X the Unknown is an immensely enjoyable Horror flick produced by Hammer Film productions in 1956. Scripted by reluctant screenplay writer (he was originally a Production Manager) and regular Hammer contributor Jimmy Sangster and starring an obligatory American lead (to ensure American distribution) in the form of actor Dean Jagger, playing Dr. Adam Royston, a character a bit like Professor Bernard Quatermass. There is a good reason for these similarities. Following the success of Hammer's 'The Quatermass Xperiment' the year prior (a film adaptation of the 1953 BBC serial 'The Quatermass Experiment' scripted by Nigel Kneale) the folks at Hammer were hoping for a quick return and the opportunity to cash in on that first film. Besides which they had also begun carving themselves a niche in the British horror/science fiction market and films such as this paved the way for the glossy Gothic colour Hammer films that were to follow with pictures such as 'The Curse of Frankenstein' in 1957 and 'Dracula' in 1958. Although 'X the Unknown' is a Jimmy Sangster script it was hoped that Nigel Kneale would give the filmmakers permission to include the character of Professor Bernard Quatermass thus making it a Quatermass picture. Although Kneale would allow Hammer the rights for their three film adaptations of his Quatermass TV serials and his unrelated serial 'The Creature' (made by Hammer as 'The Abominable Snowman') he did not allow Hammer to use the character for this production. Thus the character of Dr. Adam Royston was born and in a way it's a pity that Dean Jagger did not portray the role of Quatermass in the first two Hammer pictures, the aforementioned 'The Quatermass Xperiment' and 'Quatermass 2' because he is a lot better at portraying the curious, meticulous scientist Royston than fellow actor Brian Donlevy ever was at playing Quatermass.
'X the Unknown' concerns a radiation hungry monster that appears in a Scottish gravel pit during a routine military exercise searching via Geiger counter for a harmless radiation source. Its forces create a fissure in the ground of the gravel pit at the start of the film and later its true power in unleashed. In traditional fashion it runs amok across the fictional Scottish village of Lochmouth, which also happens to be home to Dr. Royston who works at a nearby Atomic Energy Laboratory. The film is solidly directed by Leslie Norman and benefits from some atmospheric night shoots on location. 'X the Unknown' is notably quite graphic for the time in which it was made, allowing the filmmakers to secure the desired X certificate that the 'Quatermass' pictures also enjoyed. At the time this gave the film a certain notoriety and the melted faces of the victims of 'X' are highly effective and predate the famous sequence from 'Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark' (namely the death of Major Arnold Toht) by 25 years. It is worth noting that the film's original booked director was Joseph Losey, who went on to direct the classic Hammer film 'The Damned' in 1963. An American director, he had moved to the UK (initially working under the name of Joseph Walton) to avoid the Hollywood Blacklist after he was blacklisted for allegedly being a 'Communist sympathiser'. This was not unusual for 1950's Hollywood and many directors, producers and actors suffered under McCarthyism for simply having left wing leanings. Nevertheless actor Dean Jagger refused to work with Losey due to his politics and although a couple of his sequences appear in the film he was dropped (officially due to 'illness') during the picture's first week in production.
The performances of Dean Jagger and the supporting cast are generally excellent but special mention must go to Australian actor Leo McKern as Inspector McGill. A young Kenneth Cope (later of 'Randall and Hopkirk Deceased' fame) appears here as the first victim of 'X' Private Lansing. An even younger Frazer Hines (credited here as Fraser Hines and just 11 years old at the time of filming) plays local boy Ian Osborne here. An accomplished little actor Hines would later appear as the longest running Doctor Who companion to date (alongside Second Doctor Patrick Troughton) from 1966-1969 and later as a long running regular character in 'Emmerdale'. The film's main let down is the ridiculous sequence with Neil Hallett as Unwin and Marianne Brauns as Zena, a lustful Nurse who is after Dr. Unwin. They are both at a hospital where a boy who had come into contact with 'X' has succumbed to the radiation burns caused by the incident. Marianne picks this moment to get close and personal with Unwin who ultimately meets the same fate as the young boy. The sequence is demeaning to one of the very few women to appear in the film and was clearly crassly included purely for the benefit of the 'X' certificate rating. His death scene though is very well done.
