The Unearthly

The Unearthly is a 1957 independently made American black-and-white science fiction horror film, produced and directed by Boris Petroff (as Brooke L. Peters).

It stars John Carradine, Myron Healey, Allison Hayes, Marilyn Buferd, Arthur Batanides, Sally Todd, and Tor Johnson.

At his psychiatric institute, Dr. Charles Conway (John Carradine) is surreptitiously experimenting with artificial glands to try to create longevity; he works with his minion Lobo (Tor Johnson) and his assistant Dr. Sharon Gilchrist (Marilyn Buferd).

Conway receives his test subjects through an associate, Dr. Loren Wright (Roy Gordon), who delivers patients seeking treatment for lesser conditions.

Scott attempts to conceal his identity, but Conway quickly deduces that he is an escaped convict from his description in the newspapers, as well as a telltale tattoo on his wrist.

Scott is introduced to Grace the following morning, along with the two other patients: Danny Green (Arthur Batanides), who is being treated for anger issues, and pretty young Natalie Andries (Sally Todd), whose treatment schedule for a nervous breakdown is nearing completion.

After a failed attempt to reveal Natalie's fate, he manages to show Grace and Danny what had happened to her, only to get caught by Dr. Conway and Sharon.

Scott confronts Dr. Conway with Lobo's gun and reveals that he is not a convicted murderer; he is actually Lt. Mark Houston, an undercover police officer sent to the psychiatrist's business to investigate it.

The police go downstairs and find Danny's body, and then discover a menagerie of beastly men, all failed subjects of Conway's longevity experiments.

[9] Tor Johnson appears as Dr. Conway's minion "Lobo", a role similar to his character of the same name in Ed Wood's Bride of the Monster (1955).

Here he uses found props in addition to simple designs for the operating room and the creature holding cell, where the monsters toil at a turret, reminiscent of Island of Lost Souls (1932), intended as a brief tribute to the horror genre greats.

[14] The DVD of the Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode featuring The Unearthly (originally aired 14 December 1991)[15] was released by Shout!