X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes poster & wallpaper

Ray Milland, Diana Van der Vlis, Harold J. Stone

"Only the gods see everything," cautions one scientist as Dr. James Xavier (Ray Milland) experiments with a formula that will allow the human eye to see beyond the wavelength of visible light. "I am c...( read more  read more... )losing in on the gods," he responds with the hubris that is doomed to destroy his overreaching ambition. A mix of Greek tragedy and sci-fi potboiler, Roger Corman's X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes (simply identified as X in the eerie, odd opening credits) is a familiar tale of a scientist who risks everything to explore the unknown and is finally driven mad by, literally, seeing too much. Peeping through the clothes of comely women is all good adolescent fun until the gift becomes a nightmare as his sight rages out of control. The possibilities suggested in the hints of addiction and inconsistent bouts of megalomania remain tantalizingly unexplored in the unfocused script, and Corman's cut-rate special effects are often more hokey than haunting (the "city dissolved in an acid of light" that Xavier poetically describes becomes fuzzy photography through a series of color filters). Don Rickles offers a venal turn as a scheming carnival barker turned blackmailing con man, and Diana Van der Vlis is understanding as a sympathetic scientist who tries to rescue Xavier from his spiral into tortured madness, but in the tradition of Greek tragedy, he is doomed to be destroyed by the very gifts he desires.

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60% liked it

2,389 ratings

Unrated, 1 hr. 20 min.

Directed by: Roger Corman

Release Date: September 18, 1963

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DVD Release Date: June 5, 2001

Stats: 101 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (101)

  • thebestkaka8
    October 1, 2009
    thebestkaka8
    Add a review (optional)...
  • samanthaseaotter
    May 25, 2009
    samanthaseaotter
    very cheesey but sort of interesting watching Ray Milland go crazy.
  • xxxcli213xxx
    December 10, 2008
    xxxcli213xxx
    no thanks not my kinda thing
  • djskyler
    September 22, 2008
    djskyler
    This film kept me riveted with two contradictory forces that drove it along. On one side was the Roger Corman driving a very campy script with cheap thrills and an absurd chain of events. The other side was held by a very somber and serious performance by Ray Milland. No matte...( read more)r how silly it gets, you never want to laugh at a determined Ray Milland. Don Rickles joins and is able to get a few insult jokes in, but soon he reveals himself as an unpleasant con-man, wanting to exploit the x-ray eyes. As the film moves into its fervent finish, there is increased use of "Spectarama," a photographic effect used to simulate a POV shot of x-ray vision. Combined with a creepy score, the climax proves to be an intense and almost uncomfortable experience. A very memorable movie.
  • cmrnlewis
    July 2, 2008
    cmrnlewis
    Another Roger Corman classic. It starts out campy and then descends into a total nightmare with a shocker ending.
  • bokman7757
    December 9, 2007
    bokman7757
    A genuinely great suspense film from Roger Corman, of all people. Very much a psychological picture, with a hefty dose of sixties surrealism, leading up to one of the great shock endings.
  • flixsterbum
    November 24, 2007
    flixsterbum
    I've been meaning to watch this for years after Stephen King recommended it in his book "Danse Macabre". A great premise: Ray Milland experiments with hormones to increase his eyesight to superhuman abilities and succeeds far beyond his greatest dreams (and nightmares! bwoohaha...( read more)haaa!). Campy fun with some creepy music and pretty passable special effects for the time, but it's the very end that you have to stick around for. King described it in his book, and he definitely did it justice. Corman tapped into something pretty horrifying here; I'd love to see the idea explored again, preferrably in a sci-fi remake without Will Smith or Nicolas Cage attached (actually, come to think of it, Cage could probably camp it up to great effect).
  • hugonar
    November 1, 2007
    hugonar
    Not interested. In general I don't like horror movies.
  • sleepykiss
    September 28, 2007
    sleepykiss
    RMilland forever terrified me after seeing this. A RCorman classic. Creeepy.

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