X: The Unknown (1956)

Director:

Leslie Norman

Writers:

Jimmy Sangster (story)
Jimmy Sangster (screenplay)

Release Date:

May 1957 (USA)

Genre:

Sci-Fi | Mystery | Horror

Tagline:

NOTHING CAN STOP IT! (original print ad - all caps)

Plot:

Radioactive mud-like creature terrorizes a Scottish village during the 1950's.

Plot Keywords:

Radiation | Soldier | Geiger Counter | Hermit | Loss Of Son

Cast

Dean Jagger	...	Dr. Adam Royston
Edward Chapman	...	John Elliott
Leo McKern	...	Insp. McGill
Anthony Newley	...	LCpl. 'Spider' Webb
Jameson Clark	...	Jack Harding
William Lucas	...	Peter Elliott
Peter Hammond	...	Lt. Bannerman
Marianne Brauns	...	Zena, the Nurse
Ian MacNaughton	...	Haggis
Michael Ripper	...	Sgt. Harry Grimsdyke
John Harvey	...	Maj. Cartwright
Edwin Richfield	...	Soldier Burned on Back
Jane Aird	...	Vi Harding
Norman Macowan	...	Old Tom
Neil Hallett	...	Unwin

Runtime:

81 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

UK:PG | Finland:K-16 | USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

Beaconsfield Gravel Pits, Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company:

Hammer Film Productions

Trivia:

The movie began under the direction of Joseph Losey (working as Joseph Walton), exiled to England because of the Hollywood blacklist. However, when Dean Jagger arrived, he refused to work with a director he thought of as a Communist sympathizer, and Losey was replaced by Leslie Norman before shooting began. Losey's departure was publicly attributed to "illness".

Goofs:

Continuity: Lansing watches the stick sinking in a pool of liquid, but in a later long shot the stick in seen firmly standing in dry ground.

Quotes:

Dr. Adam Royston: Now, Mac, how would you go about killing that?
Inspector McGill: What is it?
Dr. Adam Royston: It's a particle of mud. But by virtue of its atomic structure it emits radiation. That's all it is. Just mud. How do you kill mud?

Movie Connections:

Featured in "The World of Hammer: Sci-Fi (#1.7)" (1994)

Excellent early Hammer science fiction

X the Unknown is an excellent sci fi movie from Hammer. It was made a year after The Quatermass Experiment.

Drilling at a remote location in the Scottish Highlands attracts a strange force from below. It turns out to be a blob like creature that feeds on radiation, which gets bigger as a result. After several people are killed by it including a young boy, a scientist finds a way to kill it and succeeds at the end.

This films stars American actor Dean Jagger and is joined by several familiar British stars: Leo McKern (The Day The Earth Caught Fire), Anthony Newly (Killers of Kilimanjaro), a young Frazer Hines (Dr Who, Emmerdale) and Hammer regular Michael Ripper (Curse of the Werewolf, The Mummy).

The movie has a very creepy score and location photography, a lot of which was shot at night.

This movie is a must if you are a fan of 1950's science fiction and Hammer.

Rating: 4 stars out of 5.