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X: The Unknown (1956, UK)

These early Hammer sci-fi horrors are basically prototypes for Doctor Who: Level-headed and massively ambitious all at the same time. And this one features the earliest plausible atomic monster I’ve seen in a movie. Watched it all.

Gun the Man Down (1956, USA)

Faster, angrier – it really does look like 1956 was the year the tolerably good bad western was born. Watched: 14 minutes.

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The Undead (1956, USA, Corman)

Hypnosis .. reincarnation .. medieval witches ..  Satan .. something something .. Tibet something something. Wait, what? Watched it all – with MST3K commentary. It may in fact be harmful to watch this movie without help from Mike and the bots, and this is one of the best riffs they ever did.

Qivitoq (1956, Denmark)

One of those movies where the scenery is the main character, in this case Greenland, beautifully shot in widescreen and color. Watched: 13 minutes.

Baby Doll (1956, USA, Kazan)

Tennessee Williams seems to be cycling through all sorts of eccentric characters in the hope of coming across some that are both new, interesting, and can be used to tell a good story. Here, too, he ends up with two out of three.  Watched: 25 minutes.