Unearthly Stranger

Unearthly Stranger is a low-budget British sci-fi film, directed by John Krish for producers Julian Wintle and Leslie Parkyn, and released in the UK by Independent Artists (Production) Limited in 1963.

The film was written by Rex Carlton based on an idea by Jeffrey Stone.^[1] Its US release was in April 1964.

Plot

Dr. Mark Davidson (John Neville), the narrator, is in fear for his life. His predecessor died under mysterious circumstances just after making a major breakthrough. The cause of death ("an explosion inside his brain") is being withheld by Secret Service agent Major Clarke (Patrick Newell). The scientists are working on a project involving spaceflight by the power of mental concentration.

Dr. Mark Davidson has a new Swiss wife, Julie (played by Gabriella Licudi), in whom Maj. Clarke takes an interest. Julie has a number of unusual characteristics, such as sleeping with her eyes open, never blinking and having no pulse, which makes her husband suspect she is an alien. She also frightens children and can handle very hot objects with her bare hands. After frightening a whole schoolyard of children, though, it emerges she can cry, though the tears burn her cheeks. Maj. Clarke does a background check and finds she never existed before her life with the doctor. As a precaution, Dr. Mark Davidson is relieved of his lab duties. With nothing else to do he works on the problem his precessor had figured out. He is able to successfully recover the lost formula. For security reasons, Maj. Clarke confiscates the notes but is struck dead in the same mysterious way.

Eventually, Julia confesses that she is an alien sent to kill her husband and that she must leave because she has failed, as she has fallen in love with him. Despite his pleas, she vanishes, leaving only an empty dress. He rushes into his office and makes the tape which narrates the film, warning that aliens want to prevent the breakthrough. He is then interrupted by his secretary, who announces she is also an alien and she is there to finish the assignment. A scuffle ensues, and she is pushed out of a window, but with only an empty dress landing on the pavement below. The scientists rush downstairs and are quietly surrounded by a crowd of grim-faced women, all of whom seem to be aliens.

Cast

• John Neville as Dr. Mark Davidson
• Philip Stone as Prof. John Lancaster
• Gabriella Licudi as Julie Davidson
• Patrick Newell as Maj. Clarke
• Jean Marsh as Miss Ballard
• Warren Mitchell as Prof. Geoffrey D. Munro

References

External links

• Unearthly Stranger at the Internet Movie Database
• Unearthly Stranger at British Horror Films