The Unearthly

Poster tagline: LURED TO THE HOUSE OF MONSTERS, WHERE’S THERE’S NO ESCAPE!!! GUARANTEED TO FRIGHTEN!!! In the 1930s and 40s the hottest horror subgenre in cinemas was the mad scientist undertaking his even madder experiments (you can ask Bela Lugosi about it). The subgenre ceased to attract audiences in the 1950s and it slowly disappeared from the screens with films like Bride of the Monster, The Fly, and also this one, which didn't make much noise, though the cast was remarkable despite the low budget – names like Carradine, Tor Johnson and Allison Hayes (the fifty-foot woman!) were already well-known B-movie stars. I guess I'll join the reviewers here and be partly in opposition. There's nothing inherently wrong with the film, nothing stupid enough to make you bang your head against the wall. It's not dumb enough to make me laugh, nor is it funny enough to entertain, it's just plain unentertaining. The whole thing takes place in one house, the camera only briefly gets outside twice, and the "healthy core" of horror, i.e. the perverse experiments and hairy monsters, are basically on the sidelines and take up a tiny part of the runtime. Otherwise, there is a lot of talking, interpersonal relationships and about seven minutes (!!!) of operation without the camera showing anything. The only reason I'll remember this film is because it was the first time I heard Thor Johnson speak (!!). He utters a few sentences, but otherwise he's the classic frown and scowl we know from Ed Wood movies. (06/02/2018)