Horror 2022 Countdown: The Unearthly (1957)

The Unearthly (1957), dir. Boris Petroff, AB-PT Pictures 

Funny that just a year before this film, Carradine would play Aaron in DeMille's the Ten Commandments. Carradine at this point was mostly working in either Westerns, epics, or low grade horror. There didn't seem to be much of a middle ground. If he was playing lead it might get a local drive-in, but bigger films only seem to have use for him as a character actor. 

Dr. Conway (Carradine) is a man with a mission. That mission is to extend life via use of altered glands. Aiding him are Lobo (Tor Johnson) and Dr. Gilchrist (Marilyn Buford). He also has a silent partner, Dr. Wright (Roy Gordon). Wright supplies the bodies from his own practice. 

Wright drops off the latest volunteer, Grace (Allison Hayes). She came to him for help with her depression. He plans to throw her purse in the bay, making it look like a suicide. Wright asks about Conway's latest project. The twisted mass of flesh in the basement used to be a man named Harry (Harry Fleer). Wright let it slip that Harry's sister is looking for him, which enrages Conway as his test subjects should be without families. 

That night, Lobo brings Conway a present, a trespasser with the handle of Frank Scott (Myron Headley). Conway recognizes the name and his description from the radio. Scott is a wanted murder. The type of man who wouldn't, say, go to the police if he escaped?

He makes Scott an offer he can't refuse and Conway introduces him to his other test subjects:

Danny (Arthur Batanides)-he has anger issues

Natalie (Sally Todd)-nervous breakdown.

Natalie is the next person on the doc's roster. He slips a new gland in her but all that does is turn her into an old woman. 

When a jealous Gilchrist notices how Grace has captured Conway's eye, she demands Grace be the next subject. 

Yeah, the one with Joel and the Bots is the best version, but Carradine takes some diamonds from the rough. The special effects are poor, the whole story seem based around the one house, but it's short enough not to overstay its welcome.