| The Strange World of Planet X | |
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The Strange World of Planet X VHS cover |
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| 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.
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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.
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).
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