife, Carol (Lorna Thayer). Husband and wife argue initially over Allan's plan to send Sandy to college. Carol is opposed. Carol is bitter and jealous of her young and pretty daughter. Of course, Sandy was outside the door and heard everything. Carol blurts out her real reason for her mood, "Without Sandy, I don't know what would happen to me. There's just you and me and Him, always watching." The Him she refers to is Carl (Leonard Tarver), a man Allan keeps on the ranch for mysterious reasons. Carl occupies a shed on the ranch. Sandy decides to go swimming and takes the dog with her. Carl follows Sandy. He climbs a ladder leaning against a palm tree to spy on her in the water.Carol is in the kitchen. She picks up a glass coffee pot. A strange, high pitched, noise gets louder and the coffee pot shatters in her hands. The lights dim, then return to normal. Sandy hears it also, but blames it on the pilots operating at a nearby military base. Sandy and Duke decide to walk back home, but the dog stops and provides warning. Sandy sees Carl on the ladder and demands he come down at once. She pulls her clothes on. Carl cannot respond as he is mute. Duke wanders off. Carol calls the local sheriff to report all her glassware is broken. Naturally, she too blames it on aircraft operating at the local base. Her call took longer than she anticipated. As a result the lunch she had in the oven burned. Unfortunately, Carl choose that moment to enter the kitchen. He mimed that he wanted to eat lunch. Carol throws him out of the kitchen and the house. She sits at the kitchen table and weeps.Allan is driving back from the groves and is distracted by a bird that hit his windshield. He stops and gets out of the car to examine the bird. A flock attacks him. He jumps back in the car and rolls up the window. Sandy is out looking for her dog, Duke. Allan stops by to see a neighbor, Ben Webber (Chester Conklin). He asks, "Did you ever hear of blackbirds attacking a man?" Ben scoffs, "No, why?" But adds, "Well, to tell you the truth. I wouldn't be surprised by anything that happened since that plane went over here. Things have been might funny around here." Allan leaves. He spots Sandy walking on the road and gives her a ride back home. Duke is wandering around out in the desert. At the house, Carol is cleaning up the broken glass. Carl comes in for lunch, and Carol throws him out. Duke wanders into a canyon and spots the spaceship. He barks at the small, coffee-pot looking craft. Five bullet shaped objects are attached to the front of it, and a three wire antenna twirls on top. Deputy Larry Brewster (Dick Sargeant) from the Sheriff's office pays a visit. He came to check on damage, but Allan knows the real reason is to see his daughter, Sandy. Sandy and Larry wander off for a walk, then return to the house. Larry reviews the damage then drives away.Duke returns to the house after his encounter with the spaceship. He is behaving strangely and it frightens Carol. She fires the rife at the dog, but misses. As it comes into the house, she exits outside. Carol runs to Carl for help, but he ignores her. The dog attacks Carol in the shed. Allan and Sandy drive up to the house. It is early evening and they notice the lights are off. Carol has a bruise on her face and tells Allan that Duke is in the shed. Sandy goes to the shed then screams. She comes back into the house, very upset. Duke has been killed with an axe. Sandy immediately blames Carl, as she'd seen him with the axe earlier, but Carol tells her daughter that the dog was behaving strangely. Sandy concludes that it was her mother that killer her dog. Allan and Carol promise to reconcile and become closer.Sandy finds Carl out in the desert and brings him back home. Carl returns to the shed and Sandy walks back to the house to talk to her father. She tells him about the humming sound that was similar to the "jet" noise earlier. Allan concludes that when two people are together the effect of the strangeness is reduced.The next morning Ben starts his outside chores. He attempts to milk the cow, but it attacks him. Carol feeds the chickens at the Kelley ranch, and she is attacked. Carl and Allan get in the car and drive to the grove of date palms. Carl works on the trees and Allan drives off. Carl wanders away following a bird. Allan drives over to see Ben Webber and discovers his body. He sees the broken stool and the milk pail turned over. Carl enters the ravine and is illuminated by the flashing lights of the spacecraft. Ben's cow arrives at the Kelley ranch. Carol and Sandy decide to get some fresh milk. The cow chases Sandy, but she takes cover in the shed in Carl's room. Carol tries to protect her daughter by chasing the cow away with a garden rake, but falls. Allan shoots the mad cow and saves his wife from being trampled. Allan tries to contact Larry Brewster to investigate the situation at Ben Webber's place. Another phone call is disrupted when the alien mind directs a flock of birds to disable a power transformer.Sandy and Carol take the car to find Larry Brewster. Allan searches for Carl and is attacked by a flock of birds. Carol and Sandy return home. Carol shows Allan that they couldn't leave the ranch because birds attacked the car. Allan now guesses that something is out in the desert and is directing the attacks of animals against them. Carl returns to the ranch and empties the air out of the tires on the family car. It is now evening and Sandy is worried that Larry is late. Carl attacks Larry as he is driving to the Kelley ranch. The Kelley family discovers the four flat tires on the car when they try to leave. Larry comes to and walks to the ranch. Carl walks back to the ravine and Larry follows him. There is a scuffle and Larry overpowers the mute man and knocks him cold with the butt end of his service revolver. Larry walks towards the Kelley ranch. Carl regains consciousness and also walks towards the ranch. Sandy encounters Carl. Larry enters the house and tells Allan and Carol, "That looney of yours has gone mad. He tried to kill me in the car. I trailed him out to the desert and finally knocked him out." Allan and Larry go search for Sandy. Carl carries Sandy to the spacecraft. Allan and Larry find the tracks and see Carl and Sandy struggling in the ravine. Allan calls to Carl, but Carl is torn between his friendship for Allan and the power of the mind on the spacecraft. Carl returns Sandy to Allan and he carries his daughter to safety. The force kills Carl.Allan is now certain that the force controls the animals, but they can resist. The Beast tells them, "Very well, Earthman. I have some secrets too." Telepathy is the mode of communication, and it wants Sandy. It plans to occupy and control human bodies. It admits that humans have some secret to resist its power. Allan finally tells his wife why he has been looking after Carl. Carl was a troop under his command during the war and he blames himself for the brain injury Carl suffered. Allan felt an obligation to look after Carl. Allan tells the Beast that the secret is love, and it can't have his daughter. Allan, Carol and Sandy walk to the crater to confront the Beast. A door opens on the spacecraft and a small, dark, gremlin-like creature tries to emerge, but collapses and dies. The ship departs, apparently on auto pilot. The mind enters a mouse and is picked up by an eagle. We close with Allan and Carol standing and Sandy and Larry walking into the desert.
cult, romantic