X (1963)

Director:

Roger Corman

Writers:

Robert Dillon (screenplay) and
Ray Russell (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

18 September 1963 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

Suddenly he could see through clothes, flesh... and walls!

Plot:

Dr. Xaviers experiments with X-Ray vision start to go wrong.

Plot Keywords:

X Ray Vision | Eye | Experiment | Animal Research | Psychotronic

Cast

Ray Milland	...	Dr. James Xavier
Diana Van der Vlis	...	Dr. Diane Fairfax
Harold J. Stone	...	Dr. Sam Brant
John Hoyt	...	Dr. Willard Benson
Don Rickles	...	Crane

Also Known As:

Man with the X-Ray Eyes
X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes (USA) (alternative title)

Runtime:

79 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Pathécolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:12 | USA:Approved (PCA #20529)

Filming Locations:

Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Company:

Alta Vista Productions

Trivia:

To create the effect of being able to see through a building, the director filmed the construction of the building in time lapse, then ran the film backward.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When in the party, Dr. Xavier sees everybody naked, through their clothes, curtains and table cloths are shown. If he can see through clothes, the table should be "naked".

Quotes:

Preacher: Are you a sinner? Do you wish to be saved?
Dr. James Xavier: Saved? No. I've come to tell you what I see. There are great darknesses. Farther than time itself. And beyond the darkness... a light that glows, changes... and in the center of the universe... the eye that sees us all.
[Looks up at the sky]
Dr. James Xavier: No!
Preacher: You see sin and the devil! But the lord has told us what to do about it. Said Matthew in Chapter Five, "If thine eye offends thee... pluck it out!"

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing (2004)

good mad doctor flick

A good mad doctor flick courtesy of Roger Corman, in which Ray Milland plays a doctor who is experimenting with eye drops that allow further vision. Never mind that the monkey he experimented on dropped dead, he wants to try it himself. Of course you know all's not well once he does, otherwise there'd be no reason for this movie. At first he thinks it's kind of cool, especially at a party where he can see all the young ladies without their clothes. And, I might note, this is probably the only film available where you can see Milland do "the twist". But things go downhill at a fast pace when Milland accidentally knocks his best friend out a window to his death and he goes into hiding as a "seer" at a carnival, with Don Rickles as his manger. Eventually he's found by his assistant and ends up in Vegas cleaning out the blackjack tables and then suspicion arises and he's on the run again. I remember the ending from numerous times I saw this on TV and while tame by today's standards it's still a little bit of a shock. Not a bad little flick that shows that you can't mess around in things that you weren't meant to understand because it's too much for your tiny mind to take. 7 out of 10.