film was acquired by American Broadcasting-Paramount Theatres Pictures after principal photography had been completed. 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. 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). 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). Release Theatrical Released in the United-States on 28 June 1957, The Unearthly was distributed theatrically by Republic Pictures Corp. on a double feature with Beginning of the End (1957). It continued to be shown in theaters until at least 1962. Home media The film aired on television as early as 25 March 1962, and eventually received multiple releases on VHS. It was released on DVD on 6 August 2002 by Image Entertainment. The DVD of the Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode featuring The Unearthly (originally aired 14 December 1991) was released by Shout! Factory on 16 November 2011. Reception The film was reviewed negatively in the film trade journal Harrison's Reports, being described as "mediocre", "produced on a shoe-string budget", and "a feeble and trite effort, full of obvious theatrics and hammy melodramatic acting." Film critic Leonard Maltin later gave the film one and a half out of four stars, commenting "Mad scientist Carradine's experiments in immortality have resulted only in a basement full of deformed morons. Don't you join them." See