X: The Unknown

Year: 1956

Country: UK

Tagline: NOTHING CAN STOP IT! (original print ad - all caps)  »

Plot: While going through some routine practice training inScotlandfor mine detection a group of soldiers detects a large radioactive signal just before the ground opens up in an explosive eruption. They summon plutonium scientist Dr. Adam Royston (Dean Jagger) for advice as to what to do. When Royston has his own lab destroyed he surmises that the culprit was un-human, and when two soldiers guarding the large crevasse where the ground erupted disappear he understands that there is some chemical force at work. The Army decides to block up the ground with concrete but Royston knows that the force will come out for more radioactive material and prepares for it. When it is revealed by Dr. Royston that the monster is actually a mass of energy he gets ample resistance form the voice of reason, the Army generals at hand who decide to bomb the thing back to the center of the earth where it came from. In a final showdown with the force taking a horrible new form Royston and the Army fight for their lives.=======This is a more detailed synopsis.The movie opens with the credits and title over an open muddy field in Scotland. A soldier, in a radiation suit, holds a Geiger counter and walks searching for a buried sample. This is a military training exercise. The soldier, "Spider" Webb (Anthony Newley) finds the cylinder in a bit over a minute. As the soldiers are about to pack things in for the day, Lancing (Kenneth Cope) asks for a turn. Sgt. Grimsdyke (Michael Ripper) buries the sample. Haggis (Ian MacNaughton) and Webb gripe about the cold, the food and the delay. Lancing begins his search. Webb tries to help, but Landing has picked up a stronger radioactive source. Lt. Bannerman (Peter Hammond) takes the counter and tells Sgt. Grimsdyke to fetch Major Cartright. Major Cartright (John Harvey) pulls up in his Jeep and is escorted to the site of the strong radioactive reading. Lancing marks the location with a stick. Grimsdyke, Bannerman, and Cartright walk over to where the sample was buried. Lancing notices the water starting to bubble where he placed the stick. The ground begins to open and the surface water disappears. The other soldiers walk over to Lancing and are ordered back, but Lancing remains behind. The Sergeant orders a soldier (Edwin Richfield) to fetch Lancing. The earth splits open and a fireball shoots up. Lancing falls to the ground.In nearby Lochmouth, Scotland, an Atomic Energy Facility is processing nuclear materials--Cobalt. A Public Address announcement is made for Dr. Adam Royston. The director's son is working on cobalt sample readings. Peter Elliott (William Lucas) is substituting for Dr. Royston. Royston is down in his workshop some distance from the facility. The director, John Elliott (Edward Chapman) comes looking for Royston in person when Royston fails to respond to pages. Father and son have a philosophical difference as to the son's role at the facility.Dr. Adam Royston (Dean Jagger) tunes in a classical radio station behind a shield. He's conducting an experiment to use radio waves to rapidly counteract radioactive decay in certain chemical elements. Static on the radio indicates the chemical element is highly radioactive. A guard, Russell (Neil Wilson) comes to collect Royston. Royston walks back to the facility. The director makes it clear Royston is only to work on his assigned tasks, and not his own pet projects. He also reiterates that his son is to concentrate on administrative duties, not play scientist. He tells Royston the Army contacted them about "a radiation reaction." He sends Royston to check it out, much to Royston's annoyance.Royston drives down to the War Department test site and takes Geiger readings. They are all negative. He tells the Major he wants to see the injured soldiers. Lancing is the most seriously burned. Royston immediately recognizes the type of burn. Next he examines the other soldier. His back is seriously blistered and the skin is peeling away. The unburned area corresponds to his rifle slung over his shoulder. These are radiation burns.That night the Army returns with equipment Royston requested, including lights. We learn Lancing has since died of his wounds. Royston requests the presence of the Major. He tells the Major, "There's nothing more we can do out here. I suggest you leave a couple of men on guard." Royston and Peter drive back to the atomic facility and discuss the clues.Two boys out for the evening are planning a little frolic. One dares the other to go to an old keep or tower and see "Old Tom." Willie Harding (Michael Brooke) sets off for the tower. He slowly and furtively creeps through the underbrush. He spots the tower and approaches. Then he sees something. His eyes widen in horror and he backs away then runs back to his friend, Ian Osborn (Frazer Hines). Willie was severely burned and is now in hospital. Royston is there with the doctor to examine the burns. Dr. Kelly (Robert Bruce) suspected radiation and explains that's why he called Royston. Kelly and Royston go talk to the parents. He asks Jack Harding (Jameson Clark) and his wife Vi (Jane Aird) the circumstances. They tell Royston to talk to the boy, Ian. Royston stops at the church after services to question Ian. Ian is reluctant at first to discuss their little adventure, but finally tells him exactly where it happened. Royston drives out to the tower. An old moonshiner occupies the place. Royston brings his Geiger counter. He notices a soot-like substance on the floor and a liquid dripping through the ceiling. He finds a still and Old Tom (Norman Macowan) sleeping. Royston spots a radioactive sample bottle on the shelf. It is from his workshop. He tests it and discovers it is now inert.Back at Royston's lab the place shows signs of a burglary. Glass is broken and equipment is damaged. There is a strange soot-like substance everywhere. Peter arrives to find Royston going through the damage. Royston explains the container contains tritium with a half-life of 28 years. Now the sample is inert.Inspector McGill (Leo McKern) meets with the director, John Elliott. Because a crime involves radiation, McGill is required to