X - The Unknown
by Leslie Norman
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Anthony Newley, Dean Jagger, Edward Chapman, Jameson Clark, Leo McKernDirector: Leslie Norman
Cinematographer: Gerald Gibbs
Editor: James Needs
Producer: Anthony Hinds
Producer: Michael Carreras
Producer: Mickey Delamar
Writer: Jimmy Sangster
DVD: Region Code 0
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Format: Black & White, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: Academy Ratio, 1.37:1
Running Time: 81 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2000-07-11
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Starz / Anchor Bay
Movie Reviews of X - The Unknown
Movie Review: The Scariest Movie From My Childhood.
Summary: 4 Stars
X THE UNKNOWN holds a special place in my movie pantheon because of all the horror/sci-fi movies I saw as a kid, this one scared me the most. It contains at least three scenes that were absolutely terrifying to a child back in the early 1960s. 1) A young boy comes face to face with the monster and all we see are his horrified reactions to what he sees. 2) A doctor in a hospital literally melts before our eyes. 3) The badly burned body of a soldier is found stuffed in a fissure (that face used to haunt me when I was trying to fall asleep). The creature itself didn't bother me although the Geiger counter sound that accompanied it did. The music is very PSYCHO like (creepy strings) but this was 4 years earlier so Bernard Herrmann must have seen this film. Unlike so many of the films from that era though, X still delivers the goods though obviously not in the same way.
Hammer Films, who had yet to make their color Dracula and Frankenstein films, intended this to be a third Quatermass film (after THE QUATERMASS XPERIMENT and QUATERMASS 2) but it didn't pan out. Dean Jagger was brought in to replace Brian Donlevy and Jimmy Sangster wrote the script instead of Nigel Kneale. This time the threat comes not from Outer Space but from within the Earth. The performances are low key and effective, the black and white photography is crisp and atmospheric, and the music adds to the intensity. While not as highly regarded as the two QUATERMASS films, I have always found X to be a better movie in virtually every department but, as always, it's a matter of opinion. Anchor Bay originally released this as a quality DVD back in 2000 and then on a double bill with THE FOUR SIDED TRIANGLE. Now they have it as a DVD-R. Make sure you check which one it is before purchasing especially if your DVD player is sensitive to the latter.
Summary of X - The Unknown
Hammer Studios' attempt to replicate the success of the superior Quatermass films gives us a kinder, gentler hero, the polite and soft-spoken Dr.?Royston (played with almost paternal kindness by American Dean Jagger). When the populace of the area surrounding a bottomless fissure in an abandoned quarry is devastated by a rash of lethal radiation burns, Royston tries to convince authorities of the possibility of a life from deep within Earth that has surfaced to feed to a rather skeptical reception. Sure enough, the sludge from 20,000 fathoms is spotted pouring down the road like a self-contained lava flow, headed for the military's own nuclear reactor. Director Leslie Norman can't quite match that taut, wound up quality of his inspirations, The Quatermass Xperiment and Quatermass 2, but he creates an inky-black atmosphere with moody night shooting and heaps on the horror with blistery, blotchy burns that culminate in the gooey remains of a man whose flesh is found melting off his skeleton--one of the most startling moments of any Hammer picture. A young Leo McKern can be spotted as a reporter and Anthony Newley is a whining soldier. --Sean AxmakerArt House & International DVD Video
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