X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes (1963)*** (out of 4) Dr. James Xavier (Ray Milland) is upset that we can only use 10% of our possible eyesight so he sets out to create a chemical, which will allow people to see everything possible. He uses himself as a guinea pig and sure enough he gets the greatest vision anyone could imagine but it doesn't take long for the drug to start effecting his mind.Roger Corman's X: THE MAN WITH THE X-RAY EYES is without question one of the director's better films and I'd argue that it's also one of his smartest. If you're expecting some sort of low-budget non-sense then you'll be coming to the wrong picture because this here is certainly much more than that. Corman's direction is among the best of his career and its story is given a lot of credit by the fact it features a former Oscar-winning actor turning in an excellent performance.I've always thought this film never got the credit it deserved and it's probably because it's not as campy as some of Corman's pictures and it's not a full blown horror movie. This here is basically a science-fiction movie with touches of religion, morals and some psychedelic drugs thrown in as well. The film briefly hints at some comedy when the doctor is at a party and sees the people dancing naked but outside of this the screenplay treats the subject in a serious manor.I thought the serious nature of the film worked and was believable because you've got someone like Milland. He certainly plays the role extremely straight and he makes you believe this character and the various horrors that are going to start happening to him. Milland is certainly terrific here and we get some nice support from Diana Van der Vlis as the love interest and Don Rickles as the circus junkie who begins to take advantage of the doctor.There's some very good cinematography to be had here and we're also given an impressive music score. X: THE MAN WITH THE X-RAY EYES is a clever little film that has a lot going for it and it's certainly worth watching.

This is quite a bit better than it is given credit for. Roger Corman relies on Ray Milland, one of the best actors of his era, to be the title character. It's one of those movies where a scientist decides, through impatience, to test his substance on himself. The results are interesting at first and soon move toward things which begin to destroy his life. Soon he can't turn back; he's stuck with this "gift," and there seems to be no hope. Finally, he becomes responsible for a death and he goes on the lam, joining a circus. His love interest desperately looks for him. But what can he do. There are implications that are dealt with in "The Amazing Shrinking Man," another well crafted science fiction/horror movie. There seems to be some controversy over the last lines of the film. See previous reviewers for this information.

Ray Milland plays Dr. James Xavier, who is an eyesight specialist who has developed an experimental eye-drop he believes will revolutionize the eye care field, benefiting mankind. Unfortunately, his funding is cut off, so he experiments on himself, with disastrous consequences. Though it gives him X-Ray vision at first, which he puts to amusing use, it later overwhelms his senses. After he accidentally kills a colleague, he is forced to flee, and takes refuge in a carnival run by a shady man(Don Rickles, well cast) who first exploits the good doctor, then later turns him in to the police. With help from another colleague, he escapes, but his condition worsens until he enters a revivalist church where...Wont reveal more, except that it provides a memorable, and chilling end to this occasionally wobbly film, which doesn't quite have the budget or ambition to make full use of its premise, instead of becoming another version of "The Fugitive" TV series! Regardless, Milland is good, and film still overall effective, especially with that ending...

In 1963, Roger Corman directed four, that's right, four movies: "The Raven", "The Terror" (both featuring a young Jack Nicholson), "The Haunted Palace" and "X". The last one, often called "The Man with the X-Ray Eyes", casts Ray Milland as a scientist who develops a substance that gives him X-ray vision...with disastrous consequences.The movie is mostly what one would expect in a Roger Corman flick. A particularly neat scene is when he's at the party and can see through everyone's clothes! The ending is actually a little grimmer than what I'm used to in Corman's movies, but it's probably the only thing that Dr. Xavier could given his experiences.No, it's not my favorite Corman movie (that's either "The Pit and the Pendulum" or "The Raven"), but still pretty entertaining. Also starring Diana Van der Vlis, Harold J. Stone, John Hoyt, Don Rickles (in a rare non-comedic role) and Corman regular Dick Miller (who now appears in Joe Dante's movies).