The Quatermass Xperiment

As good as it is, the lumbering, inebriated presence of Brian Donlevy drag this and Quatermass (or Kwatermiss if you go by Donlevy
 
I hadn't seen this film for many many years and I'd forgoten quite how awful Donlevy was as Quatermass. What on earth were Hammer thinking when they cast him? I know they wanted an American in the role to bolster the film's chances in the US, but couldn't they have found a better, and less alcolholic, actor. There's not an ounce of beleivability in his portayal of the Professor. No wonder Nigel Kneale was so furious.

The original TV version of The Quatermass Experiment starred Reginald Tate as the Professor, and he pitched it just right, with a well judged mix of authority and sympathy. Sadly he died just before Quatermass II started filming and replacement Professor John Robinson seems very stiff for the first couple of episodes, though he loosens up and noticeably improves as the story progresses. Both engaged the audience - Donlevy doesn't at all.

Anyway, despite Brian Donlevy, the film is something of minor masterpiece with the transformation of Caroon being pretty gruesome for the time. And happily the ropey creature in Westmisnter Abbey wasn't as ropey as I remembered.

It's also fascinating to see what England looked like in the mid 1950s. The streets are so empty, the Zoo was barbaric (those cages were horrible), everyone wore a mac, and a hat. The dialogue is nearly all delivered in RP, even Thora Hird as the drunk woman sounRAB like the Queen.

This film is as far from today as the Victorian age was from 1955. What a different, and far more straighforward, world it was.
 
Didn't the Beeb do a new version a few years ago with David Tennant. I vaguely remember that they had a mix of old and new technology which made no sense and just seemed stupid. Anyway, with a bit of luck BBC4 will show Quatermass and the Pit again.
 
Dreadful rubbish. They had no budget (a la First Men in the Moon - The curse of Gatiss?) and the lame, cop-out ending had the "alien presence" revealed at the end via a line of dialogue "It
 
One of my favourite hammer films, think the actor who played the surviving astronaut was amazingly creepy. Dont really mind Donlevy as Quatermass but dont think his performance brings the film down.

Quatermass II... not as good but still great to watch.
 
Hammer had a productiion & distribution deal with Robert L. Lippert. Is was Lippert who supplied the minor American stars. Donlevy was a drunk who could barely remember his lines at the time he shot Quatermass (according to Kneale).
 
Nobody so far has mentioned Andre Morell who played Quatermass in the original Pit. This TV series from 1958 is still available in its entirety and is absolutely chilling unlike the colour remake. Maybe not by modern standarRAB, but I remember as an 11 year old being terrified out of my life and it still had impact when I watched it recently..
 
I remember Quatermass and the pit (the one down the London underground station) scared the sh!t out of me when I was a kid, and it still does now! - Great stuff! :D
 
The underground station was in the feature film remake of the TV series in which the Pit was an archaeological dig in Knightsbridge. If you haven't seen that and you are prepared to put up with grainy b/w treat yourself to the DVD and prepare to be shocked.
 
This is where David Tennant slipped when running and nearly ended up on his rear. This is how he got the part of 'Doctor Who'! :)
 
The original Quatermass Experiment was also live (which is why the remake chose to do it) with some pre-filmed inserts and from the two surviving eps they still managed to do a better job than the BBC4 abortion (which Kneale did not like btw).

Another recommendation for the BBC DVD set. Ridiculously cheap now and packed with hours of viewing pleasure.
 
The remastered/vid fired Quatermass DVD set is well worth tracking down.

Quatermass and The Pit has been restored to its original video look and stanRAB up very well as a landmark piece of TV SF.
 
Agreed, the film version of Pit is excellent but I was surprised at how powerful the original serial was when I got hold of it; easy to see how these serials would grip the nation back in the two channel 1950's.
 
I love all the Quatermass films my favourite being the 60s Pit one with Andrew Kerr !...couldnt get into the David Tennant TV version as it went off too much in a tangent to the origional classic ! Suprised someone hasnt come up with a modern remake film version as yet ! but it wouldnt match the origionals !
 
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