X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes

(1963) dir. Roger Corman
viewed: 03/29/06

This is a cool little Roger Corman film about a doctor who creates a formula that he drops into his eyes in order to “see” further into things. Some points this is like X-ray seeing, some points he can just see through people’s clothes, and some points his vision crosses dimensions and eventually drives him mad. It has a crazy, psychedelic subtext, though it predates the explosion of LSD usage, I believe. It’s a tight little flick. Quite fun.

I think I queued this up when I’d read that Tim Burton had been considering a remake of it. I think I’d seen it as a kid on TV or something, but I don’t think it held my interest. It’s more of an intellectual low-budget sci-fi thing, and it’s really pretty cool. Ray Milland. He’s pretty good. And Don Rickles has a good cameo role. I tell you, it’s good stuff.