This is one of two Roger Corman films that starred Ray Milland (the other being "The Premature Burial"). Interestingly, the two have been combined onto one DVD--and they both are very entertaining and would make a nice purchase for your home video collection.
In "X", Ray Milland plays a crazed scientist who is working on a formula to improve vision. It seems he's stumbled upon a formula to make eye drops that might allow someone to actually see through things! He is so focused on his work that he's willing to even try out his formula on himself--a very, very bad decision in retrospect.
The film gets high marks for just being entertaining and goofy fun. It's not intellectual or brilliantly made, but it is fun to watch--something too often neglected in film reviews. The only serious drawbacks are the ways that people behave in the film--it just didn't make sense on many occasions. I'll give a few examples. First, because Milland had such wonderful x-ray vision, he could see that a child about to undergo surgery actually has a tumor--the other doctor is wrong in his diagnosis. How this other doctor reacts--both before AND after Milland saves the girl makes no sense. Likewise, soon after this, a psychiatrist way overreacts to Milland's powers--a tries to forcibly stab Milland with a hypo filled with a sedative while standing DIRECTLY NEXT TO A GIANT WINDOW!! Is anyone that dumb?! And, when the psychiatrist ends up falling out the window after a brief struggle, Milland runs--yet he'd really done nothing wrong--just reacted to people's overreactions and assaultive behavior. It was as if he had a giant fly head or was Godzilla in the way some reacted! Come on, folks, he's just got great vision!!
My score of 6 is for the overall quality of the film. It ain't brilliantly made. But, as far as the entertainment factor goes, I'd give this one an 8--it is a must-see for lovers of low-budget 60s horror.
In "X", Ray Milland plays a crazed scientist who is working on a formula to improve vision. It seems he's stumbled upon a formula to make eye drops that might allow someone to actually see through things! He is so focused on his work that he's willing to even try out his formula on himself--a very, very bad decision in retrospect.
The film gets high marks for just being entertaining and goofy fun. It's not intellectual or brilliantly made, but it is fun to watch--something too often neglected in film reviews. The only serious drawbacks are the ways that people behave in the film--it just didn't make sense on many occasions. I'll give a few examples. First, because Milland had such wonderful x-ray vision, he could see that a child about to undergo surgery actually has a tumor--the other doctor is wrong in his diagnosis. How this other doctor reacts--both before AND after Milland saves the girl makes no sense. Likewise, soon after this, a psychiatrist way overreacts to Milland's powers--a tries to forcibly stab Milland with a hypo filled with a sedative while standing DIRECTLY NEXT TO A GIANT WINDOW!! Is anyone that dumb?! And, when the psychiatrist ends up falling out the window after a brief struggle, Milland runs--yet he'd really done nothing wrong--just reacted to people's overreactions and assaultive behavior. It was as if he had a giant fly head or was Godzilla in the way some reacted! Come on, folks, he's just got great vision!!
My score of 6 is for the overall quality of the film. It ain't brilliantly made. But, as far as the entertainment factor goes, I'd give this one an 8--it is a must-see for lovers of low-budget 60s horror.