Tacticalin An absolute waste of money

Breakinger A Brilliant Conflict

Payno I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Billy Ollie Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

kevin olzak 1963's "Unearthly Stranger" is one of the relatively few British examples of low budget science fiction, airing only twice on Pittsburgh's Chiller Theater, paired with first feature "Flight of the Lost Balloon" on Aug 9 1969, and with second feature "The Flying Saucer" on Jan 1 1972. Not including Amicus and Hammer's efforts, I can rattle off several that were TV staples on CT- "Fire Maidens of Outer Space," "The Cosmic Monster" aka "The Strange World of Planet X," "The Crawling Eye" aka "The Trollenberg Terror," "The Man Without a Body," "Womaneater," "The Atomic Man" aka "Timeslip," "The Electronic Monster" aka "Escapement," "Night Caller from Outer Space" (with John Saxon), and "Invasion" (with Edward Judd), each in glorious black and white. All of differing quality of course, but part of the TV landscape at the time, and virtually all quite forgotten today. "Unearthly Stranger" can easily be regarded as one of the best of this bunch, a tidy little character study featuring a small cast of only six actors, suggesting the story may have stage origins as scripted by Rex Carlton, of "The Brain That Wouldn't Die," "Nightmare in Wax," and "Blood of Dracula's Castle." One reviewer griped about the British tendency for dialogue over action, but clearly Carlton was an American; none of the titles mentioned above centered on expensive special effects. Dr. Mark Davidson (John Neville) marries a beautiful young woman named Julie (Gabriella Licudi), who appeared seemingly out of nowhere during a European vacation. Mark is currently working on a top secret space mission that proves to be the death of a colleague (Warren Mitchell), but Mark and his friend, Prof. John Lancaster (Philip Stone), vow to carry on with his work, despite warning signs that something unnatural is going on. For one thing, John isn't the first to notice that Julie never blinks her eyes (though the actress can be seen doing so several times), and is spotted removing a hot dish from a 275 degree oven using her bare hands. Investigating the recent death is Major Clarke (Patrick Newell), a rather unorthodox sleuth who enjoys eating candy during interrogations. Miss Ballard, the secretary, is played by Jean Marsh,in roughly the same fashion that she played the secretary in Alfred Hitchcock's "Frenzy" (1972). John Neville was a future Sherlock Holmes in another Chiller Theater classic, "A Study in Terror"(1965), while Patrick Newell was best known for the role of Mother during the final 1968 season of THE AVENGERS, as well as one or two appearances on THE BENNY HILL SHOW (he died in 1988). Without going into much detail, I must admit that I found the many twists and turns quite fascinating, virtually the entire cast in excellent form. But I have a soft spot in my heart for 20-year-old Gabriella Licudi, an actress I've seen only rarely- in the ONE STEP BEYOND episode "The Sorcerer" (1961, opposite Christopher Lee), in the 2-part "Hound of the Baskervilles" (1968, opposite Peter Cushing's Sherlock Holmes), and the James Bond spoof "Casino Royale" (1967). In my opinion, this was her finest role, not an easy one to play, which leaves audiences guessing (always leave them wanting more).

Comberman One of the most entertaining films to come out of British studios in the Sixties which sadly has never been given the plaudits it richly deserved. Both Neville and Stone (who played an excellent part in "The Shining"), demonstrated total commitment and kept the pace and excitement of the plot going right to the end. And we shouldn't neglect to mention Patrick Newell, who played the 'sweet-toothed' security bod, with precision-like reality. I too was surprised by the similarity to the plot of William Sloane's "TO WALK THE NIGHT", an eerie and thought-provoking story I first read in 1959 and have read a dozen times since. The similarity is just too close to be coincidence and it is nothing short of criminal not to have Sloane's name on the credits. The film was excellent; the novel is superb, both deserve a place in any SF collection.

telepinus1525 I remember the first time that I saw this SF chiller was at a local drive-in theater in the late 60's as the second feature. I don't remember what the first one was--that's how creepy "Unearthly Stranger" was for me. For a low-budget film it has everything: wit, intelligence, excellent acting, compelling direction, and for it's modest budget more than adequate (minimalist) use of special effects. I've seen it a few times since on t.v., and just recently acquired a second or third generation copy on ebay. I was waiting for the scene where the professor's wife ( whom we already know is a tad unusual) goes for a walk into town and loiters near the public schoolyard, where the nine-to twelve-year-olds are playing. While standing there, the children, one by one, begin to take notice of her, and in a mass, start backing away from her...well, if you haven't seen it, what follows is worth the price of viewing by itself. A bit of info: many years ago a friend told me that this film was actually inspired by the SF novel "To Walk The Night" by William Sloane, originally published in 1938. When I finally got a copy, I was surprised how the closely the plotline of "Unearthly Stranger" hews to Sloane's novel. Hard to understand why the producers would fail to give credit where credit's due...at any rate, find a copy where you can, and pray for it's release on DVD!

bella-6 To call this modest British film low budget is the worst kind of misrepresentation: the budget on creativity and skill at work here surpasses that found in most multi-million dollar productions.Filmed in stark black-and-white with virtually no visual effects, "Unearthly Stranger" relies on sheer dramatic power to tell its story of an alien plan to sabotage Earth's developing ability for space travel. The film is written and directed with care and performed with a conviction that brings across the suspense and humanity of this story in a way rarely seen in the genre.Many of the filmmakers would soon be working on TV's "The Avengers", including producer Albert Fennell and director John Krish. Fans of that series will also recognize many familiar faces among the cast. The strongest performances come from John Neville, distinguished stage actor and teacher, and the almost-unknown and very beautiful Gabriella Licudi who, in the title role, brings the concept of interplanetary communications to an entirely new level.The odd man out in this production is certainly scenarist Rex Carlton. On the basis of this film, it is almost inconceivable that he is the same man responsible for the lurid "Brain That Wouldn't Die" and "Blood of Dracula's Castle", among others. One is tempted to give credit to Jeffrey Stone, who penned the original screen story. But this is a claim that's impossible to support, because Stone was involved as a writer on no other films. So, one can only say that none of Carlton's other screen work would ever approach the level of this, his most subtle and affecting accomplishment.It is well worth tracking down for any fan of fine science fiction or, indeed, any fan of quality filmmaking.