• PDI Press

    PDI Press

    BETTY WHITE VS THE STUPID WORLD: The Movie

    PDI Press
    January 17, 2022 2

    Betty White Vs the Stupid World (Chapter Seven)

    PDI Press
    January 16, 2022 1

    Betty White Vs the Stupid World (Chapter Six)

    PDI Press
    January 15, 2022 3

    Featured

    BETTY WHITE VS THE STUPID WORLD: The Movie

    John E. Meredith
    PDI Press
    January 17, 2022 2
    • PDI Press Catalog
    • PDI Press Writers
      • Fiction
  • Columns A-D
    • A Fistful of Dollar Comics
    • ABCs of Horror
    • All Binge… No Purge
    • Anything Joes
    • Beautiful Creatures
    • Big Eyes Smart Mouth
    • Big Sleeps and Long Goodbyes
    • Cahiers du Horror
    • Dispatches From the Field
    • Drive-In Saturday
    • Dungeons & D-Listers
  • Columns F-P
    • The Final Girl
    • First Looks… Second Thoughts
    • The Flesh is Weak
    • Innocence and Experience
    • Lost in Translation
    • Marvel at the Movies
    • Muppets 101
    • Page to Screen
    • Popcorn Cinema
    • The Psycho Drive-In Podcast
    • Psycho Essentials: The ’80s!
  • Columns S-Z
    • Schlock & Awe
    • Shakespeare on Film
    • Shot for Shot
    • Sick Flix
    • Unnatural Selections
    • Versus
    • Video Word Made Flesh
    • We Got Lists
    • Women in Horror
    • The Xeno File
    • Zombies 101
  • Reviews

    Reviews

    Final Destination: Bloodlines (2025)

    Movies
    June 26, 2025 7

    Predator: Killer of Killers (2025)

    Movies
    June 8, 2025 13

    From the World of John Wick: Ballerina (2025)

    Reviews
    June 7, 2025 28

    Featured

    Final Destination: Bloodlines (2025)

    Nate Zoebl
    Movies
    June 26, 2025 7
    • Books
    • Comics
    • DVD/Blu-ray
    • Movies
    • TV
    • Series
  • Interviews

    Interviews

    Interview with Indie Horror Master, Chris Bickel

    Interviews
    July 13, 2018 397

    David Black: Carnies, Carnage, and the Creative Chaos of Darkness Visible

    Interviews
    March 7, 2017 223

    Jaiden Kaine joins the Marvel Universe as new Luke Cage baddie, Zip

    Interviews
    September 29, 2016 8

    SDCC 2016 Interviews: The Cast and Creators of Batman: The Killing Joke

    Interviews
    July 28, 2016 61

    SDCC 2016 Interviews: The Cast and Creators of Syfy’s Van Helsing

    Interviews
    July 27, 2016 3

    Wondercon Interview: The Cast of Damien

    Interviews
    April 16, 2016 3

    Featured

    Interview with Indie Horror Master, Chris Bickel

    The Final Girl
    Interviews
    July 13, 2018 397
  • News

    News

    Regular Show: The Complete Series DVD is here!

    News
    February 9, 2025 20

    “PATER NOSTER AND THE MISSION OF LIGHT” UNLEASHES TERRIFYING UNDERGROUND HORROR – A PSYCHEDELIC CULT MOVIE EXPERIENCE COMING SOON!

    News
    November 15, 2023 74

    Breaking Down The Upcoming DC Studios Slate

    Shot for Shot
    February 1, 2023

    Featured

    Regular Show: The Complete Series DVD is here!

    Paul Brian McCoy
    News
    February 9, 2025 20
    • Trailers
  • Psychos
  • Shop
Breaking
  • Final Destination: Bloodlines (2025)
  • Predator: Killer of Killers (2025)
  • From the World of John Wick: Ballerina (2025)
  • Until Dawn (2025)
  • RSS
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Tumblr
  • Who We Be
  • Contact
    Home
    Columns
    ABCs of Horror

    ABCs of Horror Day 29: X is for The Man with the X-Ray Eyes

    Samuel Hall
    ABCs of HorrorMoviesReviews
    October 29, 2014

    Welcome to Psycho Drive-In’s 31 Days of Schlocktober celebration! This year we’ve decided to present the ABCs of Horror, with entries every day this month providing Director information, Best-of lists, Genre overviews, and Reviews of films and franchises, all in alphabetical order! Today brings us X is for X – The Man with the X-Ray Eyes!

