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Greetings, and welcome to VIEWING THE CLASSICS. Here you'll find capsule reviews of vintage movies from the early days of cinema through the 1970s, with a special emphasis on sci-fi, horror, and mystery movies. Be sure to check out the Pages links, where you can find a Film Index of all my reviews, links to the reviews organized by cast members, directors, and other contributors, and links to my reviews of the films of talented young director Joshua Kennedy.

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Monday, May 25, 2020

Unearthly Stranger (1963)

Starring John Neville, Philip Stone, Gabriella Licudi, Patrick Newell, Jean Marsh
Directed by John Krish
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

After a leading space research scientist dies mysteriously, his replacement tries to continue their work, but begins to notice his new wife has characteristics that make her something other than human.

This is a really well-done British science fiction thriller, very finely acted and directed, with some terrific cinematography from Reginald Wyer.  What is doesn't have is any visual effects to speak of, but it doesn't need them, and is very much in the thinking person's sci-fi milieu.  It's main subject concerns the idea that scientists across the world have hit upon a formula to allow humanity to project themselves into outer space via the power of thought, and if that seems far fetched, both cast and crew do a good job of selling its possibility within the structure of the film.  Neville is very good here and Licudi is nicely showcased as something otherworldly through her performance and through some well-designed and edited sequences where we see how others react to her.  It's intelligent entertainment and very thought provoking.

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