The Unearthly (1957)

A mad scientist's work is never done, 5 July 2007

I really appreciate and admire the effort the mad scientists of the 40s and 50s put into their work. Always injecting mysterious fluids and exposing bodies to different types of radiation in the pursuit of some "noble" purpose. They were so single minded in their focus that noting could get in their way. So what if their test subjects were dying or turning into hideous monsters, it was the experiment that was important. John Carradine plays just this kind of scientist in The Unearthly. He hopes by adding a new gland to a human body that he can find the secret of immortality. It helps that he has a house full of patients who know nothing of his experiments, but are there for rest and relaxation. Of course (and as expected) something goes wrong with each experiment resulting in a variety of monsters living in the doctor's basement. Also (and as could be predicted) one of the patients is on to the doctor and plans to put a stop to his experiments.

To a certain degree, if you've seen one of these low-budget mad scientist films, you've seen 'em all. The Unearthly is really no better or worse than most of the others. It's hampered by the same budget constraints, lack of original ideas, weak script, and gigantic plot holes that plague a lot of these movies. On the plus side, The Unearthly has quite a decent cast with Carradine, b-movie favorite Allison Hayes, Playmate Sally Todd, and Miss America 1946 Marilyn Buferd. Also, he may not have been much of an actor, but Tor Johnson does have a certain screen presence. In my mind, the negatives outweigh the positives resulting in the (generous) 4/10 rating.

Unfortunately, The Unearthly doesn't make for one of the better Mystery Science Theater 3000 episodes I've seen. The jokes really felt flat. I cannot remember laughing at much of any of it. I'll give The Unearthly a 2/5 on my MST3K rating scale - find another episode to put on your "to see" list.

4/10