The special effects are actually very successful throughout and there are some memorable sequences, particularly when 'X' almost envelopes a small child, only to be saved by the local priest in the nick of time. James Bernard's spooky, dissonant and minimal score (his second for Hammer following 'The Quatermass Xperiment') nicely counterpoints the action and all in all 'X the Unknown' is great fun. Sangster treats the scientific subject matter with great seriousness and sincerity, and although it is inevitably pseudo-science it has believability and does not patronise its audience. It is also an unusual film in that the threat is not man made, but a natural occurrence, a refreshing change from the much repeated idea of man creating its own enemies by meddling with things it does not understand.
This production is leagues above a great deal of the American and British science fiction/horror product of the decade, not to mention the following three decades too and is no doubt one of Hammer's best early Horror pictures.
'X the Unknown' concerns a radiation hungry monster that appears in a Scottish gravel pit during a routine military exercise searching via Geiger counter for a harmless radiation source. Its forces create a fissure in the ground of the gravel pit at the start of the film and later its true power in unleashed. In traditional fashion it runs amok across the fictional Scottish village of Lochmouth, which also happens to be home to Dr. Royston who works at a nearby Atomic Energy Laboratory. The film is solidly directed by Leslie Norman and benefits from some atmospheric night shoots on location. 'X the Unknown' is notably quite graphic for the time in which it was made, allowing the filmmakers to secure the desired X certificate that the 'Quatermass' pictures also enjoyed. At the time this gave the film a certain notoriety and the melted faces of the victims of 'X' are highly effective and predate the famous sequence from 'Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark' (namely the death of Major Arnold Toht) by 25 years. It is worth noting that the film's original booked director was Joseph Losey, who went on to direct the classic Hammer film 'The Damned' in 1963. An American director, he had moved to the UK (initially working under the name of Joseph Walton) to avoid the Hollywood Blacklist after he was blacklisted for allegedly being a 'Communist sympathiser'. This was not unusual for 1950's Hollywood and many directors, producers and actors suffered under McCarthyism for simply having left wing leanings. Nevertheless actor Dean Jagger refused to work with Losey due to his politics and although a couple of his sequences appear in the film he was dropped (officially due to 'illness') during the picture's first week in production.
The performances of Dean Jagger and the supporting cast are generally excellent but special mention must go to Australian actor Leo McKern as Inspector McGill. A young Kenneth Cope (later of 'Randall and Hopkirk Deceased' fame) appears here as the first victim of 'X' Private Lansing. An even younger Frazer Hines (credited here as Fraser Hines and just 11 years old at the time of filming) plays local boy Ian Osborne here. An accomplished little actor Hines would later appear as the longest running Doctor Who companion to date (alongside Second Doctor Patrick Troughton) from 1966-1969 and later as a long running regular character in 'Emmerdale'. The film's main let down is the ridiculous sequence with Neil Hallett as Unwin and Marianne Brauns as Zena, a lustful Nurse who is after Dr. Unwin. They are both at a hospital where a boy who had come into contact with 'X' has succumbed to the radiation burns caused by the incident. Marianne picks this moment to get close and personal with Unwin who ultimately meets the same fate as the young boy. The sequence is demeaning to one of the very few women to appear in the film and was clearly crassly included purely for the benefit of the 'X' certificate rating. His death scene though is very well done.
The special effects are actually very successful throughout and there are some memorable sequences, particularly when 'X' almost envelopes a small child, only to be saved by the local priest in the nick of time. James Bernard's spooky, dissonant and minimal score (his second for Hammer following 'The Quatermass Xperiment') nicely counterpoints the action and all in all 'X the Unknown' is great fun. Sangster treats the scientific subject matter with great seriousness and sincerity, and although it is inevitably pseudo-science it has believability and does not patronise its audience. It is also an unusual film in that the threat is not man made, but a natural occurrence, a refreshing change from the much repeated idea of man creating its own enemies by meddling with things it does not understand.
This production is leagues above a great deal of the American and British science fiction/horror product of the decade, not to mention the following three decades too and is no doubt one of Hammer's best early Horror pictures.
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