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IMDbPro

X the Unknown

  • 19561956
  • ApprovedApproved
  • 1h 21m
IMDb RATING
6.1/10
3K
YOUR RATING
X the Unknown (1956)
Theatrical Trailer from Warner Bros. Pictures
Play trailer0:31
1 Video
29 Photos
HorrorSci-Fi
A radioactive, mud-like creature terrorizes a Scottish village.A radioactive, mud-like creature terrorizes a Scottish village.A radioactive, mud-like creature terrorizes a Scottish village.
IMDb RATING
6.1/10
3K
YOUR RATING
    • Leslie Norman
    • Joseph Losey(uncredited)
    • Jimmy Sangster(story)
  • Stars
    • Dean Jagger
    • Edward Chapman
    • Leo McKern
    • Leslie Norman
    • Joseph Losey(uncredited)
    • Jimmy Sangster(story)
  • Stars
    • Dean Jagger
    • Edward Chapman
    • Leo McKern
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 77User reviews
    • 52Critic reviews
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Videos1

    X the Unknown
    Trailer 0:31
    Watch X the Unknown

    Photos29

    X the Unknown (1956)
    X the Unknown (1956)
    X the Unknown (1956)
    James Hayter, Stephen Murray, Barbara Payton, and John Van Eyssen in Four Sided Triangle (1953)
    X the Unknown (1956)
    Frazer Hines in X the Unknown (1956)
    Ian MacNaughton and Anthony Newley in X the Unknown (1956)
    Max Brimmell in X the Unknown (1956)
    Robert Bruce, Kenneth Cope, and Angela Crow in X the Unknown (1956)
    Kenneth Cope and Peter Hammond in X the Unknown (1956)
    X the Unknown (1956)
    Anthony Newley in X the Unknown (1956)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Dean Jagger
    Dean Jagger
    • Dr. Adam Royston
    Edward Chapman
    Edward Chapman
    • John Elliott
    Leo McKern
    Leo McKern
    • Insp. 'Mac' McGill
    Anthony Newley
    Anthony Newley
    • LCpl. 'Spider' Webb
    Jameson Clark
    Jameson Clark
    • Jack Harding
    William Lucas
    William Lucas
    • Peter Elliott
    Peter Hammond
    Peter Hammond
    • Lt. Bannerman
    Marianne Brauns
    • Zena, the Nurse
    Ian MacNaughton
    • Haggis
    • (as Ian McNaughton)
    Michael Ripper
    Michael Ripper
    • Sgt. Harry Grimsdyke
    John Harvey
    • Maj. Cartwright
    Edwin Richfield
    Edwin Richfield
    • Soldier Burned on Back
    Jane Aird
    • Vi Harding
    Norman MacOwan
    Norman MacOwan
    • Old Tom
    • (as Norman Macowan)
    Neil Hallett
    Neil Hallett
    • Unwin
    • (as Neil Hallet)
    Kenneth Cope
    Kenneth Cope
    • Sapper Lansing
    Michael Brooke
    • Willie Harding
    • (as Michael Brook)
    Frazer Hines
    Frazer Hines
    • Ian Osborn
    • (as Fraser Hines)
      • Leslie Norman
      • Joseph Losey(uncredited)
      • Jimmy Sangster(story) (screenplay)
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The film was originally intended to have been a sequel to another Hammer success, The Quatermass Xperiment (1955), but creator Nigel Kneale vetoed the use of his character(s) by another writer - hence Prof. Bernard Quatermass swiftly became Dr. Adam Royston.
    • Goofs
      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

      Major Cartwright: You know this Royston chap - brilliant, of course, I'm sure - but the trouble with some of these scientific types is they can't see the easy way out of anything. It's got to be complicated if it's going to work.

    • Connections
      Featured in TJ and the All Night Theatre: X the Unknown (1979)
    • Soundtracks
      Serenade for Strings in E Major, Op. 22: V. Finale: Allegro vivace
      (uncredited)

      Written by Antonín Dvorák

    User reviews77

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    Hard SF classic creepy from start to finish
    Back in the days when "Prince Valiant" still covered most of a page in the Sunday funnies, I first saw this wonderfully creepy SF sleeper. From the opening scenes of a stretch of the Scottish moors opening up under a British soldier's feet, I was hooked. I was very lucky that my parents didn't send me to bed then(although they did right in the middle of "From Hell It Came", but that's another story); I was resolved to catch it again just to get that creepy feeling! The ominous P.O.V. shots of the "X" monster shambling through the barren woods at night, the outrageous "melting" death by hard radiation of the medical tech in the X-ray room, Dean Jagger as Dr. Royston, describing his new invention that can (theoretically) speed up decay of radioactive materials without causing flare-ups(!) simply by leeching away its' energy, and the film's creepy, near-ambiguous ending ("We did destroy it...didn't we?") showed just what you could--and can!--still do with a small budget and respect for the material.
    helpful•21
    1
    • telepinus1525
    • Dec 24, 2002

    Details

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    • Release date
      • May 1957 (United States)
      • United Kingdom
      • United States
      • English
    • Also known as
    • Filming locations
      • Beaconsfield Gravel Pits, Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, England, UK
    • Production company
      • Hammer Films
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

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    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

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    • 1 hour 21 minutes
      • Black and White

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