Film Review | X: The Man With The X-Ray Eyes

Released: 1963
Starring: Ray Milland, Diana Van der Vlis, Harold J. Stone, John Hoyt, Don Rickles
Director: Roger Corman
Distributed by: American International Pictures

“Suddenly he could see through clothes, flesh… and walls!”

A scientist is obsessed with improving mankind’s eyesight beyond peak performance. Seeing not just the normal light spectrum range, but gamma radiation, x-ray, and more. While proving his experimental chemical works, his research funding is removed. However being fixated on success and seeing more than any other man, he continues to experiment on himself. After an accident that results in a death, he becomes a fugitive who eyesight is constantly allowing him to see more than any man should.

X: The Man With The X-Ray Eyes is a fantastic film about obsession. Dr. James Xavier (Ray Milland; The Lost Weekend, Dial M for Murder) starts off as an altruistic character. He wants his work to improve mankind and use this new ability to help people. But when his work is threatened to be ended, he becomes obsessed with showing how what he is working on is successful and will be a boon to mankind. The more he experiments on himself, the more his obsession conflicts with the desperation of his situation. The effects of his experiments are cumulative and by the film’s midpoint, he cannot go without incredibly thick, dark glasses. Like an addiction, he still continues to use the chemical even though his situation becomes more and more dire. Ultimately, this comes to a head at the end of the film.

The effects in this film are low budget and really dated. They are mostly limited to the “vision” that Dr. Xavier is granted. The vision effects rage from light refraction to model organs to drawings giving the film a slight trippy feeling. However, they seem to fit the feel of the movie and do not remove you from enjoying the film itself. Although, the opening scene is a large eye that just hovers there staring at the screen for far too long for no apparent reason. The very last effect of the movie probably will get a chuckle from a modern audience though.

The cast of X: The Man With The X-Ray Eyes put on a strong classic performance that only enhance the entire film. Don Rickles (Toy Story, Kelly’s Heroes) plays a carnival barker who dreams of wealth through exploitation of Dr. Xavier. This is a more dramatic role then he had up to that time and he does a great job. You can really feel the slime roll off his tongue as he speaks. Harold J. Stone (The Greatest Story Ever Told, The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre) acts as Dr. Xavier’s coworker and friend Dr. Sam Brant. He is resistant to Xavier’s experiment and only helps him due to their friendship. Again, he portrays the role well and expresses his frustration with his friend through every step of the experiment. Unfortunately, the weakest link in the cast falls to the female lead portrayed by Diana Van der Vlis (The Incident, The Swimmer) as Dr. Diane Fairfax. I don’t know if this is due to her acting or just the way the part was written, but there is depth implied for the character that I never felt came to fruition. She comes across as a good friend of Xavier’s but there are many hints that it is more than that without actually hitting the romantic angle well. The result is a muddled character and performance.

The director and producer of this film is Roger Corman (The Wasp Woman, Dementia 13). A man famous for his low budget, independent films. The pacing of the movie is superb. Even with a decent amount of exposition, which is delivered by Dr. Xavier into a tape recorder, Corman makes sure you don’t feel like the movie has become stagnant. The style of the film fits the time period well (early 60’s), but doesn’t beat you over the head with any real culture clash (except maybe an amusing scene at a party where dancing is occurring). I think that is why modern audiences can still watch the film and not feel out of touch. There is little direct societal reference in the film.

Finally, Ray Milland does a real piece of classic film acting in X: The Man With The X-Ray Eyes. Whether he is delivering lines into his tape recorder, using his enhanced sight, or delivering dialogue to other actors, you get a strong expression of emotion with every movement or spoken word as the character slips further from normality. And, this is all done even while his eyes are behind dark glasses. While this is not a big budget film, Corman got big budget acting from Ray Milland for X: The Man With The X-Ray Eyes.

If you are looking for a solid B sci-fi film to watch on a movie night with your friends, then you won’t go wrong with X: The Man With The X-Ray Eyes. While dated, it delivers a good story, excellent acting, and fun, low budget special effects. Definitely, a solid piece you can add to your film collection and a movie I would say everyone should see at least once in their lifetime. So take off your dark sunglasses, sit back in the comfort of your couch, enjoy the movie and save me some popcorn!