How Do You Kill Mud? (X The Unknown (DVD))

Member Name: keeperofthematri

Product:	X The Unknown (DVD)
Date:	19/10/09 (38 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Interesting script ideas, Some famous faces, Leo McKern

Disadvantages: Not enough action and tension, Jagger, Chapman & Lucas are all dull.

I was quite tired on the first two occasions that I tried to watch this film and consequently fell asleep on the sofa. On the third attempt however I managed to make it to tne end.......

Plot:

Whilst on army manoeuvres in Scotland Private Lancing (Kenneth Cope) is killed after a fissure opens in the earth. Another soldier (Edwin Richfield) has radiation burns.
Later, a small boy, Willie Harding (Michael Brook) runs, terrified, from the woods and is found to have first degree radiation burns. Then a doctor at a hospital is burnt to death and the radiation sources in the x-ray lab vanish.
Atomic scientist Dr. Adam Royston (Dean Jagger) and his colleagues investigate and come to the conclusion that the fissure has released some sort of organism that melts human flesh. An organism that requires radioactive energy to feed and the more that it feeds the bigger it will grow and the quicker it will be able to move.
Royston's superior John Elliott (Edward Chapman) puts no credence in the theory, believing that there must be some other explanation, but the theory finds favour with Elliott's son Peter (William Lucas) and a policeman, McGill (Leo McKern) who has been sent up from London to investigate the strange occurrences.
After Royston, both Ellliott's and McGill view "X" with their own eyes they come to the conclusion that the next target will be a nuclear power station some distance away and that "X" will go straight through Inverness to reach it's next radioactive meal.
With time running short and Royston wondering "how do you kill mud?" it looks as if mankind is facing one foe that it has no defence against.......



Verdict:

Making a science fiction TV serial or film, at least in the days before CGI, presented a number of challenges, especially if you were working on a low budget production. How, for example, do you present a decent enough spaceship, an alien planet; or an alien without it looking like someone in a suit? Scripted by Jimmy Sangster, "X - The Unknown" avoids all of these problems by having the threat in question come from beneath the Earth. Sangster had worked as a production manager for Hammer before turning his hand to scriptwriting so he was well aware of what could be achieved on screen and what couldn't be achieved within the allotted budget.

Originally, X - The Unknown had been envisaged as a sequel to previous Hammer hit, The Quatermass Xperiment, but when Quatermass creator Nigel Kneale refused to give Hammer permission to use Quatermass the new character of Dr. Royston was created instead. Royston's similar to Quatermass in the sense that both roles were played by American actors in the latter stages of their career but that's where the similarity ends.

Quatermass was brusque, determined, pro-active and, due to the fact he was head of his own project, independent. In contrast, Royston has a superior, John Elliott, who doesn't always agree with Royston's point of view. What independence he has comes from his scientific knowledge, from the fact that he's probably the only person that might be able to stop the "X". In one sense then he's a much softer, more likeable character than Quatermass is.

So, is this any good?

Well, yes and no.

The idea of a threat coming from inside the Earth is an interesting one and director Leslie Norman (yes, he's Barry's father) wisely keeps "X" out of camera shot for much of the film. When we do finally get to see "X" it looks nothing more than a mass of rolling black treacle and it certainly doesn't move fast enough to catch a car or a lorry. Helicopters, of course, are also outside of it's reach. So, despite the fact that X has claimed a few deaths by creeping up on the people concerned it's more of a stealth killer rather than one that can outdistance anything and run them down. This rather detracts from any sense of menace that the viewer might be feeling.

Norman does try and inject some tension into proceedings by having a large amount of the action take place at night but there's not enough pace or action in Jimmy Sangster's script to keep the viewer on the edge of their seat. Added to this we have a problem with the casting. It's hard to feel anything but ambivalence for Dean Jagger's Dr. Royston. Mostly photographed wearing a large winter coat and a woolly hat and carrying a stick there's no sense of urgency about the character. He seems reasonable and unhurried and, for the majority of the time he may well be thinking about what he's going to have for his next meal rather than ruminating on how to stop "X".

