Though most horror of the 1940s opts for a pretty obvious “monster movie” vibe, 1948’s The Amazing Mr. X follows a different path. Here we get a more subtle mix of thriller, terror and noir.

Two years after her husband Paul (Donald Curtis) died in a car crash, wealthy widow Christine Faber (Lynn Bari) continues to miss and mourn him. Nonetheless, she dates Martin Abbott (Richard Carlson), a lawyer who plans to propose to her.

One night Christine believes she hears Paul call to her from the ocean. She soon meets Alexis (Turhan Bey), a mysterious man who claims he can communicate with the dead. This leads Christine on a spooky path, one that winds up with unexpected repercussions for Alexis as well.

If that synopsis primes you for a story more focused on real-world flim-flammery than actual supernatural behavior… well, I’ll offer no overt spoilers, but pat yourself on the back. The movie doesn’t really give us much doubt about the path it will follow, so its “revelations” don’t shock.

Don’t interpret this to mean Amazing provides a wholly predictable tale, for it doesn’t. While we can anticipate some plot twists, the movie comes with enough of a tangled web to keep it engaging.

Indeed, with a tight 78-minute running time, Amazing doesn’t leave a lot of room for fat. It manages to move at a good pace and lack the kind of padding that would slow down the proceedings.

Bey’s slippery lead performance helps matters as well. He possesses just the right mix of charm and apparent sincerity to allow us to accept the way the other characters believe his outlandish claims. Bey turns into arguably the movie’s biggest strength, as a less compelling actor would make the tale hard to swallow.

Nothing about Amazing ever threatens to turn it into a noir classic. Nonetheless, it offers a brisk, taut little thriller that keeps us intrigued the whole way.

Footnote: at one point the movie’s score strongly presages the legendary Jaws theme. I have no idea if this was a coincidence or if John Williams “borrowed” the music, but that little snippet here really does sound like the famed Jaws material.

The Amazing Mr. X appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.37:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. Though not a great image, this one held up reasonably well.

Overall sharpness seemed fine. Thanks to some gauzy photographic choices, the movie didn’t boast consistently positive delineation, but most of the flick seemed acceptably concise.

No issues with jagged edges or shimmering materialized. Grain seemed a bit off and appeared to demonstrate some light reduction, but at least the presentation lacked print flaws outside of a few small gate hairs.

Blacks seemed acceptably deep – if not consistently firm – and shadows appeared decent. This became a more than watchable image but not one that impressed.

As for the movie’s DTS-HD MA monaural soundtrack, it seemed mediocre as well. Dialogue always remained intelligible, if flat. The lines lacked edginess or obvious problems, however.

Music and effects followed suit, as those gave us restricted dynamics but also came free from distortion. Some odd thumps accompanied the mix at times. This became a decent but dull soundtrack.

How did this 2025 remaster compare to the original 2021 release? Audio seemed a bit more vivid thanks to less noise reduction, but the soundtrack remained bland.

Visuals also felt a bit better defined and cleaner. However, this didn’t turn into a major upgrade, so while I preferred the 2025 presentation, it didn’t blow away its spotty predecessor.

While the 2021 release included a commentary and a few other extras, this 2025 remaster loses all of those elements. This choice perplexes me.

A mix of the supernatural and film noir, The Amazing Mr. X offers a clever genre effort. It offers some good twists and becomes a tight little tale. The Blu-ray offers lackluster but decent picture and audio with no bonus features. The “restored” Blu-ray disappoints –especially because it loses existing supplements - but I like the movie.