This is another of those films that I watched as a child, and shouldn't have! We owned a large Philco console TV set that had two knobs: On/Off/Volume and Channel Selector. It sat in the living room, so all my late-night monster movie viewing had to be done on the sly.
"X - The Unknown" had me hooked at the title. The black and white photography made the action doubly spooky. In the Scottish Highlands, a routine British Army exercise in radiation detection results in one soldier dead and another badly burned. That night, a large crevice opens at the test site and "something" makes its way to the surface. Thereafter, a series of baffling deaths have the authorities scratching their heads. The one that scarred me forever was the demise of the doctor who used the radiation-treatment room of the hospital as a trysting place with willing nurses. While the good doctor and his latest conquest are snogging, the electronic gear comes on by itself. Doc investigates and recoils in horror. As the hapless nurse watches, the young doctor's face melts down to the bone!
There are solid performances from all here. Dean Jagger as the American scientist, Leo McKern as the police inspector are outstanding. Also, look for a young Ian MacNaughton (of Monty Python fame) as "Haggis". I guarantee you'll never look at mud the same way again.
"X - The Unknown" had me hooked at the title. The black and white photography made the action doubly spooky. In the Scottish Highlands, a routine British Army exercise in radiation detection results in one soldier dead and another badly burned. That night, a large crevice opens at the test site and "something" makes its way to the surface. Thereafter, a series of baffling deaths have the authorities scratching their heads. The one that scarred me forever was the demise of the doctor who used the radiation-treatment room of the hospital as a trysting place with willing nurses. While the good doctor and his latest conquest are snogging, the electronic gear comes on by itself. Doc investigates and recoils in horror. As the hapless nurse watches, the young doctor's face melts down to the bone!
There are solid performances from all here. Dean Jagger as the American scientist, Leo McKern as the police inspector are outstanding. Also, look for a young Ian MacNaughton (of Monty Python fame) as "Haggis". I guarantee you'll never look at mud the same way again.