    Xray-Eyes

    Let’s start by saying it straight out. I cannot express how much I enjoyed watching this movie, fair and unbiased critique be damned. X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes is 1950s-60s sci-fi horror at its best. I mean, just read the title! Can’t you hear a cheesy adventure serial voice over in your head shouting “X: THE MAN WITH THE X-RAY EYES!”

    The film’s opening sequence starts with a glaring disembodied eye floating in a beaker and then the title screen fades in over a psychedelic hypno-spiral. I imagine this is 1950s code for “shits about to get weird, dude.”

    You’d be forgiven for going into this film the same way I did, expecting at best a “so bad it’s good” style monster movie about a mad scientist and a guy with the bafflingly unscary power of being able to see through stuff.

    Xray-Eyes-01

    Dirk Manning, writer of the online horror comic Nightmare World, wrote a column in which he explained that he rated a truly good horror story not by screams, gore, or even the number of times it makes you jump out of your seat. Instead, good horror is about the ability to use unconventional or even supernatural elements to expose something potentially dark and disturbing about the human condition. With X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes, director Roger Corman sets the audience up for a sci-fi horror popcorn flick, but as the main character’s powers grow, the director slowly reveals a story about the existential horror of a man who can see more than any human was meant to. (Man’s instinctual desire to “see more clearly” leads the main character to struggle with concepts of mortality and the insignificance of humanity compare to the size of the universe. Things even get a little Lovecraftian at the end as the hero’s power allows him to finally pierce the veil of our reality and brings him face to face with a malignant force at the center of the universe.)

    Our ill-fated hero Dr. Xavier is portrayed by Ray Milland, a solid actor who captures the tragic mix of idealism and recklessness that makes Xavier’s suffering resonate with the audience. With one of academy award under his belt for his lead role in The Lost Weekend, Milland provided the film with enough legitimacy to catch people’s attention. Supporting Milland is a solid cast of characters actor which includes insult comic Don Rickles playing an unscrupulous Carnie out to use Xavier’s power to swindle himself a fortune. While only a small part of the movie Rickles’ character does have a standout moment when he shamelessly declares if he had Xavier’s abilities he would use it to “see all the bare naked women my eyes could stand.” This is notable because it may be the greatest villainous motivation I have ever heard.

    Xray-Eyes-02

    Roger Corman is known for his long history writing, directing, and producing low-budget B movies spanning every possible genre. His directing credits alone cover about 50 films and Corman himself estimated in an interview the total for directing and producing credits was around 130. His films range from well crafted, psychological horror (Masque of the Red Death) to “hey, let’s film hot babes in bikinis and sell it as a movie!” (She-Gods of Shark Reef).

    At the time, Corman was churning out films for production studio API with a razor thin budget and working on a rotating 10 day schedule. X was a unique case because the studio gave Corman around $300,000, color stock, and a whopping 15 days to shoot. If everything else is in question, I’d say that confirms Corman was, at the least, a competent director. Think about it. Could you make a professional quality, feature-length film in 15 days? I doubt I could, unless you’re willing to write off half the cast being portrayed by sock puppets as “artistic license.”

    Xray-Eyes-03

    The film was deemed a financial success and earned the Best Film Award in the First International Science Fiction Festival. To this day it is well regarded by critics, earning mention as part of the resurgence of horror in film. Young directors, producers, and screenwriters re-imagined the black and white monster classics of their child hood, replacing werewolves, black magic, and swamp monsters with mad scientists and invaders from beyond the stars.