In contrast, Quatermass, who some viewers may have found unlikeable, at least had an energy and a drive about him so he retained the interest of the viewer even if you didn't like the character. As well as Royston the film is lumbered with a number of other dull characters, namely Peter Elliott (William Lucas) and John Elliott (Edward Chapman). Chapman tries his best to inject some sort of conflict into the proceedings with Royston but, to be honest, there's not enough material in the script for him to work with and, for anyone that he seen any of the five films he made with Norman Wisdom it's hard to think of him as anyone other than "Mr. Grimsdale"

Leo McKern's "McGill" goes some way towards addressing the relative dullness of Royston and the two Elliott's and it's interesting to see the actor perform in a role before he became better known as Rumpole Of The Bailey. He, at least, has some sort of drive and urgency to his character and, as a viewer, I was left thinking that it was a pity that McKern hadn't been cast in the role of Royston instead of the rather dull Dean Jagger. And it's nice to see Hammer stalwart Michael Ripper getting to assert some authority as Sergeant Grimsdyke.

The special effects hold up well enough. There's a shot of a doctor at the hospital disintegrating which is fairly effective for the time that the film was made, but obviously is very mild by today's standards. Watch out for the bumpy road viewed through the car window about 16 minutes into the film though. It gives the appearance that the Royston and the others in the car are having quite a bumpy ride but the shot inside the car suggest anything but that. Rather a bad choice of back projection I think!

In viewing terms then this is worth a look if you're interested in Hammer films or 50s sci-fi films purely because it's so different to all the other "threat from outer space" type sci-fi films that were being made during the same period. Watched alongside The Quatermass Xperiment, Quatermass II and The Abominable Snowmen you get a sense of what sort of direction the company was taking in it's attempts to terrify audiences before they then stumbled on the successful "gothic horror" approach with "The Curse Of Frankenstein".
However, there's little here in the way of interest for the more casual viewer. The film's unlikely to hold your interest although at 76 minutes it doesn't particularly outstay it's welcome, but, if you get bored you can always play "Spot The Star" and watch out for Anthony Newley (before he had hit records and married Joan Collins), Kenneth Cope (pre Randall and Hopkirk (deceased)) and Fraser Hines (10 years before he joined Dr. Who) and 16 years before he starred in "Emmerdale Farm"




Cast:

Dr. Adam Royston - Dean Jagger
John Elliott - Edward Chapman
McGill - Leo McKern
Pte. Spider Webster - Anthony Newley
Jack Harding - Jameson Clark
Peter Elliott - William Lucas
Lt. Bannerman - Peter Hammond
Sgt. Grimsdyke - Michael Ripper
Major Cartwright - John Harvey
Old Soldier - Edwin Richfield
Private Lancing - Kenneth Cope
Ian - Fraser Hines



Extras:

+ Audio commentary with Jimmy Sangster (writer) and Marcus Hearn (film historian).
I didn't listen to this so can't comment on it.

+ Original film trailer.
A fairly typical 1950s / 60s trailer which attempts to convince the audience that the film is far scarier than it actually is.

+ The World of Hammer (sci-fi episode).
In the early 90s a number of documentary episodes about Hammer were put together. These feature themed clips and had narration by Oliver Reed. Unsurprisingly the episode on this disc features clips from some of Hammer's sci-fi films. It's a fairly average episode which may provide you with the opportunity to see clips of Hammer films that you haven't yet seen.

+ Interview with Jimmy Sangster
This is fairly interesting. Some of his Hammer films such as The Brides of Dracula and Dracula Prince of Darkness are skipped over completely but we do find out quite a bit about Bette Davis, Ralph Bates, Joan Collins and some of the Hammer executives.


The DVD also comes with a 24 page Viewing Notes booklet with includes information and photographs pertaining to the film.

Format: Black & White, Full Screen, PAL
Language English
Region: Region 2
Number of discs: 1
Classification: PG
Studio: Dd Home Entertainment
DVD Release Date: 26 May 2003
Run Time: 76 minutes

Summary: X The Unknown