investigate. He meets with Royston in the cafeteria. McGill asks about the child who was burned. He already talked to Old Tom and confirmed the child never touched the container. McGill asks Royston to help him investigate. Willie Harding dies shortly after admission to hospital. Dr. Kelly pronounces and consoles the parents. Royston and McGill arrive and talk to Dr. Kelly. Jack Harding confronts Royston. He tells him, "You meddle with things that kill, like they killed my boy in there. You should be locked up. You're not safe, you're a murderer."A lab technician, Harry Unwin (Neil Hallett) exits the radiation treatment room and calls a girl for a little assignation. He notices static on the phone line. Willie's body is removed from his room. The girl, Zena (Marianne Brauns) arrives and they kiss. Harry notices the equipment start on its own. A strong static sound alerts Harry that something is in the room. He retreats cowering against the wall. Zena, safe in another room, sees it through the glass shielding and screams. We zoom in on Harry's hand. His fingers are swelling and blistering. His face melts like wax revealing his teeth. The hospital director (Max Brimmell) shows Royston and McGill the lab. The storage vault is melted and covered in the same soot-like substance. Royston announces, "Obviously the radium was the target." Royston concludes it can assume any shape. It can come under a door or through a ventilation grill. McGill tells Royston that the Major posted soldiers at the origin point--the fissure.Haggis and Webb are on guard at the fissure. Haggis hears something. He sees a glow out by the fissure. He ventures to have a look. He calls to Spider Webb then screams. Webb goes out to rescue his friend and finds his rifle covered with soot. He hears the buzzing or static sound and fires his machine gun at it. He screams and falls down. Royston, McGill, and the Major drive up and investigate. The major finds a torn cap.At the atomic facility, Royston calls a meeting to brainstorm. He proposes that the creature lives underground and is intelligent. About every fifty years a greater pull on the earth happens because of planetary alignment. To live it needs energy and fifty years ago there was nothing on the surface to eat. But now there is. In Royston's lab and the hospital there are radioactive isotopes. The director is not convinced. He calls the hypothesis "absolute rubbish." McGill wants to see the thing at the fissure.The military makes all the arrangements and provides the equipment. Peter volunteers to go down into the fissure. On the way down he discovers the uniform and skeletal remains of one of the soldiers on a ledge. He continues down, but now his Geiger reacts. He sees it and demands to be pulled out fast. They get him to the car and McGill asks, "Peter what did you see down there?" Peter breathlessly replies, "I don't know what it was. It is something out of a nightmare. It was horrible." The Major tells Royston his orders are to kill the thing, and then concrete over the fissure. They employ napalm then detonate explosives and cover it in concrete.Royston is back in his lab working. McGill stops in for a chat and tells him what the Army did. Royston is dubious that will stop the thing. He asks, "How do you kill mud?" McGill is leaving for London. Royston tells McGill of his pet project, namely, the ability to disintegrate atomic structure without the explosion. McGill leaves.At the fissure, the concrete cap explodes and a mud like substance flows out. The atomic pile at the facility is now inactive. They are removing the cobalt to be transported elsewhere. McGill calls headquarters and requests a delay in his return to London. The phone line is bad and he has trouble hearing his boss. As he leaves he hears a police report about, "People Melting." He stops cold and takes the police report and rushes to the scene. A car is burned and has the same soot-like substance on it. McGill calls Royston at the facility and tells him four people were melted. Royston, the director, and Peter go to the director's office to consult a map of the area. Royston tells John and Peter the thing senses radiation and moves in a straight line. After noting the first two incidents on the chart, Royston plots a third line from the fissure to where they are--the Atomic Energy Establishment. "It's on its way for the biggest meal of its life." McGill arrives at the facility as the cobalt is loaded onto a truck. The creature arrives at one of the guard posts and an alarm is sounded. The guard is melted. It rolls over a building and absorbs the cobalt. They suggest clearing its path when it returns to the fissure. McGill explains to the director they need to take action tonight. The next target is an even larger nuclear facility and to get there it must pass through Inverness.Royston and Peter are in his workshop working on his experiment. The Director and McGill arrive to see another test. The sample is bombarded with radio waves and we see the Geiger counter show less and less reading until it shows zero. But the container starts to glow and then it explodes. Royston is concerned it won't work. Everything they need is at the fissure to scale up this experiment and try it on the creature.Royston proposes to use a radioactive "bait" on a Jeep to lure the creature out of the fissure and between the radio transmitters. He coordinates synchronizing the transmitters. He calls for the Jeep to go to the fissure, but the driver is having trouble keeping the vehicle running. He is sick, so Peter takes over driving the Jeep. He pulls closer to the fissure, against orders, to lure it out. It chases the Jeep between the radio transmitters and begins to glow and writhe. It explodes into flames and disappears. Royston calls for Geiger counters for a reading. They approach the fissure to an even larger explosion that knocks everyone off their feet. We close with Royston walking up to and peering into the fissure.Starring Dean Jagger and Edward Chapman, the sci-fi horror is about an unknown monster being resuscitating by humankind's atomic experiments, starts causing chaos to a small village in Lochmouth region of Scotland.

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