The Unearthly is a 1957 independently made American black-and-white science fiction horror film, produced and directed by Boris Petroff (as Brook L. Peters). It stars John Carradine, Myron Healey, Allison Hayes, Marilyn Buferd, Arthur Batanides, Sally Todd, and Tor Johnson. The film was written by Jane Mann and John D.F. Black.

Along with Anatomy of a Psycho (1961), The Unearthly was one of two films produced and directed by Boris Petroff as “Brook L. Peters.” Originally called The House of Monsters, it was filmed over approximately five days.^[6] The film was acquired by American Broadcasting-Paramount Theatres Pictures after principal photography had been completed.^[7][8] While the film credits Jane Mann with the original story, her co-screenwriter John D.F. Black (credited as Geoffrey Dennis) reports that she merely typed the script.^[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).^[10] Johnson also played Lobo in Night of the Ghouls, a pseudo-sequel to Bride; it was shot in 1957 and released nearly thirty years later.

Of note, the production designer was Charles D. Hall, credited here as Daniel Hall. This was his second to last feature. Hall was the acclaimed art director of Dracula (1931), Frankenstein (1931), Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932), The Invisible Man (1933), The Black Cat (1934), Bride of Frankenstein (1935), and One Million B.C. (1940). In many of his later productions, Hall used found objects and locations. These were both simple and economical. 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. Character actor Richard Reeves appears here, uncredited, as one of the toiling creatures.

The film’s score was written by Henry Vars (1902-1972).

black & white, widescreen, mono, 69 minutes, DVD-R comes packaged as shown in color DVD case, wrapped in plastic!