Absolutely brilliant

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

I saw this film and wondered, could it really be a masterpiece? I mean I have seen some great movies in my day, Citizen Kane, Moonrise, To Kill a Mocking Bird, and The Ox Bow Incident....but this film..wow..just wow! On the cover of the DVD was a scantily clad Swedish woman being ingested by a giant Venus Flytrap, and usually when you see this kind of cover, it is done by an artist who will draw only to titillate the senses. Knowing that you would assume that the film inside is inferior to the artist's rendition..but not here. Be prepared for a journey into the mind of madness. The doctor; brilliantly portrayed by James Craig, brings us inside the psyche of a brilliant scientist caught in a spire of emotion, rife with the challenges of a society moving too fast and cultures caught in the machinations of his ritualistic need to become something greater than the world will allow.This cinematic mastery blends the inner fear of mankind against the violent inner and outer workings of a world pressing in with unrelenting fury.Craig rages against the machine of societal norms and asks the questions most humans only dare think about if they are under the influence of illegal narcotics. Atsuko Rome deftly plays a Japanese woman of the time seeking her rightful place in a world which considers her voice and opinion to be invalid and with good reason. Her portrayal of Noriko is equal to Streep's performance in Sophie's Choice. The creature, the Venus Flytrap Man,is a wonderfully made rubber suited nightmare that looks like a sex toy for the deranged , which I believe is purposefully manufactured that way to represent the violent repressive hostilities that Americans have towards sexuality. Yes this movie is not for the weak, nor is it for the brave, it's really not for anyone. It was created never to be seen and hidden away, an intellectual forbidden fruit from the Tree of Knowledge. One that can only be fully understood by a higher evolved human that we.Like that fruit in that fairy tale, once you eat it, you are doomed with the curse of self awareness and you'll be cast out of from the garden of man and into the the reality of being and nothingness for 1 hour and 34 minutes.

Poor James Craig, I hope that his salary check cleared and he thought that the trip to Japan was worth appearing in this god awful science fiction clunker. After nearly having a nervous breakdown NASA scientist James Craig is recommended a leave of absence and a nice trip to Japan. Craig thinks that he'd like to do some experiments in botany which was his first love as a scientist.After this he goes to Japan where the daughter of one of his colleagues sets him up in a nice abandoned resort near an active volcano, the better to do his experiments. So what does Craig do, something useful like developing kernels of corn the size of basketballs to feed people? Nah, what he does is develop a giant size Venus Fly Trap that eventually has the mobility of a Triffid and the appetite of one. Poor Craig, for a guy who needs peace and quiet the better to cope with a nervous breakdown he spends a lot of time shouting at Atsuko Rome the girl who is assisting him. Possibly because of her bad acting or dubbing, you can't really tell.Venus Fly Trap has a Frankenstein quality to it down to the deformed Igor-San like hunchback who helps out. Would it were as good as those Universal Frankenstein films.

This obscure little sci-fi horror is in all honestly atrocious. Good old Ed Wood wrote the screenplay for it and it's certainly down to his usual standards. Although I think if Wood had directed the film then it would have been a lot more fun, as his films generally have a delirious energy that makes them for the most part entertaining and memorable. The Revenge of Dr. X sadly is neither entertaining nor especially memorable. It's pacing is way off, as the film drags on uneventfully. And, even though the central plant monster is severely stupid in an agreeable way, whenever it attacks anyone in the film the screen just goes red in an effort to avoid any further special effects (i.e. blood and gore). Clearly this is a mistake as this dreary little movie could have done with something to enliven the proceedings. Instead, for the most part, we have a plot that basically consists of a scientist who looks like Russ Meyer developing a Venus flytrap monster. Sexploitation king Meyer himself would have approved of the scene where our scientist hero meets some topless Japanese girls on the beach; but wacky scenes like this just don't make up for the endless tedium that constitutes the majority of this movie's running time. Maybe the only truly memorable aspect of this film is the fact that the title is misleading and meaningless beyond comprehension.

"INSECTAVORUS!! YOUR FATHER IS THE LIGHTNING!", exclaims over-the-hill matinée idol James Craig, as his floppy Venus Flytrap man is brought to life in this American/Japanese co- production. Edward D. Wood Jr.'s insane screenplay emerges, for all who may chance to view this opus, as one of his grandest achievements. Nobody else on Earth could have hatched this masterpiece of delirious illogic and absurd cinematic devices.This film exists only in bootlegged form as far as I know, and may be found under the title "Revenge of Dr. X" - with credits which have nothing to do with the feature of record. The direction will not disappoint Ed Wood aficionados - he might easily have directed this himself, though the Japanese section reveals a bit more in the way of technical resources than Wood was ever allowed. There is an extended underwater photography sequence featuring traditionally topless female pearl-divers.Ed Wood originally listed this screenplay on his resume as "Venus Flytrap" (Japan), the title "Double Garden" can only be interpreted as a translation from the Japanese release (if any) - it has a sort of zen sensibility. If you can help it - DON'T MISS IT!!