    While Corman has a dubious reputation in some circles, this is definitely one of his better movies and a solid blend of classic sci-fi and psychological horror. There is some low budget awkwardness here and there but the best thing about these kinds of movies is that every once in a while the filmmakers run across something they can’t afford to shoot the way it is in the script. This forces them to do something inventive that winds up being more interesting than just filming the scene straight out. My personal favorite moment is when the camera simulates X-Ray vision for the first time by circling around and then zooming in until we “pass through” the back of Xavier’s head and into his brain. It’s both exciting and creepy as the camera sits there looking out through his eyes as the wall dissolves and reveals the room behind it. If the film was made nowadays it would have skipped all that “craft” nonsense and had a bunch of animators do it all with computers in a process that would have been both ridiculously expensive and way less interesting.

    If you go into X: Man with the X-Ray Eyes expecting gore and cool monster costumes you’ll be let down, but if you’re a fan of well crafted, psychological horror this film is worth a look…

    See what I did there?

    Note: Also, for all you trivia buffs and comic nerds, I’d like to point out something that flew by me. Apparently when asked to do the character designs for the comic book series Earth X (by Jim Kreugar and J. P. Leon), Alex Ross based the eyes and face of Nighthawk on Ray Milland, drawing on the concept of a man who sees much more than he wants to know.

    APPIP ERROR: amazonproducts[
    AccessDeniedAwsUsers|The Access Key Id AKIAIIK4RQAHE2XK6RNA is not enabled for accessing this version of Product Advertising API. Please migrate your credentials as referred here https://webservices.amazon.com/paapi5/documentation/migrating-your-product-advertising-api-account-from-your-aws-account.html.
    ]
    (Visited 198 times, 1 visits today)

    Related

    ABCs of HorrorRay MillandRoger CormanSamuel HallX: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes

    FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
    Previous Barbarella (1968)
    Next The Book of Life (2014)
    monsterid
    Samuel Hall
    Samuel Hall is a life-long Wisconsinite who studied Film Studies at the University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee. He is an avid fan of sci-fi, fantasy, comics (both mainstream and independent) and film in general. He is a freelance writer, critic and amateur cartoonist. And also, a terrible bowler. He is working on his first webcomic, which is currently in development.

    Related Posts

    Lost in Translation 292: Death Race 2050

    Scott Delahunt
    Lost in Translation
    May 3, 2019 7

    Lost in Translation 213: Death Race

    Scott Delahunt
    Lost in Translation
    June 16, 2017 1

    Daily Top Ten

    • AT606-visionAdventure Time 6.06 “Breezy” by Dave Hearn
    • batmanforeverBuilding the Bat: Batman Forever (1995) by Shawn Hill
    • PRDTAdvance Review: Power Rangers Seasons Eight –… by Paul Brian McCoy
    • She-HulkPsycho 7: Marvel Women We Need Onscreen Now! by Psychodr
    • i-spit-on-your-grave-09The Final Girl: I Spit on Your Grave (2010) by The Final Girl
    • war-planet-apes-05War for the Planet of the Apes (2017) by Nate Zoebl
    • Batman-Fluxx-posterLost in Translation 155: Batman Fluxx by Scott Delahunt
    • trojan-gambitAnything Joes: S01E11 – G.I. Joe #3 / The… by Greg Engle
    400x400 GI Joe Funko Banner

    Weekly Top Ten

    • i-spit-on-your-grave-09The Final Girl: I Spit on Your Grave (2010) by The Final Girl
    • AT606-visionAdventure Time 6.06 “Breezy” by Dave Hearn
    • hills-have-eyes-02The Hills Have Eyes (1977) vs The Hills Have Eyes (2006) by Corin Totin
    • meg-foster-headerWomen in Horror: Meg Foster by Shawn Hill
    • guinea-pig-2-04Sick Flix: Guinea Pig 2 – Flower of Flesh and Blood (1985) by Corin Totin
    • patty-mullen-headerWomen in Horror: Patty Mullen by Fred L. Taulbee Jr.
    • babylon-5-blu-ray-04Babylon 5 Complete Series Blu-ray Review by Paul Brian McCoy
    • Raven’s Watch Production Stills 2016The Watcher (2016) by Jessica Sowards
    • killer-sofa-07Killer Sofa (2019) by Fred L. Taulbee Jr.
    • AttackInterview of the 50 Foot Cheerleaders! by Jason Sacks

    psychodrivein

    We came here to chew bubblegum and write intelligent reviews and commentary on cult TV and movies! And we're all out of bubblegum!

