In his book, Danse Macabre, Stephen King serves up a number of movie recommendations. Some of his suggestions are well-known classics, while others are farther off the beaten path. Today’s pick is a low-budget B-movie chiller that falls under the latter category.
Within the pages of the tome, King spends several pages discussing the merits of X: The Man with the X-ray Eyes. The author praises the Roger Corman-helmed picture as “offbeat” and even draws favorable comparisons to the works of H.P. Lovecraft. That is praise, indeed!
King calls the film “One of the most interesting and offbeat little horror movies ever made, and one that ends with one of the most shuddery gross-out scenes ever filmed.”
The bestselling author goes on to say: “It becomes a kind of Lovecraftian horror movie, but in a sense that is different—and somehow purer—than the sort of Lovecraftiness used in Alien.”
Also Read: Underrated Stephen King Miniseries Is A Hulu Hidden Gem: “I cried so hard I gave myself a headache”
The setup is as follows: Intent on enhancing mankind’s ocular ability, the brilliant Dr. James Xavier invents a formula that allows him to see wavelengths of light outside the normal human spectrum. When his funding is suddenly threatened, Xavier tests the formula on himself despite the protests of his colleague Dr. Diane Fairfax. While the formula proves initially useful in a variety of minor tasks, Xavier soon finds himself able to see things that no man was meant to see.
The picutre stars Ray Milland, Diana Van der Vlis, and Don Rickles. As of the publication of this post, you can catch the flick streaming on Kanopy! Best of all, Kanopy is free to almost anyone with a library card. Hooray.
That’s all we’ve got for now. Stay tuned for more recommendations from the masters as we uncover them. And be sure to follow us on Twitter so you never miss an update.
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