The Strange World of Planet X (film)

The Strange World of Planet X
The Strange World of Planet X VHS cover
Directed by	Gilbert Gunn
Written by	Paul Ryder
Starring	Forrest Tucker, Gaby Andre, Alec Mango
Music by	Robert Sharples
Cinematography	Josef Ambor
Editing by	Francis Bieber
Release date(s)	1958
Running time	75 minutes
Language	English

The Strange World of Planet X (1958) is a British science fiction horror film, and a cautionary tale about science. It was also known as Cosmic Monsters, The Crawling Terror, The Cosmic Monster, and The Crawling Horror.

The film was adapted by Paul Ryder from the 1957 Rene Ray novel of the same name; a TV serial adapted by Ray aired in Britain in 1956.

Plot

A monomaniacal scientist, Dr. Laird (played by Alec Mongo), has invented ultra-sensitive magnetic fields, which begin to attract objects from space. Strange things begin happening, including a freak storm, and insects and spiders begin to mutate into giant monsters. An alien spaceship has appeared over London and begins to warn mankind against the dangers of this scientific experiment.

Cast

• Forrest Tucker as Gil Graham
• Gaby André as Michele Dupont
• Martin Benson as Smith
• Alec Mango as Dr. Laird
• Wyndham Goldie as Brigadier Cartwright
• Hugh Latimer as Jimmy Murray
• Dandy Nichols as Mrs. Tucker
• Richard Warner as Inspector Burns
• Patricia Sinclair as Helen Forsyth
• Geoffrey Chater as Gerard Wilson
• Hilda Fenemore as Mrs. Hale

Trivia

The plot of this low-budget film appears to have been inspired by The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951). On its original release it was not notably successful, but subsequently became something of a cult favorite due to television reruns.

Unusually, a theremin is used in the musical soundtrack.

The film supposedly inspired the B movie, Invasion from Inner Earth (1974).

External links

• The Strange World of Planet X at the Internet Movie Database
• The Strange World of Planet X at AllRovi
• In-depth review of the film