Doctor X (1932) & Time After Time (1979): Time-Traveling Killers & Synthetic Flesh | EP05

Science fiction often explores the consequences of knowledge pushed beyond ethical limits. From grotesque experiments in hidden laboratories to time machines capable of altering history, the genre repeatedly asks what happens when scientific ambition collides with human morality.

In this episode of Journey Through Sci-Fi, we examine two very different films that explore these ideas: the pre-Code horror mystery Doctor X (1932) and the inventive time-travel adventure Time After Time (1979).

Although separated by nearly fifty years, both films examine how scientific breakthroughs can unleash unexpected and dangerous consequences.

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Discussion Points from the Episode

In this episode of Journey Through Sci-Fi, we explore:

• how Doctor X fits into the tradition of early mad-scientist horror

• the significance of its early Technicolor cinematography

• how Time After Time transforms H. G. Wells into a science-fiction hero

• why time travel remains one of the most enduring concepts in sci-fi storytelling

  
  

Doctor X (1932)

Director: Michael Curtiz

Writers: Robert Tasker & Earl Baldwin

Studio: Warner Bros.

Starring: Lionel Atwill, Fay Wray, Lee Tracy

Release Year: 1932

Doctor X is a pre-Code horror film that blends elements of detective mystery, mad-science thriller and Gothic suspense. The story begins with a series of grisly murders in New York City known as the “Moon Killer” killings, where victims are attacked during the full moon and mutilated after death.

Police investigation eventually leads to a remote medical academy run by Dr. Jerry Xavier, where several scientists are conducting controversial research. A wisecracking reporter named Lee Taylor infiltrates the facility to uncover the truth behind the murders.

As suspicion grows among the scientists gathered at the laboratory, Dr. Xavier conducts a strange experiment in an attempt to reveal which of his colleagues might secretly be the killer.

Time After Time (1979)

Director: Nicholas Meyer

Writer: Nicholas Meyer

Starring: Malcolm McDowell, David Warner, Mary Steenburgen

Release Year: 1979

Time After Time is a science-fiction thriller built around one of the genre’s most playful ideas: what if H. G. Wells really invented a time machine?

The film imagines Wells as both writer and inventor. When one of his dinner guests is revealed to be the infamous serial killer Jack the Ripper, the murderer steals Wells’ time machine to escape Victorian London.

Wells follows him through time to 1979 San Francisco, where he must adapt to a strange modern world while attempting to stop the Ripper from continuing his killing spree.

Along the way Wells meets Amy Robbins, a modern woman who helps him navigate the future — and begins to challenge his optimistic ideas about humanity’s progress.

Science Fiction Between Horror and Hope

These two films demonstrate very different sides of science-fiction storytelling.

Doctor X reflects the darker anxieties of early 20th-century science fiction, where experimental science often leads to horrific consequences.

Time After Time, by contrast, explores how science and imagination might offer a path toward a better future — even when confronted by humanity’s darker instincts.

Together they show the wide range of stories that science fiction can tell, from sinister laboratories to time-travel adventures across centuries.

Listen to the Episode

Listen to Doctor X (1932) & Time After Time (1979) wherever you get your podcasts.

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Or explore the full Journey Through Sci-Fi archive to discover more episodes exploring the history of science-fiction cinema.