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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, September 17, 2018

The Unearthly (1957)

Starring John Carradine, Myron Healey, Allison Hayes, Marilyn Buferd, Arthur Batanides
Directed by Brooke L. Peters
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A young woman suffering from fright and an escaped convict arrive at the sanitarium of Dr. Charles Conway, who is planning to use his patients as guinea pigs in experiments to prolong youth.

This independent offering has limited sets and a bad reputation, but I think it's really a lot of fun.  The crisp photography, strong cast, and very spooky music score give the film a look and feel which is much more polished than you would expect, and Carradine and Healey in particular give excellent performances, at least in my opinion.  Tor Johnson, credited by IMDB as "Lobo II," perhaps a reference to his performance as "Lobo" in Bride Of The Monster, definitely makes a visual impact as one of the failed experiments who lugs a heavy coffin on his back in a memorable scene.  Harry Thomas turns in some grotesque makeups for this horror/exploitation combo from director Boris Petroff (credited as Peters), who would go on to make a few more of them.

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