Minutes ago, on TCM (Turner Classic Movies), I finished watching a movie that I’ve wanted to see for years and years — X the Unknown. It’s from Hammer, the English studio that’s best known for its Gothic horror movies with Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. X the Unknown is a typical “monster appears and must be destroyed” flick, but with an intelligent script and understated performances, it’s way better than the plot would suggest. Here’s the whole movie.
Monte – I don’t know how I’ve missed “X The Unknown” all these years. It sure lives up to its rep. The script is great, and Dean Jagger is perfect as the methodical scientist, making his theory fit the facts, in true Sherlock Holmes fashion. Leo McKern (Klang in HELP!) is also good, as a somewhat superfluous Dr. Watson. I love the quiet scenes before the onset of radioactive death: The boys trying to catch a glimpse of mysterious old Tom the drunk, who we see later with his still; The soldiers on watch — “You’re a Scot ain’t ya?” “Aye, but I was born 300 miles from here.”; The surreptitious tryst between the doctor and nurse — “What did you think I came down for?” Great stuff.
I love X-The Unknown. I have it on VHS and showed it to my twins last year sometime. It was one of three blob movies I can recall, the third being “Caltiki, The Immortal Monster” (or “Immortal Blob?”). But X- the unknown was pretty scary when I was a kid, especially the scene with the guy being lowered into the pit and X chasing him back out again! Oh yeah, there was a Quatermass movie that had a blob, too, and a guy with thorns on his hands. I love those movies! If I didn’t write literary novels, I’d have to write a blob one!