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Mysterious events surround the sudden appearance of a gaping fissure in Scotland: soldiers on manoeuvres nearby develop a debilitating sickness and a small boy is later engulfed by an eerie presence. The child subsequently dies of first-degree radiation burns, similar to those that killed one of the soldiers. Mankind is at the mercy of a seemingly unstoppable organism that melts the flesh of those in its path. Atomic energy specialist Dr Adam Royston (Dean Jagger) and his colleague McGill (Leo McKern) investigate the deadly phenomenon, which they trace to the depths of the fissure. As the death toll rises, Royston devises a daring plan to snare the creature in a lethal radioactive trap. X the Unknown was only the second of Hammer’s horror productions, but contained some of the most grisly and disturbing special effects seen in any of the company’s films.
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29 of 29 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
This review refers to the Icon Home Entertainment release of 2011.
My copy has arrived, and I hope it's not an indicator of the rest of Icon's classic Hammer output. The good news is that the X certificate screen is presented at the start. The bad news, and it is very bad news is that it's a dirty, scratched print and is covered in random colour noise. It's normally a clue that an older, composite analogue master has been used. Worst of all is ghosting reminiscent of either a NTSC to PAL conversion, or a dodgy interlaced one. Iffy sound tops it all off. It's noisy, full of clicks and pops and sometimes has a high pitched whine to it that'll set your dog off howling. Some dialogue in the second half of the film becomes inaudible through the sheer level of loud pops.
The disclaimer at the start about the quality and age of the material is surely a joke. The age or otherwise of a film is not an excuse to release a substandard DVD when better source materials do exist. It's criminal that such outstanding films from the history of British cinema are presented this way in 2011.
My copy has arrived, and I hope it's not an indicator of the rest of Icon's classic Hammer output. The good news is that the X certificate screen is presented at the start. The bad news, and it is very bad news is that it's a dirty, scratched print and is covered in random colour noise. It's normally a clue that an older, composite analogue master has been used. Worst of all is ghosting reminiscent of either a NTSC to PAL conversion, or a dodgy interlaced one. Iffy sound tops it all off. It's noisy, full of clicks and pops and sometimes has a high pitched whine to it that'll set your dog off howling. Some dialogue in the second half of the film becomes inaudible through the sheer level of loud pops.
The disclaimer at the start about the quality and age of the material is surely a joke. The age or otherwise of a film is not an excuse to release a substandard DVD when better source materials do exist. It's criminal that such outstanding films from the history of British cinema are presented this way in 2011.
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
I have enjoyed X the unknown in the past and thought this new release from Icon would be a cleaned up print of the film. Sadly this is not the case and the print is about the worst I've seen. Not only is the picture very grainy but the sound has a high pitched whine noise at the beginning and other distortions throughout. The dialogue is hard to hear in some cases and some scenes (outdoors/night time) are dreadful. Avoid.
25 of 27 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
This is a British scifi film of the Quatermass type and I believe that Hammer did actually want to call the main character Professor Quatermass, only to have Nigel Kneale refuse permission. It follows the "realistic" British style of the era and manages to build up tension very well. There's the usual sprinkling of stock characters - the tramp, the gormless soldier, a small child in danger etc - but this doesn't detract from the storyline at all. I can recommend this film to anyone who enjoys old scifi - and it is several cuts above the monster movies being churned out by Hollywood around the same time. You will find the scientific equipment dated, but overall this is a fun film to watch.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A bit too serious
Initially conceived to be a sequel to "The Quatermass Xperiment" and capitalize on its success, "X the unknown" is unfortunately not nearly as good as its predecessor. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Autonome
X - THE UNKNOWN: AN EARLY BLOB
This is a reasonable little b/w film concerning a shapeless radioactive monster that comes from under the earth in Scotland and absorbs people by burning them to death with... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Roger Edward Deshon
X tremely dissapointing,
Having been a fan of Hammer Horror and sci fi all my life I was overcome with excitement when I heard X the Unknown was coming back out on DVD. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Johnny film
Poor Quality DVD
I love this film and with a better quality transfer would have given four or five stars.
I used to watch these sci fi films at the cinema when I was younger. Read more
I used to watch these sci fi films at the cinema when I was younger. Read more
Published 8 months ago by thewatcher
Sub-Quatermass
Having enjoyed Hammer's other fifties sc-fi efforts, the Quatermass films of Val Guest, I was looking forward to this movie. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Graeme J. Murdoch
How do you destroy a thing that feeds on energy?
X The Unknown is directed by Leslie Norman and written by Jimmy Sangster. It stars Dean Jagger, Edward Chapman, Leo McKern, Anthony Newley and Jameson Clark. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Spike Owen
A period piece
If you like British 1950s science friction you should like this. Very much in the Quatermass style of the period, and a change to have "something" coming out of the ground rather... Read more
Published 13 months ago by Mr. I. Liston-Smith
...
I bought this dvd for a friend who loves old horror movies. I thought i had ordered too late for xmas but i was pleasantly surprised whn it arrived just in time for me to give it... Read more
Published 15 months ago by Requiem
The Scariest Movie From My Childhood.
X THE UNKNOWN holds a special place in my movie pantheon because of all the horror/sci-fi movies I saw as a kid, this one scared me the most. Read more
Published on 6 April 2010 by Chip Kaufmann
very watchable double bill
The Abominable Snowman was something of a cult classic in its day. A good story line with a few scares and twists. Read more
Published on 3 April 2009 by Red Rose
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