Two years before The Blob (1958) we had X The Unknown (1956). X takes a more serious approach and a bit more adult of the two films, whereas The Blob is a bit more comical and teenager-ish. Both are good creature features if you like that sort of thing. I like The Blob better.The copy of X I watched had a weird wave to the entire film that is hard explain. It's not wavy lines though it. It's not a rocking motion of the camera man I don't think but almost as if the film was sliding around during the recording to DVD but it could have been originally filmed that way - it's hard to say. I can say that it made me a bit nauseous and dizzy watching it. (I watched it via YouTube).I would not go out to buy this film and would not care to watch it again, but I am not saying it's a terrible film... it's just not that much fun to watch.4/10

Britain's answer to THE BLOB is an equally entertaining film that goes for highbrow seriousness rather than camp escapism. Actually made two years before the Steve McQueen flick came out, this is Hammer at its finest, closely recalling the Quatermass films and serials of the day despite the non-involvement of Nigel Kneale. Story and screenwriter Jimmy Sangster deserves commendation for his entirely literate script, which uses scientific jargon to give the monster an almost plausible reason for existing.The film is shot very well in crisp black and white and James Bernard's trademark stirring music – all screeching strings and the like – is present and correct, making things more exciting whenever it gets into high gear. The eerie Scottish rural locations – ruined buildings in woodlands and vast fields of churned-up earth – contrast nicely with the prim and pristine scientific and medical bases where the action takes place. Dean Jagger is the imported American star this time around, and he does a great job, proving to be far more sympathetic than Brian Donlevy's Quatermass. He's bolstered by a cast that includes a string of familiar British faces; the main supporting actors all give strong, bluff, turns as stiff-upper-lip officials and Leo McKern shows what a good actor he was even in his middle age. Plenty of other familiar character actors also appear in minor roles, from pop sensation Anthony Newley to Doctor Who assistant Frazer Hines and Kenneth Cope. Hammer fans will be delighted in Michael Ripper's minor appearance as a gruff Sergeant.The movie plays out at a fair old pace and even the exposition scenes are genuinely interesting. Director Leslie Norman (dad of movie critic Barry) handles the pacing well and throws plenty of ingredients into the cauldron – from comic relief to all-out monster invasion. The only thing missing is a romance, and for that I'm grateful, as these characters just don't have time for that sort of thing. In the last act, the huge blob appears to wreak havoc in some well-handled special effects moments that make fine use of miniatures and back projection. The film ends things on a high with a minor twist hinting at a sequel that was never to arise. The film was mildly infamous for including two 'melting body' special effects shots that are remarkably effective – even shocking - to this day, reminding me of THE INCREDIBLE MELTING MAN. For an intelligent monster flick you can certainly do a lot worse than X THE UNKNOWN, a Hammer classic.

Finding The Man Who Could Cheat Death on Netflix UK,I started keeping a look out for Hammer Horror movies to appear on TV in the run up to Halloween.Greatly enjoying Quatermass 2 and Quatermass and the Pit,I was happy to spot the BBC airing an "unofficial" Hammer Quatermass sequel,which led to me finding out if x marked the unknown spot.The plot:Drilling for a source of radiation under the earth's core, Private Lansing notices water beginning to boil above the surface. Trying to run away,a mysterious explosion goes off,and leads Lansing and his fellow soldiers with radiation burns.Called to the scene with "Mac" McGill, Dr. Adam Royston finds the radiation being drilled to be a completely different type to any he has seen before. Performing tests on the site,Royston begins to fear that the soldiers have cracked something which should have remained buried in the earth.View on the film:Landing between the Hammer's more Noir style of the past and the lush Gothic Horrors that were on the horizon,director Leslie Norman (who replaced original choice Joseph Losey,who was suspected by the lead actor of being a "Red"-with Norman being so "difficult" to work with that Hammer never hired him again!)and cinematographer Gerald Gibbs masterfully sit the movie between both eras of Hammer,via mountains of dirt giving the army sight a tense Film Noir atmosphere,where Royston's trench coat is unable to shield him from the horrors that the army has unleashed. Despite the monster looking like the catering department dropped some cake mix on set, (all part of Hammer's "handmade" charm!) Norman follows on from the superb work he did on Ealing's The Night My Number Came Up with a slithering atmosphere which touches 50's paranoia on James Bernard's low-hanging violins score and the oncoming Gothic Horror,as the soldiers shiver in fear over the screen being soak in a rich,low-lit black tar.Chopping and changing the names in his Hammer writing debut after Nigel Kneale stopped the Quatermass name from being used,the screenplay by Jimmy Sangster cuts the 81 minutes into a lean and mean Sci-Fi Horror Film Noir. Written at the time as a warning over nuclear weapons,the intelligent allegorical route Sangster took now makes the title appear as a warning against fracking,from the evil being at the earths core,but the army being told not to stop drilling until they get right into the belly of the beast. Bringing up some monster jolts for a easy shock, Sangster largely takes a restrained Film Noir flavour approach to the Hammer Horror, unveiling itself in Royston uncovering in various tests the full threat that has been uncovered.Sent in to give the flick an American gloss, Dean Jagger gives a terrific performance as Royston,whose inquisitive mind Jagger presents in a playful manner. Joined by Hammer's superb character actors Michael Ripper, Kenneth Cope and Frazer Hines, Leo McKern gives a great performance as "Mac" McGill,thanks to McKern making McGill try to keep a grip on reason,as McGill and Royston uncover the unknown Hammer.

The always reliable Hammer Studio would find its Artistic, Money-Making stride the next Year, but before that there were offerings like Quatermass and this follow-up and it was obvious that there were rumblings of Greatness afoot.It would take Classic Monsters, Color, bloody Violence, Cleavage and smart Production all around that would take Moviedom in a new direction and announce that Hammer Studios would be an unforgettable force for the next twenty Years.This was before all that and is an eerie, quite effective, very low-budget, brainy, anti-nuke Movie that has great and gloomy Atmosphere with believable Characters experiencing Horrific situations. There is a good deal of "Scientific Explanation" and is a bit talky here and there, but this nonetheless remains a very good Shocker that is much better than the overrated Rip-Off, The Blob (1958).Definitely worth a view for B-Movie and Horror Fans and even for those who like to laugh at this kind of stuff. Even they may be impressed at its doom laden, Cold-War seriousness and overall quality.