The Electronic Monster

Escapement (a.k.a. The Electronic Monster)
U.S. lobby card
Directed by	Montgomery Tully
Produced by	Alec C. Snowden Jim O'Connolly Richard Gordon
Written by	Charles Eric Maine J. MacLaren-Ross
Based on	novel Escapement by Charles Eric Maine
Starring	Rod Cameron Mary Murphy Meredith Edwards
Production company	Amalgamated Productions
Distributed by	Anglo-Amalgamated (UK)
Release date	1958
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

Escapement (a.k.a. The Electronic Monster in the U.S.) is a 1958 black and white British science fiction film. It was based on the sci-fi novel Escapement by Charles Eric Maine (London, 1956). Original working titles included Zex, the Electronic Fiend.

The film was released in England (as Escapement) in 1958, but was only shown in the USA in 1960 on a double bill with either 13 Ghosts or the Japanese sci-fi classic Battle in Outer Space.

Producer Richard Gordon later said there were major problems with the film's special effects. He also said that he had a dispute with Anglo Amalgamated, who did not want the movie to get an X Certificate in England whereas Gordon wanted more horror for the US.

Inquiring into the mysterious death of a Hollywood star, insurance investigator Jeff Keenan uncovers an exclusive psychiatric clinic on the French Riviera. Here, patients who want to escape the stresses of life are hypnotized, then laid out in morgue like drawers and left to dream for several weeks. It turns out that Dr. Zakon, the clinic's ex-Nazi owner, is using a "dream machine" to alter the sleepers dreams, and to impose his will on theirs.

Leonard Maltin called it a "blah sci-fi programmer" ; while TV Guide noted, "an intriguing feature in that it was among the first to examine the possibilities of psychological manipulation and brainwashing."