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 matter 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.
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.
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! bwoohahahaaa!). 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).
First heard of this film by way of the Bauhaus song of the same name and had tried to track it down for awhile, after reading others' (Stephen King, etc.) good reviews of it. It's a Corman film -- meaning a b-movie -- and it has its flaws, but overall the concept is well executed, the lead actor is great, and the final scenes are pretty chilling, a notch or two above normal b-movie fare. The glistening, pitch black eyes of the main character near the end are hard to forget.
MCT:September 22, 2008
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