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Quatermass And The Pit [1967]


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Classic sci-fi at a give away price
Review date: 2008-10-02 Rating: 10 out of 10

Having been scared half to death by this in the 70s when it was on late on New Years Eve (and scared completely some time later by the Stone Tapes) this is something that really pre-dates a lot of the later Dr Who (e.g. Pertwee's the Daemons, Troughton's London underground).

A most for any fan of British classic sci-fi

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Reviews


Movie degenerates badly as it progresses
Review date: 2008-09-13 Rating: 4 out of 10

Some pleasing elements to this sci-fi movie but as a movie it isn't that great. The story itself and the poor screenplay is the main culprit. It opens quite well and builds nicely to give us a bit of promise for the rest of the film, but at the critical turn in the movie when these strange creatures are revealed - well, the urge to snigger was not resisted by me I'm afraid. I stayed with it because I'd bought the film, obviously expecting a lot more of it than this, but alas, the film got worse. As if the writer just ran out of imagination, the movie becomes a drawn out Wellsian type conflict between a couple of the scientists and this 'evil being' that they stupidly released. Frankly it was all badly explained, poorly put together and ridiculous. The connections between the evil spirits and the martians made no real sense to me, or why their experiments on primevel prehuman earthlings would create such evil. And to believe that these giant locusts were capable of building advanced spacecraft and invading other planets was far too much for me. The film petered out badly, far from ending with a tense climax as some have said. It was contrived unimaginative nonsense which ruined a fairly decent first half hour and just went silly long before the end. And those polystyrine boulders being blown about in the wind didn't help it any. Two stars for it having a fairly creepy feel in places, but that's the lot.

If you do not have this movie, hop to it!
Review date: 2008-08-02 Rating: 10 out of 10

This is a story about Martian hybrids that came to colonize earth five million years ago. One of their ships went off course and ended up in the mud. The ship is found during a subway excavation and the fun begins.

When I was a youngster many movies gave me nightmares such as "It Came from Outer Space" (1953) where I kept seeing eyeballs. Now only one movie left to get over, you guessed it, this one. I can not look a grasshopper in the face. And as with most viewers I saw it on late night television as "Five Million Years to Earth" (original title "Quatermass and the Pit".

This film is logical and spooky especially by 1960's standards. And you get all the stereotypes such as the military that is just determined that this object found buried is a bomb. It makes you want to slap him around. Then there is the professor that knows better and is ignored. I could go on. But you need to see this movie. The only thing that is stretching but fits in a sci-fi movie is the device that changes thoughts into pictures; see this setup again in "Brainstorm" (1983).

It Came From Outer Space ~ Richard Carlson


For my money the best film ever produced by Hammer Studio
Review date: 2008-05-29 Rating: 10 out of 10

Known in the Colonies as "Five Million Years to Earth," this science fiction/horror classic is arguably the best film ever produced by Hammer Studios. "Quatermass and the Pit" quickly gets you hooked, as workers extending the London subway system uncover some ancient skeletons to the delight of Dr. Mathew Roney (James Donald) and his assistant Barbara Judd (Barbara Shelley). By the time Prof. Bernard Quatermass (Andrew Keir) arrives upon the scene, the workers have uncovered an alien spaceship and the strange insect-like creatures that apparently piloted it from another planet. Unfortunately the arrogant Colonel Breen (Julian Glover) dismisses it all as a Nazi hoax, nothing more than a propaganda weapon left over from the war, despite the fact the craft is made from an unknown metal. Quatermass deduces the strange creatures might have been ancient Martians and is worried about all the strange psychic phenomenon associated with this area. But Breen and the ministerial bureaucrats have their way until all hell breaks loose in Hobbs End.

Like the original version of "The Thing From Another World," this is a film where the dialogue and the performances make you forget we are dealing with strange creatures from another planet. In point of fact, "Quatermass and the Pit" uses a bare minimum of special effects to create its thrills and chills. To be fair, the idea of Martians affecting human evolution to institute a surrogate race war is way out there when it comes to explaining what is going on, but such concerns are forgotten when the giant Martian image turns everybody in London mad and all that is left between humanity and the end of civilization are a couple of scientists and a giant crane. I have always believed that this movie was the inspiration for Stephen King's novel "The Tommyknockers," although I have read or heard nothing specifically on the point. This 1967 film was directed by Roy Ward Baker, whose eclectic list of credits includes "A Night to Remember" and "The Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires." Baker deserves a lot of credit for the tone of the film, which he maintains even during the final credits as an exhausted Quatermass and Barbara survey the ruins around them. If you do not watch the DVD version of this classic film, then make an effort to get the widescreen VHS version.

I knew that technically this was the third film in the Quatermass series, but "The Quatermass Xperiment" came out in 1955, followed by "Quatermass 2" in 1957. What I did not know until recently was that Hammer was adapting a series of television serials. "Quatermass and the Pit" aired on the BBC in 1958, running 207 minutes and with Andre Morell replacing John Robinson as Quatermass. Apparently this was the most expensive British television production to that point in time and with "The Quatermass Collection" being released on DVD I am hoping to track it down. I am glad that I know all this, because when I finally picked up the DVD of "Quatermass and the Pit" it has pictures from the Hammer film but the names and description are of hte BBC version. For that matter, the DVD actually calls the movie "Quartermass and the Pit." I would be smelling something fishy, but the DVD has the movie letterboxed and plays fine. "Curiouser and curioser," to quote the immortal Alice.

Go on...just enjoy it !!!
Review date: 2008-03-17 Rating: 10 out of 10

This is an absolute gem of a film which scores by playing and elaborating on the ordinary and everyday, just like 'The Exorcist'. Dated it may be, but bear this in mind as you watch and it becomes a positive quality, as in 'The Omen'. Here, the flaws are quaint and entertaining. There is more than a passing resemblance to classic Dr. Who. Some of the acting may be comical and, by todays standards, any "special effects" are laughable, but, if in the best tradition of theatre and cinema you, are willing to suspend disbelief then it can be a genuinely scary film. Think I'm joking ? ... Watch this on your own, late at night, then see... Any Hammer Horror fan will simply love it !

Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Andrew Keir
Julian Glover
Barbara Shelley
James Donald

Creators:
James Donald (Primary Contributor)
Andrew Keir (Primary Contributor)

Director(s):

Recording label: Optimum Home Entertainment
Manufacturer: Optimum Home Entertainment
EAN: 5060034576846
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: Anamorphic, Colour, PAL,
Release date: 2006-11-13
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Audience rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 93 minutes
Theatrical release date: 1967
Language: English (Original Language)

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