As much as people may slate him sometimes, Roger Corman is the master of the budget classic (and also made The Fantastic Four movie that was unreleased, which in my opinion is the best movie made with those superheroes in to date). This man has made some absolute gems over the years a recently Second Sight Films have worked their magic on a stunning collector's item, this time for THE MAN WITH THE X-RAY EYES (aka "X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes" or quite simply "X").
Renowned scientist Dr James Xavier has a fascination with improving the sight of the normal human being and aims to develop a chemical that will grant people to see more than what they usually could. Using himself as a guinea pig and continually experimenting on himself, he perfects a formula that gives him the power and ability to see through solid objects, but he becomes obsessed with this most ambitious project and the formula is so powerful he is unable to control the effects and his newfound visual abilities are beyond human comprehension and so much more than he could ever handle.
This 70 minute (because the original prologue about the senses was removed...but don't fret as footage this does exist! And it's on this very Blu-Ray!) and cost $300,000 roughly to make but it is an entertaining watch. It has a moral to the story (don't mess with nature/be careful what you wish for kind of thing thing) and is a great thriller and at the time I guess a kind of horror too.
The movie has a great cast with the likes of Ray Milland, Harold J. Stone and everyone's favourite Mr. Potato Head, Don Rickles and they played the parts really well, combined with good soundtrack and an interesting story, it makes for brilliant popcorn fodder which is most certainly nothing but a good thing right now...as much as it's good to have new movies, I'm finding classics are better right now.
So what has Second Sight done with this movie for thier release?
Well, the movie itself is newly restored and this is the first release of the movie on Blu-Ray in the UK. The audio and visual quality is exactly what you would expect from Second Sight Film (top notch as always), and they have added some lovely extras to the set as well. There's audio commentries from Tim Lucas and Roger Corman, a new interview with Roger Corman, Joe Dante on The Man with the X-Ray Eyes. Trailers From Hell, Trailer and the original prologue.
This Limited Edition is housed in a rigid slipcase that features new artwork by the incredibly talented Graham Humphries, and also in the slipcase there is a reversible poster with new and original artwork and a softcover book featuring new writings by Jon Towlson and Allen Bryce
So, once again, Second Sight have released an absolute corker of a boxset and this is certainly one I cannot recommend enough. If you are a Roger Corman, B-movie or Second Sight fan grab this NOW!
The Man with the X-Ray Eyes is rated PG (although when at the cinemas it was more fittingly rated X!) and this Region B Blu-Ray released by Second Sight Film can be bought HERE.