Shawn Watson A bunch of half-wit Scottish soldiers are bumming around in an old pit while practicing how to use a gigameter. A horrific giant turd of radioactive underground goo monster appears topside at that exact moment and goes on a killing rampage, hungry for radioactive material. Dr. Royston, an expert in radioactive stuff, investigates said monster and devises a way to kill it.If this movie seems familiar it's because it is extremely similar to Quatermass II, which is odd because the script for X the Unknown was a recycled rejected Quatermass sequel. Also, it foreshadows the plot to the blob by a whole two years.The effects are passable and the occasional moment of atmosphere makes it worth it. The movie is set in Scotland but not one frame of it is shot there.There are worst 50s b-movies out there, many of them accidentally more entertaining. This one just coasts by on mediocrity.

Mark Honhorst Made in the heyday of radioactive sci-fi monster movies, 1956's "X-The Unknown" is all at once archetypal and original. The plot is very creative, concerning a mass of energy which feeds on radioactivity and can take on any form it wants. All of the familiar characters are here. Soldiers who become food for the monster, scientists, and other assorted victims who are typical of this kind of film make appearances. Dean Jagger plays an atomic researcher who attempts to destroy the monster by removing it's radiation. He turns in a dignified and respectable performance, in spite of the pseudo science he speaks throughout the film. There is plenty of action and monster slop to go around, and, this being an English production from Hammer Studios, the dialogue and story seem a lot more intelligent than it should be. The film is much gorier than most 50s sci-fi movies, featuring scenes of burn victims, and even a couple of melting bodies, (Check out the scene with the doctor in the hospital) with some great special effects. Near the end of the film, the monster takes on the form of a big pile of oozing mud which resembles chocolate mousse , and you can see where "The Blob" may have got it's inspiration. My only problem with this film is, if it can take on any form it wants, couldn't it have taken on human form? Maybe it just wasn't intelligent enough to. Either way, it seems like that could have been a neat plot point.Still, this is fun fare that any fan of 50s science fiction shouldn't pass up.

LeonLouisRicci The always reliable Hammer Studio would find its Artistic, Money-Making stride the next Year, but before that there were offerings like Quatermass and this follow-up and it was obvious that there were rumblings of Greatness afoot.It would take Classic Monsters, Color, bloody Violence, Cleavage and smart Production all around that would take Moviedom in a new direction and announce that Hammer Studios would be an unforgettable force for the next twenty Years.This was before all that and is an eerie, quite effective, very low-budget, brainy, anti-nuke Movie that has great and gloomy Atmosphere with believable Characters experiencing Horrific situations. There is a good deal of "Scientific Explanation" and is a bit talky here and there, but this nonetheless remains a very good Shocker that is much better than the overrated Rip-Off, The Blob (1958).Definitely worth a view for B-Movie and Horror Fans and even for those who like to laugh at this kind of stuff. Even they may be impressed at its doom laden, Cold-War seriousness and overall quality.

Michael O'Keefe This is a British science fiction flick that gets better each time you watch it. If you are a Hammer Films fan, you have a treat in store; even if this film isn't in that vivid Hammer color everyone loves. British soldiers are on a training exercise near a Scottish village, when they come across a mysterious radioactive mud. An atomic scientist, Dr. Adam Royston(Dean Jagger)is flown in to investigate. What you soon have is a large bottomless crack in that muddy Scottish soil; and it allows a giant radioactive blob to surface that consumes everything in its path. Is humanity in peril? Atmosphericlly suspenseful. Besides popular character actor Jagger, the cast also includes: Leo McKern, Edward Chapman, Anthony Newley(yes, the singer), Peter Hammond and Michael Ripper.Note:It is said that director Leslie Norman was so not liked by cast and crew that Hammer never gave him work again.