X the Unknown
| X the Unknown | |
|---|---|
theatrical release poster
|
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| Directed by |
Leslie Norman Joseph Losey |
| Produced by | Anthony Hinds |
| Written by | Jimmy Sangster |
| Starring |
Dean Jagger Edward Chapman |
| Music by |
James Bernard John Hollingsworth |
| Cinematography | Gerald Gibbs |
| Edited by | James Needs |
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Production
company |
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| Distributed by | Warner Bros. (US) |
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Release date
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5 November 1956 (UK) |
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Running time
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81 minutes |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $60,000 (US) |
X the Unknown is a British science fiction horror film made by the Hammer Film Productions company and released in 1956. It stars Dean Jagger and Edward Chapman and was written by Jimmy Sangster. The film was directed by Leslie Norman. The film is significant in that "it firmly established Hammer's transition from B-movie thrillers to out-and-out horror/science fiction" and, with The Quatermass Xperiment (1955) and Quatermass 2 (1957), 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".
The film takes place in the Lochmouth region of Scotland, near Glasgow. Members of a group of soldiers are taking turns using a Geiger counter to find a small and harmless hidden source of radioactivity in a wide pit area. Private Lansing (Kenneth Cope) finds another mysterious source of radiation where ground water starts to boil. As the other soldiers begin to run, there is an explosion. Lansing, who was closest to the explosion, dies of radiation burns while another soldier has bad radiation burns to his back. At the site of the explosion, there is a Y-shaped crack in the ground with no apparent bottom. Dr. Royston (Dean Jagger), from a nearby Atomic Energy Laboratory at Lochmouth, is called in to investigate, along with Mr. "Mac" McGill (Leo McKern), who runs security at the UK Atomic Energy Commission.
That night, a local boy, on a dare from his friend, goes to a tower on the marshes, where he sees a horrific off-camera sight. He refuses to tell his friend what has happened but continues running. The friend follows. Royston investigates the tower and finds an old man inside who had a canister of a formerly radioactive material, now drained of radioactivity. The boy dies next day from radiation burns.
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Wikipedia