Stephen King said: “The most Lovecraftian (cosmic horror) film ever made is Roger Corman’s The Man with the X-Ray Eyes."
Everyone who's seen the movie remembers its macabre ending.
Corman came up with the idea perhaps from remembering comic book ads for X-Ray Glasses he'd seen in his youth. Shot it three-weeks on $288,000, Corman says, “It’s a miracle we finished and the movie works.”
Ray Milland, Best Actor award winner for The Lost Weekend, surely respected the project as he gives a powerfully driven and tormented performance. Milland perfects eyedrops that allows him to see through things, and then descends into pathos and horror as he sees too much.
The first part of the story has an obligatory twist party as Milland watches nude woman dancing, (the hope of every 12-year-old boy who sent away for those dollar X-Ray glasses). Things get serious as doctor Milland sees patient’s diseases clearer than X-rays. A death at his hospital puts him on the run as the story nosedives into Nightmare Alley carnival territory.
Don Rickles, as a pushy sideshow barker and con man, energizes the story, promoting Milland as a mystic and then faith healer. Las Vegas gambling moves the story into metaphysical theatrics, as philosophy, science and religion collide with each other.
15 years after production, Milland happened to be on The Tonight Show with Rickles, where Milland praised Rickles’ performance.
Rotten Tomatoes shows an 88% Fresh. Amazon's 217 reviews has it at 4.5 stars. An amazing feat for Corman to produce his most memorable movie on such a low budget.
"I've come to tell you what I see."
Dr. James Xavier
My Sci-Fi movie Forbidden Power on Amazon: goo.gl/Z7sVE9
