Escapement (film)
1958 film by Montgomery Tully
Escapement (also known as The Electronic Monster) is a 1958 British horror science fiction film directed by Montgomery Tully and David Paltenghi (dream sequences). The screenplay was by Charles Eric Maine based on his 1956 novel of the same title.
The film was released in the UK (as Escapement) on March 4, 1958. It was released in the US (retitled The Electronic Monster) on June 10, 1960.
Plot
Inquiring into the mysterious death of a Hollywood star, insurance investigator Jeff Keenan uncovers an exclusive psychiatric clinic on the French Riviera. Here, patients who want to escape the stresses of life are hypnotized, then laid out in morgue-like drawers and left to dream for several weeks. It turns out that Zakon, the clinic's owner, is using a "dream machine" to alter the sleepers' dreams, and to impose his will on theirs.
Cast
Production
Producer Richard Gordon later said there were major problems with the film's special effects. He also said that he had a dispute with Anglo-Amalgamated, who did not want the movie to get an X certificate in England, whereas Gordon wanted more horror for the US. Most of Anglo's films were crime oriented but this had some science fiction aspects.
The film's electronic music soundtrack is credited to Soundrama with John Simmons as consultant and Robert Taylor as music director.
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Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 8, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q17105221. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1958, 1956 and 1960.
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This entry incorporates text from “Escapement (film)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.