Thank goodness they did not make this film in color. Certainly color would have made this film at the time less the masterpiece that the film is. Also color might have made us concentrate not on this first rate story and acting, but also the bare budget that this film most likely had.While many have compared the film to Invasion of the Body Snatchers and I Married an Alien From Outer Space, I think that it has more in common with another film that was made the same year of 1963, The American production of The Day Mars Invaded Earth. Both films concern an alien entity basically fighting back in insidious ways to prevent scientists from the planet earth into invading their planet, and seem to infiltrate the Earth much the same way in both films.What is intriguing about the film as I have written in my Summary title is its feminist angle. Years before women were demanding equal pay for equal work, this film presents a world where women are actually valued more as not being equal to men, but also as somewhat of a prized possession.After our introduction of the main character, it is interesting to note that when we go back into flashback, we see men in suits scouring around doing their important work, while two women on a staircase are cleaning and scrubbing on the floors of this building, doing what can be described as menial work. The next is when we see the first victim meeting with his secretary played by Jean Marsh before her Upstairs Downstairs triumph. She appears to be the dutiful secretary of a smart man. Subordinate to his needs When we meet Patrick Newell who would later go on to fame playing Mother in The Avengers, an obnoxious investigator, he is making rather stupid comments about John Neville (the main character of the films) wife. Later on when we meet the wife she is playing the dutiful wife of our main protagonist, a stay at home woman of the time.Yet in many ways the men, accept for Phillip Stone, are not shown to be so smart. Certainly the first victim of the film is careless in revealing what he has discovered. John Neville's character should have thought more clearly about getting married to someone who he has just met, also considering about the vital work and top secret work he is doing. He also shows rather immature behavior to his colleague played by Stone, when he does not apologize for his rude behavior when suggested that he should have done so. Patrick Newell seems very content to eat sweets while investigating, no doubt contributing to his considerable girth, plus appearing to be less than likable.Stones character will turn out to be the savior of the film in some ways, as he rescues Neville;s character from certain death. While Neville is intelligent, it is Stone who is portrayed really as perhaps one of few who can save mankind, with his rational thinking.Gabriella Lucidi the wife, who made very few film appearances is effective in her brief time on screen as the alien form who has succumbed to be a female human being, and who later will be denounced as having been weak and not like the other stronger beings that are among the humans on earth. As a woman, Gabriella Lucidi's character it is suggested may really be the woman of the past. Not content really to be subservient to a man's needs. The children probably fear her because they realize that with women like her, they would probably not have been born, and are more aware of the threat that her kind is.Until his death in the film, we are somewhat led to believe that Patrick Newell's character is the real villain, the surprise of course is that it is Jean Marsh, who by declaring that not all of her life forms are like Neville's supposed wife, is suggesting really the coming of a new woman, one who may not wish to be subordinate to men.If one does not think that this might be the true about this film, the ending of the film, with the eight or so women, who are just staring at the two main male leads, suggesting that they are alien life forms as well, should really leave no doubt. Why have these life forms not been shown to take the forms of men? As for the ending, I don't think that it is meant as an idea that our two men are doomed, but more of a symbol of 'they are among us,'

Not a review of this excellent film but, rather, a correction to a few statements made by others...Some people consider UNEARTHLY STRANGER to be an uncredited rip-off of a 1936 science-fiction novel written by William M. Sloane III entitled TO WALK THE NIGHT. After hearing about that, I obtained a copy of Sloane's novel and read it in detail. I can assure you that, while one concept in the movie bears a "slight" similarity to Sloane's book, the overall story and form of execution in UNEARTHLY STRANGER are very different and would not present any grounds for an accusation of plagiarism on the part of the filmmakers. (If this could be interpreted as such, then many writers would have sued THE TWILIGHT ZONE for using similar ideas from their stories and had it pulled off the air.) In UNEARTHLY STRANGER, the scientist's wife is an alien taking physical form by means of mental projection. In TO WALK THE NIGHT, the body of a young retarded woman is possessed by an alien's mind. That, beyond the use of a spiral staircase in an utterly different kind of location and maybe the use of a kind of ethereal fire to destroy evidence, is the only major similarity between the two stories--but it is tangential at best.Also, UNEARTHLY STRANGER is *not* based on a story written by actor Jeffrey Stone. The film's writing credits read "Based on an IDEA by Jeffrey Stone". To us writers, that identifies a huge difference. Furthermore, there is no published record anywhere of a story called BEYOND THE STARS by Jeffrey Stone.Many people familiar with Rex Carlton's work believe him incapable of writing such an intelligent script as the one found in UNEARTHLY STRANGER. But Carlton actually was associated with higher quality films earlier in his career (late 1940's & early 1950's), so one can only presume that the initial screenplay for UNEARTHLY STRANGER is still dominantly his work (though it obviously received uncredited polishing by the British filmmakers prior to shooting).

