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X The Unknown, a review by GSyren

Title	X The Unknown (5-019322-061632)
Director	Leslie Norman
Actors	Dean Jagger, Edward Chapman, Leo McKern, Anthony Newley, Jameson Clark
Produced	1956 in United Kingdom
Runtime	77 minutes
Audio	English Dolby Digital Mono, Commentary Dolby Digital 2-Channel Stereo
Subtitles	None
Overview	Mysterious events surround the sudden appearance of a gaping fissure in Scotland: soldiers on manoeuvres nearby develop a debilitating sickness and a small boy is later engulfed by an eerie presence. The child subsequently dies of first-degree radiation burns, similar to those that killed one of the soldiers. Mankind is at the mercy of a seemingly unstoppable organism that melts the flesh of those in its path. Atomic energy specialist Dr Adam Royston (Dean Jagger) and his colleague McGill (Leo McKern) investigate the deadly phenomenon, which they trace to the depths of the fissure. As the death toll rises, Royston devises a daring plan to snare the creature in a lethal radioactive trap... X the Unknown was only the second of Hammer's horror productions, but contained some of the most grisly and disturbing special effects seen in any of the company's films. This DVD features the original uncut British theatrical print of X the Unknown and bonus material featuring the film's screenwriter Jimmy Sangster.
My thoughts	I was reading in my Hammer books about X The UnknownDracula or FrankensteinThe Night My Number Came Up (1955). Apparently Norman was not well liked by the cast and crew, and the shoot was not a happy one. But in spite of that, the film is quite good. Hammer had had a success the year before with The Quatermass Xperiment
My rating	3.5 out of 5

(From Reviews and ramblings by Gunnar on September 21st, 2013)

Doctor Mordrid, a review by GSyren

Doctor Mordrid (859831-008163)

United States 1992 | Released 2014-09-23 on Bluray from Full Moon Features

75 minutes | Aspect ratio 1.78:1 | Audio: English Dolby Digital 2-Channel Stereo, English Dolby Digital 5.1, Commentary Dolby Digital 2-Channel Stereo

Directed by Albert Band, Charles Band and starring Jeffrey Combs, Yvette Nipar, Jay Acovone, Keith Coulouris, Ritch Brinkley

Two beings from another dimension; two sorcerers with immeasurable powers. One has sworn to destroy the Earth; the other has vowed to protect it. Their timeless battle has crossed over from the fourth dimension and only one man will reign in the end... Doctor Mordrid (JEFFREY COMBS) is the chosen guardian who can protect the Earth from eternal darkness; Kabal (BRIAN THOMPSON) is his vengeful enemy whose implacable wrath has escalated with time. Kabal has arrived on Earth and is planning to use his infinite powers to unleash a horde of hellish demons to devour and destroy humankind. Bound by hate and a mystical amulet that holds the powers of life and death, the immortal wizards will meet for the last time. Their centuries-old rivalry has matured into the ancient struggle of good versus evil. Now, their battle takes on majestic proportions as Mordrid and Kabal give life to prehistoric skeletons and begin their final conflict...

My thoughts about Doctor Mordrid:

I have seen Doctor Mordrid before, and I thought it was only so-so. I gave it 2.5 stars at the time. I probably wouldn't have double dipped for the blu-ray release if it wasn't for Dave Allen's stop motion animation. As a big fan of stop motion I wanted those sequences in HD. I don't know if it was just the better picture and sound quality, or if I was just in a better mood for it, but I liked the film a bit better this time. The mythology seems pretty muddled. Apparently the script was originally an adaptation of Marvel's Doctor Strange, but Full Moon lost the rights to it, and changed it to Doctor Mordrid. Perhaps it would have made more sense to me if I had been familiar with Doctor Strange. It's an OK time-killer, but not a very good movie. But how many Full Moon movies are?

