The Ghastly Love of Johnny X (Blu-Ray Review)
**The Blu-Ray/DVD from Film Masters of “The Ghastly Love of Johnny X” will be available on October 27, 2026. This is a review of not just the feature, but the Blu-Ray edition. The grade for this will be for the main movie itself; the set grades will be featured in the body.
“The Ghastly Love of Johnny X” (2012)
Making a film of a particular era in the modern day feels like it should be easy and straightforward, but the fact is, it takes talent to thread the needle between sincere love of the genres, and being knowing about the type of film you’re making. I’ve seen a number of ’50s genre films between “Mystery Science Theater 3000,” Film Masters’s releases, and my recent focus on sci-fi films over at “Repertory Revue,” and you can definitely see how co-writer/director Paul Bunnell has done his homework. “The Ghastly Love of Johnny X” is very much a contemporary film version of the tropes of the era; from a visual and tone perspective, it definitely feels like it’d be at home in the ’50s, but it also feels too modern where you can convincingly say it’d be perfect for the era.
There’s a lot going on in this film, which begins with Johnny X (Will Keenan, in a magnetic performance) up against a tribunal led by The Grand Inquisitor (Kevin McCarthy, from the ’50s “Invasion of the Body Snatchers”). He finds himself banished to Earth, and a year later, Johnny and his followers are cruising in California in the 1950s. They are on the search for a piece of alien technology canned the “resurrection suit.” It’s not long before they find themselves in the middle of a scheme with a concert promoter (King Clayton, played by Reggie Bannister) and a recently-deceased musician (Mickey O’Flynn, played by Creed Bratton) that involves the musician going on a talk show (hosted by Cousin Quilty, played by Paul Williams). There’s also a soda jerk and a woman named Bliss (De Anna Joy Brooks) involved in the narrative.
Bunnell’s film- made over years- is one that is endearing and entertaining because he does thread that needle I discussed earlier. The cameos by genre legends fit in the context of the narrative, and the characters are both archetypes and have enough personality to keep us engaged. The look of the film- which was shot on black-and-white stock by Francisco Bulgarelli- is wonderful, and the music by Ego Plum is catchy (when it comes to the songs) and just right when it comes to traditional score. If I had one quibble with the film, it’s that at 106 minutes long, it does have more story than necessary if it’s going to feel like a ’50s film. I can’t fault it too much, however- there’s a lot of genres going on here, and Bunnell makes it work.
Blu-Ray Presentation
Film Masters continues to do stellar work with their releases, be they newer of classic films. “The Ghastly Love of Johnny X” was the final film short on Kodak Black & White Plus-X film. This is a detail that is not insignificant, because filming on true black and white stock gives it genuine authenticity in terms of being of a piece with the films of the era that Bunnell is riffing off of, and the presentation on this disc is stellar. For audio options, you can choose between 5.1 or 2.0 sound, and either way, this is going to be a winner for the ears.
In terms of extras, it’s a Film Masters release- of course we’re going to find ourselves blessed. Starting with the packaging, we get liner notes and the story of the film’s release in a color booklet by Anthony Craig Gilbert, a signed and numbered art card with a piece of the film’s set (signed by Bunnell), as well as a soundtrack CD for the film. On the disc itself, we get an audio commentary by Bunnell, composer Ego Plum (whose work on the film is fantastic), and actress De Anna Joy Brooks; “Paul Bunnell’s Ghastly Vision,” a nearly hour-long documentary about the making of the film (which started in the early 2000s), a Q&A with Bunnell and the cast at the Texas Theatre, as well as the original trailer for the film. If you’re a fan of films like this, you cannot go wrong.
Film Grade: A-
Audio & Video: A
Bonus Features: A
