Unearthly Stranger

1963
1h 18m

IMDb RATING

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Mysterious woman marries government scientist Davidson despite his lack of knowledge about her past. His bosses are suspicious of her unusual traits. After it's clear she does love Davidson,... Read allMysterious woman marries government scientist Davidson despite his lack of knowledge about her past. His bosses are suspicious of her unusual traits. After it's clear she does love Davidson, the pair come under attack.Mysterious woman marries government scientist Davidson despite his lack of knowledge about her past. His bosses are suspicious of her unusual traits. After it's clear she does love Davidson, the pair come under attack.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.4/10

1.1K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

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Trivia
Unearthly Stranger was selected by the film historians Steve Chibnall and Brian McFarlane as one of the 15 most meritorious British B films made between World War II and 1970. "Although Unearthly Stranger appears to draw attention to the performance of femininity, it is male society that is the real object of scrutiny," they say, describing it as "a highly effective fable" and praising its "unsettling atmosphere of dislocation and tension which disturbs our taken-for-granted assumptions about the worlds of office and home".

Goofs
In the film, Dr. Davidson denies his wife is an alien when Prof. Lancaster claims she is. Yet in the voice-over introduction, he speaks as though he had been making that claim to Lancaster.

Alternate versions
When originally released theatrically in the UK, the BBFC made cuts to secure a 'A' rating. All cuts were waived in 2014 when the film was granted a 'U' certificate for its premiere DVD and Blu-ray release.

Connections
Referenced in The Borderlands (2013)

User reviews37

Featured review

8/10

The Greatest "Outer Limits" Episode That Never Was

Even though I'm a fan of obscure movies, it's amazing to me that I even heard of this movie, much less find a copy, but I consider it worth the effort. The stark minimalism technique makes this like a slightly extended episode of an anthology series like "The Twilight Zone" (and the running time is still quite short at 75 minutes). The one word I think that best describes this movie is "competent." In other words, the filmmakers knew exactly what they were doing; they had to, I suppose, working with what seems an almost non-existent budget. They knew how to elicit an emotional reaction of claustrophobia from the audience - something few filmmakers can do exceptionally well in the sci-fi genre - Ridley Scott's "Alien" is one other film that comes to mind. Every bizarre angular shot composition, every set piece, every facial close-up, every soundtrack cue, is blended seamlessly to make the viewer sweat.

For science fiction, this movie is very unique - even for a typically-cerebral British sci-fi production. There are no slimy aliens to look at, no space craft, and no robots. Instead, like the storyline itself, all the suspense comes from the viewer's own imagination. If you can find it, I highly recommend seeing this at night. The only other movie I can think of which demonstrates such continuous suspense with scant resources is Edgar G. Ulmer's 1945 film noir "Detour." I almost think they should show this as a primer to film students on how to make a film successfully with little or no money.