X the Unknown

Dir: Leslie Norman, Joseph Losey

1956

****

X the Unknown was a big film for Hammer film productions. Along with the two original Quatermass films (indeed, it was originally intended as a Quatermass film but writer Nigel Kneale refused permission for the character of Bernard Quatermass to be used) it established the studio's transition from b-movie to respected sci-fi horror. According to film historian Howard Maxford it "completes an important trilogy containing relevant allegorical threads revealing Cold War anxieties and a diminishing national identity resulting from Britain's decrease in status as a world power". X the Unknown is the name given to a blob of couscous thought that lives in the depths of the earth's core that surfaces every 50 years for a nibble on whatever the most powerful and tasty power source available is at the time, in this case it is Atomic Energy. Delicious. As horror villains go it is rather out there, although no more so than The Thing from Another World which is pretty much a killer vegetable. This is clearly a metaphor of a bigger message, a political point about power and control, remade from an American point of view just two years later and called The Blob, starring a young Steve McQueen. It's full of typically over the top 50's horror performances which is a bit of a contrast to the sophisticated script and rather graphic and gory visual effects. It's everything I love about old horror sci-fi with everything I like about modern horror sci-fi, the very best of what is the perfect transition. Joseph Losey was the initial director of the film (directing under the name Joseph Walton) and still to this day he is said to have been replaced by Leslie Norman due to becoming ill. The truth is that Losey came to the UK to direct film after being blacklisted in the USA after McCarthy's Red Scare saw many film makers kicked out of Hollywood for being, or suspected of being, members of the Communist party. No problem working in the UK, I'm guessing his alternative name would have been for US distribution reasons but as soon as the film's main star Dean Jagger became aware he had to be replaced as Jagger wouldn't work with a 'Communist sympathizer'. Neither Losey or Norman actually wanted to work on the film, cold war paranoia surely wasn't Losey's thing but both directors were said to have complained about the overall idea and neither thought it would do very well. However, it was very well received and Hammer did very well from the production. Norman proved very difficult to work with and was not hired again by the studios but its other sci-fi horrors excelled in the following years. It's a great little sci-fi, full of interesting ideas and with an interesting history behind the scenes. X the Unknown deserves far more credit than it has been given.