1963's "Unearthly Stranger" is one of the relatively few British examples of low budget science fiction, airing only twice on Pittsburgh's Chiller Theater, paired with first feature "Flight of the Lost Balloon" on Aug 9 1969, and with second feature "The Flying Saucer" on Jan 1 1972. Not including Amicus and Hammer's efforts, I can rattle off several that were TV staples on CT- "Fire Maidens of Outer Space," "The Cosmic Monster" aka "The Strange World of Planet X," "The Crawling Eye" aka "The Trollenberg Terror," "The Man Without a Body," "Womaneater," "The Atomic Man" aka "Timeslip," "The Electronic Monster" aka "Escapement," "Night Caller from Outer Space" (with John Saxon), and "Invasion" (with Edward Judd), each in glorious black and white. All of differing quality of course, but part of the TV landscape at the time, and virtually all quite forgotten today. "Unearthly Stranger" can easily be regarded as one of the best of this bunch, a tidy little character study featuring a small cast of only six actors, suggesting the story may have stage origins as scripted by Rex Carlton, of "The Brain That Wouldn't Die," "Nightmare in Wax," and "Blood of Dracula's Castle." One reviewer griped about the British tendency for dialogue over action, but clearly Carlton was an American; none of the titles mentioned above centered on expensive special effects. Dr. Mark Davidson (John Neville) marries a beautiful young woman named Julie (Gabriella Licudi), who appeared seemingly out of nowhere during a European vacation. Mark is currently working on a top secret space mission that proves to be the death of a colleague (Warren Mitchell), but Mark and his friend, Prof. John Lancaster (Philip Stone), vow to carry on with his work, despite warning signs that something unnatural is going on. For one thing, John isn't the first to notice that Julie never blinks her eyes (though the actress can be seen doing so several times), and is spotted removing a hot dish from a 275 degree oven using her bare hands. Investigating the recent death is Major Clarke (Patrick Newell), a rather unorthodox sleuth who enjoys eating candy during interrogations. Miss Ballard, the secretary, is played by Jean Marsh,in roughly the same fashion that she played the secretary in Alfred Hitchcock's "Frenzy" (1972). John Neville was a future Sherlock Holmes in another Chiller Theater classic, "A Study in Terror"(1965), while Patrick Newell was best known for the role of Mother during the final 1968 season of THE AVENGERS, as well as one or two appearances on THE BENNY HILL SHOW (he died in 1988). Without going into much detail, I must admit that I found the many twists and turns quite fascinating, virtually the entire cast in excellent form. But I have a soft spot in my heart for 20-year-old Gabriella Licudi, an actress I've seen only rarely- in the ONE STEP BEYOND episode "The Sorcerer" (1961, opposite Christopher Lee), in the 2-part "Hound of the Baskervilles" (1968, opposite Peter Cushing's Sherlock Holmes), and the James Bond spoof "Casino Royale" (1967). In my opinion, this was her finest role, not an easy one to play, which leaves audiences guessing (always leave them wanting more).

When you see this film, your first remembrance will be, "dark." As in low lighting. Inexplicably, this adds to the suspense, much the same way that Val Lewton successfully utilized shadow to cover for his lack of budget, in such nuggets as "The Leopard Man" and "Curse of the Cat Creature." The second thing about "Unearthly Stranger" is that it joins the ranks of such British gems as "Dead of Night" (1945) and the Quatermass series for its dialogue alone. The story itself is fairly unique-- scientists are attempting to achieve the power to transport their "essences" to other planets via mind concentration alone, and aliens from other planets are looking to stop this advancement by offing all scientists at work on this. The perspective is from a newly-married scientist, a la "I Married a Monster From Outer Space," but without that film's harrowing melodrama. Effects are minimal here, reflecting both the low budget and the British method of story-telling, so FX fans will be disappointed, but acting students will be pleased with the non-hysterical range displayed. All in all, a worthwhile watch.