Title: X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes

Director: Roger Corman

Released: September 19, 1963

Runtime: 1 hour 19 minutes

Available to stream on: Kanopy and Tubi

IMDb synopsis: A doctor uses special eye drops to give himself x-ray vision, but the new power has disastrous consequences.

Dr. James Xavier (Ray Milland) (no relation to Charles Xavier) believes that he is on the verge of something huge. He is convinced that these new eye drops that he’s created will allow the eye to see to its full potential. This includes gamma rays and x-ray wavelengths. Dr. Diane Fairfax (Diana Van der Vlis) is skeptical to say the least so Dr. X has her witness an experiment on a monkey.

Dr. X administers the eye drops to the monkey while Dr. Fairfax looks on in disbelief as the monkey is able to identify colors through solid material. What neither of them expected was for the monkey to drop dead soon after. Dr. X says that the monkey must’ve died from shock of what he’d seen.

Convinced that he needs to test the eye drops on a human subject, Dr. X decides to administer the eye drops himself. Initially his sight is full of color, as if he were looking into a kaleidoscope. After a few moments his vision settles and he’s able to read the text on papers that are beneath a folder on the desk. One instance isn’t enough to satisfy Dr. X though, so he administers a second round to himself.

This go-around, Dr. X is able to see into a patient’s organs to identify a misdiagnosis. But it doesn’t stop there, while at a social gathering Dr. X realizes he can see through everyone’s clothing. Not to their internal organs like with the patient, while effective the x-ray vision also appears to be selective.

Friend and colleague, Dr. Sam Brant (Harold J. Stone) while impressed with the results of the eyedrops, urges Dr. X to pump the brakes until they can evaluate what the side effects are. To no one’s surprise, Dr. X insists they must push on. While struggling to take the eye drops back from Dr. Brant, Dr. X hilariously throws Dr. Brant out of a window, and he falls to his death.

Now on the run, Dr. X decides to hide in plain sight. He’s working for a carnival barker named Crane (Don Rickles) under the name Mr. Mentallo where he works as a mind reader. After some time, Crane realizes that Mr. Mentallo isn’t just a gimmick and there could be a lot more money to be made off of this “ability” Mr. Mentallo possesses. Crane convinces Dr. X to become a miracle worker of sorts. They’ll charge people whatever they can afford, and Mr. Mentallo will give them the exact diagnosis they need to relay to their doctors.

Meanwhile, Dr. Fairfax has managed to track down Dr. X and he confesses to her that the power has become too much for him. She promises to help him escape but before they can Crane stops them and tells Mr. Mentallo that he knows exactly who Dr. James Xavier is and what he’s wanted for.

On the run again, now with a heightened threat of the police, Dr. Fairfield and Dr. X flee to Vegas. While here, Dr. X decides to use the eye drops to make some quick cash. While this seems all well and good, apparently irrational outbursts are a side effect of the eye drops. Unable to keep his cool, Dr. X is threatened to be escorted by security. To escape he tosses his winnings into the air as a distraction as he flees the casino in a stolen vehicle.

With a police helicopter following him overhead, and his vision severely impaired from the eye drops, how will he manage to escape?

What will the lasting impact of the eye drops be on his vision?

Right away I knew it was going to be a weird ride. It feels as if we were dropped into the middle of an already in-progress limited series. Why things are at the point they are and how they got there, doesn’t matter. Here it is and now we’re off and running.

For it being 1963, the special effects manage to not feel offensively cheap while also feeling the right level of campy. The script seems rather simplistic, and the acting is at times stiff. However, that’s not to say that there were no bright spots or redeeming qualities.

Don Rickles as Crane the carnival barker was incredibly casting. It didn’t feel like Rickles had to act so much as just be himself in this role.

The big reason that X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes (1963), for me, avoids the category of “awful camp” and instead lands somewhere in the realm of “fun camp” is the performance of Ray Milland. His commitment to the role of Dr. James Xavier is what kept me engaged throughout. Without him, the movie becomes just something to have on for background noise.

It’s a weird ride but one that somehow manages to be fun along the way.

So, what did you think? Were you a fan of X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes (1963)? Hit me with your thoughts on it in the comments below or by reaching out on social media!

Alright, we are down to the last two weeks in the A-to-Z challenge. Due to my upcoming schedule, I won’t be asking for suggestions for the “Y” and “Z” installments. I will, however, still be posting what the movies will be on Instagram and Twitter come Wednesday.

For the second half of the year, we’ll do the A-to-Z challenge one more time focusing on crew members. Set decorator, stuntperson, makeup artist, doesn’t matter what their role is, as long as it isn’t an actor or a director. You name the crew member and I’ll pick a film of theirs I haven’t seen to cover for the week. Just something to start considering over the next few weeks.

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Title: Valley Girl

Director: Martha Coolidge

Released: April 29, 1983

Runtime: 1 hour 39 minutes

Available to stream on: Kanopy and Paramount+

IMDb synopsis: Julie, a girl from the valley, meets Randy, a punk from the city. They are from different worlds and find love. Somehow, they need to stay together in spite of her trendy, shallow friends.

Julie (Deborah Foreman) is your typical Valley girl. She’s got the looks, the popularity, and the totally bitchin’ boyfriend in Tommy (Michael Bowen). Everything is perfect for Julie, right? As if.

After a montage that reminds us there was a point in time where malls were busy and were the cool place to be and be seen, Julie decides she’s had enough. She breaks things off with Tommy then heads to the beach with her friends. While at the beach, Julie makes eyes with Randy (Nicolas Cage) but Randy isn’t exactly what she’s used to.

Randy is a punk from Hollywood who runs in different circles than Julie. Julie’s friends, Loryn (Elizabeth Daily), Stacey (Heidi Holicker), and Suzi (Michelle Meyrink) do not approve of Julie’s new infatuation with Randy. They feel she should get back with Tommy. After considering her options, Julie decides to break up with Randy and go back to Tommy.

For as much as he tries to act too cool for school, Randy is devastated. But if ’80s movies have taught us anything, never underestimate the power of teenage love.

So, the question then becomes, how over-the-top cheese fest do we get as Randy and Julie fight to be together? Well, if you haven’t seen Valley Girl (1983) before, now’s where you totally go fix that so you can see how it ends.

All that I knew about Valley Girl (1983) going into it is that it had Nic Cage. It was very apparent right away that what I was going to get was going to ooze ’80s high school rom-com. It’s not that that’s necessarily a bad thing, however here it felt very paint-by-numbers.

Yes, you have all the staples, your beach hangs, your high school parties, and your raging teenage hormones. But the script itself feels like it was written by a Script-Bot 9000. Just imagine the most stereotypical ’80s dialogue you can think of, that’s what we get.

Luckily, the performances from the entire cast and the soundtrack are solid enough to overcome the script. It’s also nice to be able to cross another Nicolas Cage blind spot off of my list. This movie doesn’t do anything to make it stand out from the rest, but it doesn’t do anything to make you despise it either.

It’s okay to just be pretty good and that’s where I land with Valley Girl (1983).

So, what about you? What are your thoughts on Valley Girl (1983)?

Tell me all about it in the comments below or by reaching out on social media!

By now, you know what’s next. Next Sunday will be the letter “W”. If you have a suggestion for the movie, get it in by Wednesday morning. As always, Wednesday evening the movie for the week will be revealed on my Twitter and Instagram.

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