Tag Archives: Quatermass

Hammer 01 – The Quatermass Xperiment (1955)

Hammer Movies

Hammer 01: The Quatermass Xperiment (1955)

Mark and Sam begin their chronologically-ordered, occasional trips into the world of Hammer Horror, starting with the movie that gave Hammer the success and confidence it needed to launch the Hammer brand of Horror.

Mark additionally has an connected book out in the Amazon Kindle store, covering the movies and TV shows of Quatermass! To see it, click on the link: Quatermass In Television and Movies

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Quatermass 2 Enemy from Space 4/5

Quatermass 2

Another great British 50s scifi, dealing with mature themes of government conspiracy and control. It has something akin to the podpeople in Invasion of the Bodysnatchers, but these podpeople are ahead of the curve, and have already taken over government. It really packs a lot into its 80 minute running time, so has some narrative shortcuts that are really massive coincidences, but there’s some great stuff here…the police inspector about to tell all to someone in power, and noticing the alien scar and quickly changing the story, the sinister guards in gasmasks and helmets wielding machine guns, and the realisation the aliens are blocking the pipes with human bodies to stop oxygen poisoning them. A great paranoia piece of the time.

Mark discussing Quatermass on the Talk Without Rhythm Podcast

The Quatermass Xperiment 4/5

The Quatermass Xperiment

Damn fine British scifi, made by Hammer before they went full-horror, with Brian Donlevy doing a great scientist-as-sociopath in his portrayal of Bernard Quatermass, and Richard Worsworth doing a great turn as Victor Caroon, a man slowly being overtaken by an alien intelligence in a performance often (rightly) compared to Karloff’s performance in the original Frankenstein. Some great touches, including rising tension in a zoo where the off-camera monster lurks, followed by the sight of dead, desiccated animals throughout the zoo the next morning, fine music, a documentary style that really serves to make you uneasy. One of the great scifi movies of the 50s.

Mark discussing Quatermass on the Talk Without Rhythm Podcast

X The Unknown 3.5/5

X The Unknown

Rather fine 50s scifi that is very Quatermassy (it was intended to be a sequel to the original Quatermass movie, but Hammer couldn’t get the rights), and rather good. It has a creature reminiscent of The Blob, and the effects in this film are better than The Blob, actually. Dean Jagger does a really good job as the American scientist in Scotland – good character actor. Very enjoyable scifi from Hammer before they concentrated so much on horror.

Mark discussing Quatermass on the Talk Without Rhythm Podcast