X: THE MAN WITH THE X-RAY EYES (1963)
Tagline: Suddenly he could see through clothes, flesh... and walls!
(Sci-Fi, Thriller, Eye Drops) [PG-13]
Note – This movie wasn’t given an MPAA rating, but if it was it would get a PG-13.
The city... as if it were unborn. Rising into the sky with fingers of metal, limbs without flesh, girders without stone. Signs hanging without support. Wires dipping and swaying without poles. A city unborn.
In this one, Dr. James Xavier (not to be confused with Professor Xavier) is a brilliant scientist hell-bent on devising a way to see into his patients to do surgeries. With this ability, he hopes to use his ability to advance modern medicine and change people’s lives. In time he comes up with a serum that can accomplish his goals, but it has very unintended side effects when he tests it on himself. It doesn’t take long before Xavier becomes almost addicted to the power. Can he stop himself from taking a sinister path?
First off this movie is completely fascinating. While I wasn’t really down with the opening which is literally a giant eyeball with the veins hanging out, after that the movie is pretty tame right up until the ending which might frighten anyone 13 and younger. So definitely keep that in mind if you want to check this out.
What this movie got right was the cast. It’s pretty great and Ray Milland is fantastic as Dr. James Xavier. Milland is best known for 1954’s DIAL M FOR MURDER. Diana Van der Vlis who plays Dr. Diane Fairfax (who is just all about Dr. James Xavier no matter what he does), is also great in this. She was active in Hollywood from 1954 to 1989, but I am unfamiliar with any of her other work. We also get a small dose of Don Rickles who always nails his roles, but I am not a fan of many of the characters he plays. He does a good job in this for the most part and is probably most famous for being the voice of Mr. Potato Head in the TOY STORY animated film series. Of course, Morris Ankrum makes an appearance as Mr. Bowhead. He only has a few lines, but you have to love the guy. He was in just a ton of 1950s sci-fi. This was his final film, but he stared in awesome flicks like GIANT FROM THE UNKNOWN and BEGINNING OF THE END among others.
By today’s standards, the effects in this movie are pretty basic but super effective. I mean at least for this viewer everything just worked. Tim Burton had an idea for a remake and Roger Corman even thought about updating it, but so far no attempts have been made and I am kind of thankful for that. I think a newer version might take away from the message, which is kind of in the vein of “power corrupts but absolute power corrupts absolutely”.
The final scene got to me a bit just because they took a darker tone with it, where I was kind of hoping for something that was a little more redeeming. In fact, the last 10 minutes really went sideways. This film did accomplish a lot, and in spite of the effects limitations, they really pulled off a lot of cool stuff in this one. I don’t see it as re-watchable though. I didn’t finish watching this thinking, wow, I have to see that again.
For that reason, I have to give this one a 4 out of 7. It’s interesting as a one-time watch. If there is one thing we can take away from 1960's sci-fi, it's that you never try that crazy new experimental thing that just killed a monkey, blew up the lab, caused a 3rd arm to grow on your back, or is something that is going to piss off aliens, on yourself.
GRAPHICS ARE THE PROPERTY OF ALTA VISTA PRODUCTIONS AND ARE USED FOR REVIEW PURPOSES ONLY.
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