X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes (1963)

Director: Roger Corman

Starring: Ray Milland & Don Rickles

More Info: IMDB

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

Plot: Dr. James Xavier experiments on his own vision and ultimately begins to see things no human can bear.

My Rating: 7/10

Would I watch it again? Sure.



#5 on SCI-FI TRAILERS VOLUME 9 & 10 (part of the TRAILER TRASH PROJECT)

What's this? Roger Corman directed a really good sci-fi movie? No! Yes! I'm not poo-pooing Corman by any means, but when a guy makes something like 9,000 movies he's going to have some stinkers. I've just been seeing more of the stinkers lately than I would care to. He also made some damn fine films and I watched three of them last night.


It's been a while since I saw this but I certainly didn't remember how talky and slow it was. Once you get past the hypothesizing and the technical over-explanations of everything, you've got yourself a movie that seems like a throw-away low budget genre film but ends up being a smart little flick. OK, so maybe it's not the Einstein of 60s sci-fi but at least they put some thought into the science and the consequences. On top of that it's got Don Rickles!


Another thing I dig, besides having the always fun Rickles, is that it stars Ray Milland. He won an Oscar for his starring role in THE LOST WEEKEND (1945), his 65th film! At one time he was one of the biggest stars around and, as sometimes happens in a star's later career, he delved into genre films in the 1960s and 70s. I LOVE it when stars do shit like this. I respect the actors who treat acting like a job and aren't afraid to take a low budget project for the paycheck or because it's just different. Seriously, do you think you'll EVER see Tom Hanks or Julia Roberts doing anything like this...

How fucking cool is that? Yeah, I thought so. By doing these types of films (I've got much more respect for Shelly Winters because she did things like POOR PRETTY EDDIE) it also makes them seem more normal and down to Earth. I dare you to watch the above trailer for THE THING WITH TWO HEADS and not come away from it thinking, "He seems like a pretty cool guy to hang around with", especially knowing his back catalog and accomplishments. BTW, I think TTWTH is ripe for a remake starring Craig Robinson (you know, Darryl from THE OFFICE) and Mel Gibson (just for the irony of it all).

Scientists in their natural environment.

Fuck, I've said very little about X. Check it out. It's one of Corman's better efforts of the 60s. Too bad there's not much action. Even at only 79 minutes it could have used some more. The last shot of the film is balls-out too cool for school! I felt like doing what he did on more than one occasion while watching THE STAR WARS HOLIDAY SPECIAL (1978); once when I watched it and three more times when reliving that night in my dreams.

Exactly!

And what's a Corman picture without the awesomeness of Dick Miller?!



Just watch the following segment (start around 2:30) for one of the best scenes in the movie, the dance party, where Milland gets to show off his mad dance skills. If that tickles your interest, make the plunge and watch the whole thing. Damn, I love the 60s and their groovy dance parties! I think I'll have one of my own were I get everyone to pretend that I have x-ray eyes and they have to dance naked while I look upon them in amazement.