Horror,Science Fiction,Mystery
United Kingdom
The 1956 science fiction/horror film X: The Unknown follows American researcher and nuclear plant employee Dr. Adam Royston as he aids British authorities in investigating a series of mysterious radiation-related incidents in a remote English village. The incidents first occur when a military exercise uncovers a fissure in a nearby mud flat that exposes a radioactive substance, causing one soldier to be injured and another killed.
As the incidents continue to occur in a straight line away from the fissure, Dr. Royston teams up with British investigator John Elliott to uncover the cause of the bizarre radioactive occurrences. Their investigation leads them to a underground cavern, where they discover a massive single-cell organism that feeds off of radiation and is responsible for the incidents. The organism, dubbed "the unknown," also has the ability to liquefy human flesh upon contact.
In the film's climax, Dr. Royston and a team of soldiers attempt to destroy the "unknown" with explosives, but the organism survives and continues to move toward a nearby town. Dr. Royston determines that the only way to destroy the organism is to flood the cavern with concrete, sacrificing himself in the process. The film ends with the cavern sealed and the organism destroyed, but with the question left open of whether or not there are more of its kind out there.
