The Unearthly

Mad doctor uses patients at his isolated psychiatric institute as subjects in his attempts to create longevity by surgically installing an artificial gland in their skulls, with disastrous results.

This film has a suspiciously low rating on IMDb, which I suspect can only be caused by one of two things (or both): its being shown on "Mystery Science Theater 3000" or its being associated with Ed Wood. Since the latter is not likely to impact it, I suspect it is the former.

And that is just too bad. Despite the lampooning, this is a decent film with good effects (the gland), a better than average plot and decent acting. We have John Carradine, a legendary actor and Carradine family patriarch. And he is surrounded by actresses who had been Miss America, a Playboy Playmate (around the same time the film came out) and more...

The script? From a man who went on to write some of the best episodes of "Star Trek". Certainly this cannot be as bad as it is made out to be. Another examination may be in order.

The current rating of 3.0 is undeserved and kind of baffling. The Unearhtly may not be the most thrilling or interesting movie, but there's nothing technically wrong with it. There are no grating performances, no editing errors or breaks in continuity, no especially poorly-written elements. It's not painful in any way to watch. It's just fairly standard for the time. And there are some enjoyable moments and quotable lines with a passably gripping story, so it's not like it isn't worth seeing. While there are some cliches, it should be noted that they weren't nearly as cliche in 1957 as they are now. Overall it's a decent "mad scientist" movie that shouldn't be completely disregarded.

Unearthly, The (1957)

*** (out of 4)

This 'Z' grade film to me is one of the best examples of something being so bad it's good. A mad doctor (John Carradine), with the help of his assistant Lobo (Tor Johnson) is using people from his psychiatric institute as subjects in hopes that he can find eternal life by putting glands in their heads. This film is about as crazy as any film can get and I mean that in a good way because this is one of the most entertaining bad films ever made. It might even be unfair for me to call this bad because, unlike a lot of these Z movies, this one here goes out of its way to try and be entertaining and come up with a real story. The so-called real story they come up with here is way out of left field but it's still a lot of fun. Carradine and Johnson as the bad guys just adds more enjoyment as the two men eat up each scene as if they haven't eaten anything in years. That wonderful glee in Carradine's eyes really shines and it makes you forget that this guy has been in some of the most loved classics in the history of cinema. The brute Johnson moves slowly and talks badly but this just adds to his charm. Myron Healey and Allison Hayes play the good guys with cult figure Sally Todd playing another one of the patients. Arthur Batanides plays a hot head patient and in interviews he said he was drunk throughout the making of the film and this isn't hard to believe. He makes his character very memorable and he's a joy to watch throughout the thing. The make up effects are all very well done, which again, isn't too normal for this type of film. The ending, clearly influenced by H.G. Wells, is a classic with a closing line that is hilarious.

The Unearthly (1957) seems to be more at home with the kind of horror pictures featuring mad scientists that were produced in the 1940's. By the 1950s, such films had all but died out to be replaced by the scientist-hero saving the world from alien invaders and the monstrous products of the atomic age.

The film does adequately make do with what its meager budget allowed for. For instance, most of the action takes place inside the single locale of one house with only a couple of scenes away from the house itself. With such budgetary constraints, much of the film focuses on the tensions developing between the characters,

Perhaps the best feature of The Unearthly is the cast that was assembled for this film as well as its handling of issues to do with power, its abuse and of trust.

Acceptable scare-fare here, with two of the B movie greats, Carridine and Healy, and the prince of the C,D,E,and F movies, Tor Johnson. Not as campy as an Arch Hall Jr. or Dennis Ray Steckler effort-the production values are too good-but still some good giggles at trite dialogue and silly plot.