    Today at https://psychodrivein.com Lost in Transl Today at https://psychodrivein.com

Lost in Translation 482: Examining Recent Trailers

Two new trailers dropped that are of interest to Lost in Translation: Spaceballs 2 and The Naked Gun!
—
Read more of Scott’s article at the link in our profile!

#LostInTranslation #Spaceballs2 #TheNakedGun #Trailers
    Today at https://psychodrivein.com Final Destinat Today at https://psychodrivein.com

Final Destination: Bloodlines (2025)

FINAL DESTINATION: BLOODLINES is a return to form for a franchise that never should have been on the brink of death.
—
Read more of Nate’s review at the link in our profile!

#FinalDestination #FinalDestinationBloodlines #AdamBStein #ZachLipovsky #KaitlynSantaJuana #TonyTodd
    Today at https://psychodrivein.com Anything Joes: Today at https://psychodrivein.com

Anything Joes: S02E29 - File Card Focus: Big Boa
 
Greg and Jaren return to take a hard look at Cobra’s one-man trainer: Big Boa! 
—
Watch the @AnythingJoesPod gang at the link in our profile!

#AnythingJoes #GIJoe #Cobra #BigBoa #FileCardFocus
    Today at https://psychodrivein.com The Psycho Dri Today at https://psychodrivein.com

The Psycho Drive-In Podcast: 28 Years Later

Paul and John are back with a new PSYCHO DRIVE-IN PODCAST with a brand-new review of 28 YEARS LATER plus a look back at the franchise, its themes, its innovations, and its impact on the genre!
—
Listen to the guys at the link in our profile!

#ThePsychoDriveInPodcast #28YearsLater #28WeeksLater #28DaysLater #DannyBoyle #AlexGarland #AlfieWilliams
 #AaronTaylorJohnson #JodieComer #RalphFiennes
    Today at https://psychodrivein.com Anything Joes: Today at https://psychodrivein.com

Anything Joes: Backstock Blacksite - Night Specter (2008)

In Backstock Blacksite, we open the classified crates and dig deep into Greg’s personal G.I. Joe overflow closet, where extras, variants, and forgotten figures wait to be unearthed.
—
@anythingjoespod #AnythingJoes #GIJoe #GIJoeClassified #NightSpecter #BackstockBlacksite
    Today at https://psychodrivein.com Predator: Kill Today at https://psychodrivein.com

Predator: Killer of Killers (2025)

With Predator: Killer of Killers, Predator fans are feasting, baby!!
—
Read more of Paul’s review at the link in our profile!

#Predator #PredatorKillerOfKillers #KillerOfKillers #DanTrachtenberg #LindsayLaVanchy #DamienCHaas #LouisOzawa #RickGonzalez #MichaelBiehn #JoshuaWassung #MichoRobertRutare
    Today at https://psychodrivein.com From the World Today at https://psychodrivein.com

From the World of John Wick: Ballerina (2025)

I can’t wait to see more Ballerina films. Seriously. I want one right now.

—

Read more of Paul’s review at the link in our profile 

#Ballerina #JohnWick #FromTheWorldOfJohnWickBallerina #AnaDeArmis #KeanuReeves #IanMcShane #AngelicaHuston #GabrielByrne #DavidCataneda #LenWiseman #ShayHatten #ChadStahelski #NormanReedus #LanceReddick
    Today at https://psychodrivein.com The Psycho Dri Today at https://psychodrivein.com

The Psycho Drive-In Podcast 05: Kill Bill Volumes 1 & 2 

Join Paul and John in the fifth episode of the Psycho Drive-In podcast, where they delve deep into the universe of Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill.
—
Listen to the guys at the link in our profile!

