SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

Listonixio Fresh and Exciting

Janae Milner Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

Jenni Devyn Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

Wuchak RELEASED IN 1963 and directed by Roger Corman, "X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes" chronicles events in Los Angeles when a doctor (Ray Milland) develops a formula that grants x-ray vision, which derails his career and forces him to join a carnival, using his new power to make a living. Diana Van der Vlis plays his disciple while Don Rickles is on hand as a carnival barker. The early 60's vibe is to die for, but the beginning is rather dull. Things perk up at an adult party where the aging doctor tries to keep hip and eventually sees everyone nakkid (lol). The carnival sequence and what it leads into are arguably the best parts, although the Vegas and tent revival episodes have their attractions. The movie scores meh on the female front, but Lorrie Summers and Cathie Merchant have small parts. THE MOVIE RUNS 1 hour 19 minutes and was shot in Los Angeles, California & Las Vegas, Nevada. WRITERS: Robert Dillon and Ray Russell. ADDITIONAL CAST: Harold J. Stone and John Hoyt play colleagues of the doctor. GRADE: B-

mamalv Dr. James Xavier (Ray Milland), discovers a drug that can make him see thru the human body into its organs. He feels this is the break thru to helping heal, and be able to see beyond anything imaginable. He continues his quest even after the project funding is stopped. Along the way he becomes more and more sensitive to the drops and has what is probably almost LSD like visions. Roger Corman has outdone himself in this film. Probably his best ever. He wanted Ray Milland for this part, and felt that Milland was underrated, even though he had won an Academy Award for The Lost Weekend. Thinking of this film as a science fiction or horror film sells it short. It is really a physiological thriller that starts a little slow but builds into a run for Milland's life. There are some comical scenes when the Doctor sees all the participants at a party without their clothes. Don Rickles is great as the carnival barker with an idea to make Milland the healer he is quite capable of being. However the more sickness he sees, the more despondent he becomes. Finally after going to Las Vegas to win the money needed to continue the research, he goes on the run, winding up at a tent sermon and plucking out his eyes to stop the mental anguish. Corman chose the right person to play the moral doctor stuck in a web of an unending sadness. Milland is perfect and so is the film.

poe426 Roger Corman has opened more doors for more filmmakers than I can recall; here, he opens the doors of perception (metaphorically speaking). "I'm closing in on the gods," Xavier boasts early on in the movie. When a monkey given the "X" eyedrops dies (apparently of fright), X decides it's time to experiment on himself (of course). "It's like a splitting of the world," he marvels: "More light than I've ever seen..." There's a neat POV shot in which his eyes are BANDAGED while he looks at and talks to someone else. "I like the way you look," a young woman tells him... just before the party they're at becomes, for him, a peep show. When his x-ray vision becomes too acute to control, he says of one woman: "She appears a perfect, breathing dissection." It's a gruesome observation, but the fx of the time didn't really allow for a viewer's peek at same. The "X effect" throughout is relatively simple, visually (it looks like a 3D image does without the glasses), but the gold and, finally, black contact lenses ARE effective. Milland's performance here is as tight as in THE LOST WEEKEND. Kudos to Corman.

Lee Eisenberg 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).