Last night while scuffling through stacks of various vhs I've accumulated I came across this Roger Corman classic. I had not seen it and figured it would be easy to digest, so decided to go with it. I completely fell in love with this movie. It was the 60's b-movie science dialogue that captivated my attention, the "what if" scenarios that would never be passible today. "what if we could see BEYOND...."
The reason the plot of this movie works so well is it's child like wonderment. It's as if the writer thought about all of his boyish fantasies of having x-ray vision and put it all this amazing movie. Everything from seeing through women's clothes, to cheating at black jack. Naturally, a power such as this comes with consequences and despite the film being 45 years old and having a B-movie status these consequences come across as being very frightening and at times even shocking. I had not antcipated to feel this way towards this movie, yet the climax had me on pins and needles with my jaw gaping open! I can't promise everyone else will have this same reaction, as I myself tend to have a child like wonderment. One thing that can be said without a doubt is that this is a beautifully executed film from all angles. From the Academy Award winning talents of Ray Milland to the trick photography (when the girl falls off the ferris wheel and it appears that she's lying in a pool of her own blood, but it's actually her scarf. Very clever! fooled me), this film did the impossible; replaced Bucket of Blood as my favorite Corman movie!
This movie has it all, horror, science, action, sexiness, charm, and of course, Dick Miller.