I rate this title

(From Reviews and ramblings by Gunnar on February 8th, 2016)

Twilight Zone, a review by addicted2dvd

23. A World of Difference (3/11/60)
Arthur Curtis (Howard Duff) thinks he's an average businessman living a normal life. Or is he an actor playing a businessman in an office that's really a set?

My Thoughts:
This is another episode I never seen before.... was a good episode... but not what I would call great.This episode had the man that played Larry Tate in Bewitched.  The only extra with this episode was an isolated music score.

24. Long Live Walter Jameson (3/18/60)
Kevin McCarthy is Professor Walter Jameson, an excellent history teacher who talks about the past as if he had lived it. Little can his students imagine...

My Thoughts:
What do you know... another one I never seen... now this was an awesome episode. I really enjoyed every second of it. The episode really had me glued to the TV. There is only one extra attached to this episode... but it is a good one. It is a Commentary track with Kevin McCarthy. I haven't listened to it yet because I want to get through the episodes.. but it is definitely one I plan on going back to.

25. People Are Alike All Over (23/25/60)
When a space expedition crashes on Mars, passenger Sam Conrad (Roddy McDowall) is terrified when he encounters Martians. To his initial relief, they are human, extremely friendly and apparently just like us...

My Thoughts:
This was a decent episode... not quite as good as the last episode... but not bad either. Another episode that I am watching for the first time with this set. This episode had no extras what so ever attached to it.

26. Execution (4/1/60)
In 1880, Joe Caswell (Albert Salmi) is about to be hanged for shooting a man in the back, but his life is spared when a time machine throws him into the future. If only he could escape fate as easily...

My Thoughts:
Yet another one I have never seen before! In this one Russell Johnson (Professor on Gilligan's Island) plays the scientist that invents the time machine. This one was a pretty good episode. This episode doesn't have any extras attached to it. Seems like with this disc I am finding a lot of episodes I never seen before. Though that is not surprising since I never seen most of them before.

27. The Big Tall Wish (4/8/60)
An over-the-hill prizefighter (Ivan Dixon) gets a boost from a little boy who's a big fan with a very rare gift in a disillusioned world - an unswerving belief in magic.

My Thoughts:
Yet another episode I never seen. This one was ok... but not real impressed with it. There is actually a couple extras attached to this one. An Isolated Music Score and a Twilight Zone Radio Drama starring  Blair Underwood.

28. A Nice Place to Visit (4/15/60)
After being shot to death, thief Rocky Valentine (Larry Blyden) encounters the amiable white-haired Pip (Sebastian Cabot), who gives Rocky everything he wishes. Heaven! Right?

My Thoughts:
Another that I never seen before... was an OK episode... definitely not a favorite for me. There was just no surprise to this one at all... from the very beginning I knew where this episode was going. the only extra available for this one is the Isolated Music Score.

29. Nightmare as a Child (4/29/60)
A schoolteacher who has blocked out the details of her mother's murder encounters a strange little girl intent on making her recall the murderer's identity.

My Thoughts:
And yet another episode I never seen. This one was pretty good... I enjoyed it... though once again I new the twists of this one right away... but it was still fun watching it all play out. This only extra with this episode is an Isolated Music Score.


Episodes I seen for the First time on this set include:

   1. Judgment Night (Episode 10)
   2. And When The Sky Was Opened (Episode 11)
   3. What You Need (Episode 12)
   4. I Shot an Arrow into the Air (Episode 15)
   5. The Hitch-Hiker (Episode 16)
   6. The Purple Testiment (Episode 19)
   7. Elegy (Episode 20)
   8. Mirror Image (Episode 21)
   9. A World of Difference (Episode 23)
  10. Long Live Walter Jameson (Episode 24)
  11. People Are Alike All Over (Episode 25)
  12. Execution (Episode 26)
  13. The Big Tall Wish (Episode 27)
  14. A Nice Place to Visit (Episode 28)
  15. Nightmare as a Child (Episode 29)

(From Twilight Zone on February 5th, 2008)