The Crawling Hand

Astronauts keep going crazy and blowing up on their way back to the ground, and scientists can't figure out why. The latest astronaut to fall to this mysterious syndrome manages to contact his scientist superiors just before doing himself in; he alternates between pleas to "push the red" Self-Destruct Mechanism and violent urges to "Kill! Kill!" Finally the "red" is pushed, the astronaut is blown to shards and the scientists are still stumped.

Meanwhile, over in California, young med student Paul frolicks on the beach with his girlfriend when they happen upon the severed arm of the dead astronaut. Against his girl's wishes, Paul returns to the beach and takes the arm home with him (for what reason, we're not told). Soon, it becomes apparent to everyone (in the audience, at least) that whatever malediction had possessed the astronaut still possesses the arm, which prompty goes on a killing spree (said spree resulting in a grand total of ONE death). Paul himself is a prime suspect in the murder, but the two scientists arrive with their own theories. Then the mysterious murderous force begins to infect Paul as well, and he attacks a Malt Shop owner and his own girlfriend. After realizing what he's doing, Paul takes the hand out to a junkyard with the intent of destroying it, and between a fever of over 100 and some hungry cats, the evil is defeated... er, handily.

For the Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode see here.

Tropes used in The Crawling Hand include:

• Brainwashed and Crazy: Well, not exactly brainwashed, but similar. Definitely crazy though.
• Clear My Name
• The End - or Is It?: The bumbling ambulance drivers somehow manage to lose the killer hand in the film's closing seconds.
• Eldritch Abomination: Only implied; apparently it's some evil alien spirit or similar that takes over astronauts and turns them into krazy killers. It's also contagious.
• Hey, It's That Guy!:
  • Alan Hale Jr. as the sheriff (happily, sans open-fronted shirt and mod haircut).
  • Peter Breck, who not only went on to star in The Big Valley but also became (in)famous (at least, among MiSTie fans) for his scenery-gobbling role as Mooney in The Beatniks.
• I Cannot Self-Terminate: Because my body is being controlled by an alien energy being. Push the red!
• Jurisdiction Friction: Invoked by the sherriff, but all the scientists want is the severed hand. And a little cooperation from the long arm of the law.
• Kill'Em All: The malevolent entity has this as its raison d'etre.
• Organ Autonomy / Helping Hands / Evil Hand
• People Puppets
• The Scourge of God: The only victim of the killer hand (or any of its People Puppets) to actually die is the booze-and-pill-fueled landlady.
• Those Two Guys: The bumbling ambulance drivers.
  • Also the two scientists, Peter Breck and Faux-Gordon.
• Too Dumb to Live: And why, pray tell, is Paul so dead-set on bringing that severed arm home with him?
  • Also the bumbling ambulance drivers (see The End - or Is It?).