X... the Unknown (1956)
The film that firmly moved Hammer out of the thriller market and into the horror one playing as much on Cold War anxieties and Britain's standing in the world at the time as it does with typical monster movie tropes of the era.
As with many Hammer efforts at the time, X... The Unknown stars an American in this case Dean Jagger as a scientist investigating a strange fissure with radioactivity in deepest darkest Scotland. Said fissure contains a prehistoric giant blob like creature which feeds off the radioactivity nearby.
I've always preferred this to the Quatermass films that surround it. Probably because it is that much more horror orientated with one or two genuinely grisly scenes. Jagger is a likable lead even if he's not exactly the quintessential heroic leading man whilst Leslie Norman (Barry's dad) keeps the action, intrigue and suspense rolling along just nicely. The creature when it arrives is oozily primitive but looks great in the stark black and white photography.
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