Der Fall X701 (1964)

User Rating:

3.5/10   

Director:

Bernard Knowles

Writer:

Evelyn Frazer (script)

Release Date:

1964 (West Germany)

Genre:

Mystery | Sci-Fi | Drama

Tagline:

Suspended animation or death!

Plot:

A scientist experimenting with suspended animation decides to use himself as a test subject. While he is frozen, his wife is murdered, and he becomes the primary suspect. |

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Cryogenics

Cast

Mark Stevens	...	Dr. Frank Overton
Marianne Koch	...	Dr. Helen Wieland
Wolfgang Lukschy	...	Inspector Prenton
Joachim Hansen	...	Tony Stein
Delphi Lawrence	...	Joan Overton
Walter Rilla	...	Sir Keith (as Walter Rilia)
Helmut Weiss	...	Chairman
John Longden	...	Prof. Hubbard
Albert Bessler	...	Martin, lab tech. (as Albert Ressler)
Sigurd Lohde	...	Dr. Karl Merkheimer (as Siegurd Lohde)
Wolfgang Gunther	...	Sgt. Grun (as Woflgang Gunter)

Also Known As:

Frozen Alive (UK) (USA)
Human Factor (UK) (working title)

Runtime:

Germany:81 min | USA:80 min

Country:

UK | West Germany

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

West Germany:16 (nf) | UK:A

Company:

Alfa Film

Movie Connections:

Featured in Shiver & Shudder Show (2002) (V)

Don't freeze, freezing only makes you look guilty!

I must have seen a lot more bad movies than the other reviewers who have reviewed this movie on the IMDb, because while it's definitely a long defunct sci fi flick, it wasn't THAT bad. In the world of bad movies, Frozen Alive is nowhere near the bottom of the barrel, but it's still pretty unendurable. The story is flat as a pancake and is never interesting, but the main problem is that it is so clearly two different kinds of movies squeezed into one, and the result just doesn't work.

A scientist is working on a system of deep-freezing monkeys, and then decides to use himself as a human test subject. Unfortunately, just before his own deep freeze, his wife dies a violent death and he becomes the prime suspect. The police investigators, of course, come knocking just as he is entering deep freeze, which is not exactly a quick catnap that he can be shaken awake from.

One half of the story deals with the scientist, a mid-50s or so man with salt and pepper hair and intense facial features, and his enormously alcoholic wife, a blonde bimbo who looks no less than 30 years his junior. It's too bad that they have no chemistry on screen whatsoever, otherwise this portion of the story would have been slightly less pathetic. The scene where he is holding her in his arms and telling her he wants them to try for a baby is highly disturbing.

The other half of the story deals with the deep freeze experimentation. This is the part that would make this a sci fi movie, although there is nothing really sci fi about it. If he had frozen himself and woken up in another time, then you have sci fi. Instead, he just freezes himself and then wakes back up. Who cares? As a result, it comes off as nothing more than a goofy crime drama soap opera about a guy trying to design a perfect cryogenetic freezer. And it's a shame, because there's a chance that there could have been two separate, and much better, movies made with this story...