[5]
The British army discovers a deep crevasse and a surge in radioactivity in a remote Scottish village. Scientists and security officials convene and determine that an organism of unknown origin is consuming radioactivity and growing at an alarming rate. Taking the form of a giant, roaming blob of mud, the entity is headed toward a populated area and threatens the citizenry unless science can stop it.
X…The Unknown is a Hammer Films production that can readily be compared to The Blob, but it’s worth noting that the British film predates the American one by two years. X marks the screenwriting debut of Jimmy Sangster, who would go on to write more than 20 gothic horror films and psychological thrillers for Hammer. His clever script is very good at building suspense and dread throughout the first half of the movie. Highlights include a few visceral shots of the mud blob literally melting its victims, and a dramatic scene in which two parents learn their young child has died from the creature’s radiation. Top-billed Dean Jagger (Oscar winner for Twelve O’Clock High) gives a solid performance as the plutonium researcher who develops the plan to destroy the threat.
The last half of the film suffers from budgetary constraints, relying on a very limited number of special effects shots to portray the blob and its path of destruction. The scientific reasoning in the film requires some healthy suspension of disbelief and the climax is unfortunately one of the most underwhelming sequences. X… The Unknown may top The Blob in its rising action, but The Blob is ultimately the more exciting and viscerally satisfying of the two films.
Directed by Leslie Norman. With Edward Chapman, Leo McKern, and William Lucas.