#PsychoDriveIn #ThePsychoDriveInPodcast #KillBill #QuentinTarantino #LadySnowblood #Arena #FemalePrisonerNumber701Scorpion
    Today at https://psychodrivein.com Until Dawn (20 Today at https://psychodrivein.com

Until Dawn (2025)

If you’re going to be Until Dawn in name only, why not just be that original horror idea and let someone else actually adapt Until Dawn as it was? 
—
Read more of Nate’s review at the link in our profile!

#UntilDawn #DavidFSandberg #PeterStormare #EllaRubin
    Follow on Instagram

    Look Who's Talking

    Shawn EH
    Shawn EH - 5/4/2025
    Thunderbolts* (2025)
    Yep, very well done; avoiding the big flashy battle that these heroes (can any of you fly?)...
    Ideonova
    Ideonova - 12/26/2024
    Page to Screen: F. Paul Wilson’s The Keep
    Not living up to the source material? What source material? The book is a predictable, at times...
    Fred L. Taulbee Jr.
    Fred L. Taulbee Jr. - 8/17/2024
    Cahiers du Horror 03: Frank Henenlotter and The Brain that Wouldn’t Die
    I need to see that again. Maybe make it a double feature with All of Me. Steve Martin is someone you...
    RSSTwitterFacebookinstagramtumblr

    Archives

    Large_rectangle_336X280
    • PDI Press
      • PDI Press Catalog
      • PDI Press Writers
        • Fiction
    • Columns A-D
      • A Fistful of Dollar Comics
      • ABCs of Horror
      • All Binge… No Purge
      • Anything Joes
      • Beautiful Creatures
      • Big Eyes Smart Mouth
      • Big Sleeps and Long Goodbyes
      • Cahiers du Horror
      • Dispatches From the Field
      • Drive-In Saturday
      • Dungeons & D-Listers
    • Columns F-P
      • The Final Girl
      • First Looks… Second Thoughts
      • The Flesh is Weak
      • Innocence and Experience
      • Lost in Translation
      • Marvel at the Movies
      • Muppets 101
      • Page to Screen
      • Popcorn Cinema
      • The Psycho Drive-In Podcast
      • Psycho Essentials: The ’80s!
    • Columns S-Z
      • Schlock & Awe
      • Shakespeare on Film
      • Shot for Shot
      • Sick Flix
      • Unnatural Selections
      • Versus
      • Video Word Made Flesh
      • We Got Lists
      • Women in Horror
      • The Xeno File
      • Zombies 101
    • Reviews
      • Books
      • Comics
      • DVD/Blu-ray
      • Movies
      • TV
      • Series
    • Interviews
    • News
      • Trailers
    • Psychos
    • Shop
    • PDI Press
      • PDI Press Catalog
      • PDI Press Writers
        • Fiction
    • Columns A-D
      • A Fistful of Dollar Comics
      • ABCs of Horror
      • All Binge… No Purge
      • Anything Joes
      • Beautiful Creatures
      • Big Eyes Smart Mouth
      • Big Sleeps and Long Goodbyes
      • Cahiers du Horror
      • Dispatches From the Field
      • Drive-In Saturday
      • Dungeons & D-Listers
    • Columns F-P
      • The Final Girl
      • First Looks… Second Thoughts
      • The Flesh is Weak
      • Innocence and Experience
      • Lost in Translation
      • Marvel at the Movies
      • Muppets 101
      • Page to Screen
      • Popcorn Cinema
      • The Psycho Drive-In Podcast
      • Psycho Essentials: The ’80s!
    • Columns S-Z
      • Schlock & Awe
      • Shakespeare on Film
      • Shot for Shot
      • Sick Flix
      • Unnatural Selections
      • Versus
      • Video Word Made Flesh
      • We Got Lists
      • Women in Horror
      • The Xeno File
      • Zombies 101
    • Reviews
      • Books
      • Comics
      • DVD/Blu-ray
      • Movies
      • TV
      • Series
    • Interviews
    • News
      • Trailers
    • Psychos
    • Shop
    Type to search or hit ESC to close
    See all results
    Username
    Password
    Remember Me
    Lost password?
    Create an account
    Username
    Email
    Cancel
    Enter username or email
    Cancel