The session: "June is Corman! Corman is June!"
In memory of famed director (who died in May), Roger Corman, we view four films that he directed.
Week 3: X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes (1963)
Directed by Roger Corman
My Level of Prior Knowledge
I hadn't heard of this.
Plot:
A doctor has developed eyedrops to improve people's vision, and tests them on himself, with interesting results.
Reaction and Other Folderol:
First things first, there's something I need to get off my chest about this movie. It's not a big deal. Or, at least, it shouldn't be. But there's something that bugged me -- more than I should have let it. And you'll think I'm petty for caring about it and mentioning it. At the start of the movie, Dr. Xavier talks about his motivation for developing his experimental eyedrops. He talks about how people can only see a very limited subset of the electromagnetic spectrum. But that's not the limitation that the drops addressed. Or at least it's not the only issue they addressed. In the first experiment we see, the drops give a monkey some level of x-ray vision. That's very different from an extended visual range. And that's what we see as the movie unfolds: the drops produce all kinds of enhanced vision. The full nature of the enhanced vision isn't even made clear. So maybe my issue can be explained away very simply -- Dr. Xavier had one idea in mind, and his experimental eyedrops did a lot more. That's not really problematic. In fact, it makes perfect sense as the premise for a movie. So I really shouldn't complain about this. But, damn, I already wrote this long paragraph and I don't want it to go to waste. So spare me your lectures about sunk cost.
Putting all that aside (and, please, let's do put it aside), X is an interesting and cerebral film. At times it meanders as Dr. Xavier goes from adventure to adventure, fleeing the trouble that he and his experiment have gotten him into. And things go from bad to worse until the ultimate denouement, which seems like something The Twilight Zone would have done. It's actually impressive that they were able to accomplish so much on such a small budget. The evolution of Dr. Xavier's eyes was truly horrifying.
I hadn't thought about it until Vin noted it, but there are ways that this felt like The Invisible Man or a variation of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Myself, I saw more of Flowers for Algernon and Mr. Superinvisible. But that last one may be because of the party scene. But that party scene was great. Ray Milland, as Dr. Xavier, was great with his sly lecherous grin.
Overall, a very strong film.
Ratings
Me: 8
Bob-O: 9.7
Dave: 9.5
Ethan: 9
Joe: 10
Vin: 7.5
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