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X: The Man with the X-ray Eyes is a 1963 American science fiction horror film in Pathécolor, produced and directed by Roger Corman, from a script by Ray Russell and Robert Dillon. The film stars Ray Milland as a scientist who develops a method to extend the range of his vision, which results in unexpected complications. Comedian Don Rickles co-stars in one of his few dramatic roles. Diana Van der Vlis and veteran character actor Morris Ankrum also make appearances.

X: The Man with the X-ray Eyes
Theatrical release poster by Reynold Brown
Directed by	Roger Corman
Screenplay by	Robert Dillon Ray Russell
Story by	Ray Russell
Produced by	Roger Corman
Starring	Ray Milland Diana Van der Vlis Harold J. Stone John Hoyt Don Rickles
Cinematography	Floyd Crosby
Edited by	Anthony Carras
Music by	Les Baxter
Production company	Alta Vista Productions
Distributed by	American International Pictures
Release date	September 18, 1963 (1963-09-18)
Running time	79 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	~$280,000[1]
Box office	53,087 admissions (France)[2]

American International Pictures distributed the film in the fall of 1963 as a double feature with Francis Ford Coppola's horror thriller Dementia 13. The low-budget film was a major financial success.

Plot

Dr. James Xavier develops eye drops intended to increase the range of human vision, allowing one to see beyond the "visible" spectrum into the ultraviolet and x-ray wavelengths and beyond. Believing that testing on animals and volunteers will produce uselessly subjective data, he tests the drops on himself.

Initially, Xavier discovers that he can see through people's clothing, and he uses his vision to save a young girl whose medical problem was misdiagnosed. Over time and with continued use of the drops, Xavier's visual capacity increases but his ability to control it decreases. Eventually, he can see the world only in forms of light and texture that his brain is unable to fully comprehend. Even closing his eyes brings no relief from the darkness in his increasingly frightening world, as he can see through his closed eyelids.

After accidentally killing a friend, Xavier goes on the run, using his x-ray vision to survive. He first works in a carnival as a mind reader, but his manager realises his skill is not a trick, especially when he diagnoses a girl's injuries when she falls from the big wheel. Xavier's eyes start to change and he has to wear thicker protective goggles to prevent overload. The manager gives him an old woman to diagnose, but she is beyond saving so Xavier simply says she is fine. He then sets up a full medical consultancy with the manager, with people queuing to see him. His friend Diane tracks him down and goes into the consultancy. He no longer sees the outer surface so does not recognise her until she speaks. He explains how he can no longer close his eyes to achieve darkness and is haunted by his power. He moves to leave but the manager is unhappy and thinks he can blackmail him for the earlier murder. Diane drives him away.

They drive to Las Vegas to use his skill to cheat at gambling in the casino. His eyes are altered along with his vision. Xavier goes too far and starts advising all gamblers at the blackjack table not to bet as he knows the dealer is about to go bust. The casino calls security as they can tell something is wrong. His glasses are knocked off in a scuffle and his eyes are exposed as black and gold. He throws a bundle of cash into the crowd in order to escape.

Xavier drives out to the desert alone, but his eyesight is too strange to drive accurately, especially at high speed with a helicopter chasing him. He crashes. He wanders from the crash site and finds a large tent holding a religious revival. The helicopter is seen landing in the background. The evangelist asks for people to come forward to save their souls. He tells the evangelist that he is beginning to see things at the edges of the universe, including an "eye that sees us all" in the center of the universe. His eyes are pure black. The pastor replies that what he sees is "sin and the devil" and quotes the Biblical verse, "If thine eye offends thee... pluck it out!" Xavier chooses to blind himself rather than continuing to see anything more.

Cast

Credits adapted from the Second Sight Films Blu-ray booklet.[3]

Production

Corman says the idea for the film was his. It was originally about a scientist, then he felt that was "too obvious" so he changed the protagonist to be "a jazz musician who had taken too much drugs, and I get into about four or five pages [of my outline], and I thought, 'You know, I don’t like this idea,' and so I threw the whole thing out, and started back and went back with the scientist, which was the original idea."[4] The film was shot in three weeks on a budget of approximately $300,000.

The film was announced as part of AIP's release lineup for June 1962, with Lou Rusoff as the producer.[5]

Corman made X: The Man with the X-ray Eyes after his 1963 H. P. Lovecraft film adaptation The Haunted Palace.

In his non-fiction book Danse Macabre, Stephen King claims there were rumors the ending originally went further, with Milland crying out "I can still see" after gouging out his eyes.[6] Corman has denied the existence of that ending but expressed enjoyment with the idea, saying "Now it's interesting. Stephen King saw the picture and wrote a different ending, and I thought, 'His ending is better than mine.'"[4]

Reception

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (July 2018)

At the film review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 88%, based on 25 reviews, with a weighted average rating of 6.6/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "By turns lurid and disturbing, The Man with the X-Ray Eyes is a compelling piece of sci-fi pulp and one of Roger Corman's most effective movies."[7]

Awards

The film won the Astronave D'argento ("Silver Spaceship") award in 1963 at the first International Festival of Science Fiction Film (Festival internazionale del film di fantascienza) in Trieste, Italy.[8][9]

In other media

• Gold Key comic book adaptation: X: The Man with the X-ray Eyes (September 1963)[10][11]
• British band Bauhaus have a song referencing the film in their 1981 album Mask.
• American band Blue Öyster Cult have a song referencing the film in their 1998 album Heaven Forbid.
• Tim Burton developed a script for a remake of the film with writer Bryan Goluboff, but it went unproduced.[12]

• Shown on the MeTV show Svengoolie on November 12, 2022.

References

External links

• X (1963) at IMDb
• X at AllMovie
• X: The Man with the X-ray Eyes at the TCM Movie Database

На других языках

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[de] Der Mann mit den Röntgenaugen

Der Mann mit den Röntgenaugen ist ein amerikanischer Science-Fiction-Horrorfilm aus dem Jahr 1963. Die Erstausstrahlung im deutschen Fernsehen war am 31. März 1979 in der ARD. Roger Cormans Film handelt von einem Wissenschaftler, dessen Sehkraft – nach einem Selbstversuch – immer größer wird.

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- [en] X: The Man with the X-ray Eyes

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[ru] Человек с рентгеновскими глазами

«Человек с рентгеновскими глазами» — фильм в жанре боди-хоррор режиссёра Роджера Кормана, вышедший 18 сентября 1963 года.

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