Quatermass II

Having recently come by a pirated copy of this on VCR recently, I can honestly say after several viewings that this has to be the best of the Quatermass seriels made by the BBC in the 1950s. Broadcast live on UK TV in 1955, this is an altogether more together piece than the remade Hammer film of a few years later and has a much more involving plot. One of the main diferences in the story has Professor Quatermass actually travel to the alien asteroid with his assistant Leo Pugh to destroy the ammonid things before more of them reach the earth.

Another plot addition is the introduction of little metallic cases to contain the aliens in and make them more readily available for transportation to one victim to another, a side plot sadly missing from the afformentioned Hammer film. The story is slow to build up, but once it gets going there is no stopping it and you soon become deeply involved in the plot. The character Broadhead from the film version is called Ward here and it is only a 3 man expedition that enters the Synthetic Food plant at Winnerden Flats, during this visit Ward dies covered in black slime and Quatermass and a character called Fowler discover to their horror that a nearby picnicking family have been gunned down by the impossing Zombie guards. Altogether a fantastic serial in all 6 parts (complete for those that are still hanging onto the belief that all or some of the episodes are missing). News is doing the rounds that the serial may be making it's way onto DVD this year and hopefully it will make it.

I was lucky enough to find this on YouTube and have rewatched it a couple of times. Definitely IMO as well, it's the best of all the Quatermass offerings. I know that most people will disagree. Oh well. What makes this work is precisely what some would complain about: it's clunky. Very clunky. Funky and clunky. But I like that. Why I don't know. The main actor is.. let's say it: he's terrible. This was live television back when. Maybe that's the charm: they make mistakes. I like that. The man slotted for the part died and this fellow was brought in. Supposedly he "had trouble" with the "technical parts" of his lines. Hmm. I don't know. I just think he was a bad actor. But, as I said, I like that. Don't know why. The space trip is a riot. Really enjoyed it. Especially when they're walking around on the "asteroid". It's wonderfully ridiculous. They wear spacesuits that make them look like giant dildos. No kidding. And yet the series is actually frightening. As clunky as it is it still manages to provide a chill. Don't forget.. this was just after WW2.. after Naziism and Fascism in Europe and the rise of absolutist Communism in Eastern Europe. Therefore you could see the series as metaphor for the fascist or communist usurpation of power in the UK. That's where the chill comes from. Normal people easily corrupted and turned into grim fascist goons working for hideous monsters. That is a metaphor that still resonates and somehow the clunkiness amplifies the effect. For me anyway. You probably wouldn't see it that way. Oh well.

By far the most frightening serial ever shown on British TV and in 1955 the Beeb took the unprecedented step of warning viewers before each episode that under no circumstances should children view this film and anyone of a nervous disposition would be best advised not watching. My own father, a man one would view as strongly masculine to the core was absolutely terrified at the concepts here and deeply disturbed by the music - Holst's Planet Suite: Mars: The Bringer of War. For years after and until his death in fact, he could never listen to that piece of music without leaving the room. I begged mum to let me watch it (I was 10) - she knew me well enough to let me thank God!

The story by scifi specialist Nigel Kneale was hi-tech stuff then. Alien spores infiltrated the earth's atmosphere crashing to earth in small rock-size meteorites. On contact by individuals, the smallest stream of vapor would escape and enter the victim who became "one of them" - looking unchanged, but "taken over" body-snatcher style! As always, a major Government cover-up allowed an enormous domed plant to be built - quite impenetrable and unaccountable seemingly to anyone. Of course, once Bernard Quatermass was on the case, things moved along.

The first real horror came at the end of episode 2 I think when Quatermass stumbles across some poor worker who has tumbled down a flight of metal steps having tried to get into the dome. He is covered with a black shiny resin burning him to death. Might sound a cack now, but in 1955 it was gruesome and horrific. As the extent of the "takeover" becomes apparent, Quatermass and his small team of assistants realise they must break into the dome at all costs. What they find is seared on my mind for all time. The dome is full of boiling slimy protoplasmic shapes which rear up as the camera pans closer..thats the only way to describe them, existing in an artificially created environment which is a replication of the conditions upon their own asteroid. As the credits rolled on that episode, not too many people in Britain would have been saying much!

Ultimately, the dome is destroyed despite the "thing's" valiant attempts to defend their earth-base. The concluding episode saw the locating of the asteroid and Quatermass's final flight there to destroy the alien threat. One would today laugh at both the rocket and the alien life-forms as they all but crushed the ship in the dying seconds. You wouldn't have laughed in 1955!

Val Guest's big screen remake: ENEMY FROM SPACE many years later, was certainly OK but could never hold a candle to this original work which as many have commented is just about impossible to find. I actually have a softcover book of this great film series, complete with the entire dialog and several plates from the old black and white serial. It is one of my favorite possessions.

With its tale of an invasion by an invisible enemy indistinguishable from ourselves, Quatermass II is very much the British Invasion of the Body Snatchers, unfortunately, despite boasting a fine script, it just doesn't come together onscreen. Kneale's story reflects the widespread anxiety of the nuclear age and taps into contemporary fears about the red threat, although in a less direct way than the American science fiction films of the time; taking that metaphor and applying it to the specific conditions of Britain in the 1950s, not just the Cold War paranoia, but the traditional British grumbling resentment of bureaucracy.

Sadly, the acting from the principal cast is abysmal and hampers an otherwise engaging story, especially that of the gravely miscast John Robinson in the role of Quatermass. His difficulty with the technical dialogue and uncomfortable demeanour behind the scenes bleed into his performance, that said, the deck was stacked firmly against him due to the unfortunate death of original Quatermass actor Reginald Tate and Robinson being a last-minute change. However, there's a small bright spot in Episode 4 thanks to Roger Delgado in a supporting role as a journalist who assists Quatermass before falling victim to the mark. The production values are noticeably worse than that of the original serial, which was made for nearly half the amount afforded to this sequel; I will say, however, that the model shots are well realised and the increased prominence of 35mm inserts is more than welcomed.

Quatermass II is an extremely rough ride, there's a small high point during Episodes 4 & 5 but it just falls apart by the end with possibly one of the worst cases of budgetary mismanagement I've ever witnessed. A real shame for what could have been one of the high points of British sci-fi, we can at least take comfort in that Robert Holmes retooled Kneale's ideas from this serial and delivered a much more worthwhile affair 15 years later...

I had never heard of the Quartermass series before and after seeing Quartermass II: The Enemy From Space, I hope I can find the others.

Being honest here, I never have been too much a fan of British made films as comparatively they always had what I (personal opinion - NOT meant as a negative!) felt was a cheap, amateurish feel to them. I still see this in some of today's work. However, this movie was quality done for its day. The actors, for the most part don't deliberately "act" so it distracts from the plot. Instead they seem immersed enough to make the plot flow smoothly.

A definite fun watch, and likely I will watch it again. When taken in context of the time period it was made, it would rate a full 10... I think. But just b/c this review may be read by people too young to remember/understand this was made in a much different time period and culture, I rated it an 8. Its certainly not part of the Star Wars series ... but to enjoy these old films, people must realize watching it to make a comparisons with modern productions will always be disappointing.

Watch films like this for the fun of seeing how people back then saw sci fi. Then they become very enjoyable since you get to experience the mindset underlying today's sci fi culture, and you can see where we came from!