Quatermass and the Pit

This is an excellent Sci-fi movie that holds up after 32 years. It does have that Hammer-films look so unique to the others made around that time. Some of the actors are recognizable from the Christopher Lee Dracula series. I saw this movie when I was very young and it haunted me through-out my adult life. I didn't even realize it, until I saw it again recently. You see, eveytime I would see one of those huge construction cranes, I would get this foreboding, disturbing feeling I couldn't get a grasp on. I would stare at the crane, trying to figure out why it disturbed my so. It didn't click into place until I saw the movie again.

Roy Ward Baker directed this belated(10 years later) third entry in the Quatermass saga, this time casting a proper British actor to play British rocket group scientist Bernard Quatermass, called in to investigate a skeleton found near a presumed undetonated German bomb in the London underground being excavated for a new subway line, that turns out to be an alien spacecraft with Martian insect-humanoids aboard. James Donald plays Professor Roney, in charge of the dig, and one of the few unaffected by the Martian attempt to use their human descendants to purge all those not part of the hive... Intelligent, ambitious, and audacious science fiction story may have some off-putting elements, and primitive model F/X, but remains a prime example of how to do this kind of story right. Based on the Nigel Kneale miniseries, this is by far the best of the trilogy.

Whilst excavating at the site of a new underground tube station, workers unearth a mysterious object. On to the case comes Professor Quatermass who deduces that the object is Martian in origin. Initially viewed with scorn and disbelief, it becomes apparent that the Martian race have been involved in the human race before, and now they have been awoken again.

This was the third Hammer film adaptation of Nigel Kneale's BBC-TV Quatermass serial, with previous entries being The Quatermass Experiment & Quatermass 2. This to me, tho, is undoubtedly the shining light of the bunch. Chiefly what works the best in this one is the wonderful fusion of mystery and intelligence, the eerie sense of dread only off set by a yearning to find out just what has happened? And more crucially, what will happen? Building up perfectly, courtesy of Roy Ward Baker's astutely paced direction, Quatermass And The Pit is a film that just begs you to pay attention to every little detail, each conversation is fully fleshing out this most intriguing story. Then there is the finale that pays off handsomely, to hint at what is involved would result in a spoiler of sorts, and really it would be stupid of me to prepare you for the film's closure.

See it because it's one of the best genre entries of the 60s, a must for sci-fi enthusiasts that like a bit of brains to go with their genre persuasion. 8.5/10

I remember seeing this movie as a kid in Compton on my small black and white TV. The eerie holographic image of the Martian Devil's Head floating over the wreckage of London stayed in my mind, and led to more than a few nightmares. Still, I can't deny this film's pull after the decades, and it is a Guilty Pleasure that I often pull from the DVD cabinet. And no, I'm not a Quatermass Fan.

Even today, despite the film's fair degree of dating, I am impressed and staggered by the conceptual genius of Nigel Kneale's script, and Roy Ward Baker's ability to mesh sci-fi and "Spiritual Evil" (as a disturbed Parson notes) in a product that is well removed from the standard Hammer fare. There is a real subversive pull to this little film, which piles on concepts such as Race Memory, Evolution, Conformity, Alien Colonization, Belief in "The Devil" and the occult, Ethnic Cleansing, Human Supremacy, and the arrogance, stupidity and mendacity of politicians and the military. On some level, it's hard not to be awed by the film's ambitions..

(****SOME PLOT SPOILERS BELOW****)

The plot: progress on The Hobb's End Underground Transport comes to a halt when the subway workers unearth what appear to be primitive apelike skeletons and a mysterious "craft" which is initially believed to be an unexploded bomb left over from The War. Professor Bernard Quatermass (Andrew Keir), at odds with the government over the planned military use of his "rocket group" investigates, with the assistance of two paleontologists, Dr. Mathew Roney (James Donald), and Dr. Barbara Judd (Barbara Shelley). Disturbed and intrigued that the skeletons were found IN the ship and appear to date nearly 5 millions years, and that the largely vacated Hobb's End Lane area has been a site for of "demoniac activity," for centuries.

Given the film's rather meager resources, it is hard not be impressed by the story, acting, and general mood of growing apocalyptic. In the usual Hammer film, the nemesis is clearly the supernatural: in these movies, we fear violent death at the hands of vampires, werewolves, ghouls, etc. The horror on hand in this movie, which doesn't show itself in all its preening glory until the end, is far more insidious and devastating. The Evil that threatens human civilization itself, questions our Evolution, Intellect, and Spiritual Beliefs. Because The Evil in Quatermass is, in essence, Dead from the get-go, it can't be easily faced, conquered, disputed with and laid to rest. The evil is, in fact, rooted firmly in the collective Mind of Man, and given the right "trigger", is able to manifest itself on a staggering, all-encompassing level. It shows itself in small clues: the scratches on the walls in the houses on Hobb's Lane, old local newspaper pieces and local history tomes, skulls, pentagrams on spaceship hulls, etc.: but when it finally does arrive, it upends Mankind's very identity, and the damage that is done, doesn't look like it can be repaired or explained away. Even when the "Pit's" alien ghosts are defeated, the victory seems pretty hollow.

Keir, whom I remember from such films as "Fall of The Roman Empire," and "Dracula Has Risen From The Grave", plays his role with gruff conviction ("I never had a career, I just had work!" He grouses to his unwanted colleague Colonel Breen), and I have always liked the amiable Donald, who was terrific as the most sane character in one of my favorite movies, "Bridge on The River Kwai.". The two are well-matched by the excellent Barbara Shelley, who brings a fair degree of wild sensuality to her role when she's possessed by an alien race memory. Still, I have to give some major plaudits to Glover, whose character is such a smug and supercilious ass, that it's fitting when you do see him kneel in lethal supplication to The Truth he has been dismissing throughout the movie. The occasional moments of dry as well as bumptious British humor are truly appreciated, offering occasional respite from the overall sense of rising darkness.

Many have pointed out that "Quatermass and The Pit", in its theme of alien intervention in human evolution is the dark flip-side to "2001," and that is certainly true. I also saw echoes of this film in Tobe Hooper's Lifeforce (1985), especially in the climactic scenes of London's devastation at the hands of its "space vampires.". You could also throw in Stephen King's novel, "The Tommyknockers". Even so, I was and still am, spellbound by the movie's novelty, its thought-intriguing meld of science-fiction and horror, the juxtaposition of skulls and sleek extraterrestrial metal, the Martian spaceship standing in quite nicely for the proverbial Haunted House. The movie does have its share of gaffes: the "alien locust" carcasses should have been seen as little as possible, and a scene where a soldier goes bonkers after seeing an "apparition of a small, hideous dwarf" inside the ship, lacks the timing to pull it off.

Still, given its execution and drive, the movie's coda of Keir and Shelley leaning wearily against the rubble of London as the city burns in the background, nicely sums up what horror films should be about: Things Are Not Okay, and may never be Okay anytime in the near future.

Hammer Films have a lot to thank writer Nigel Kneale and his most popular character Bernard Quatermass for. When the BBC originally broadcast The Quatermass Experiment to a terrified audience, Hammer producer Anthony Hinds saw the potential for a movie adaptation and quickly snapped up the rights. At the time, Hammer were enjoying modest success making low-budget second features, but 1955's The Quatermass Xperiment (named so to highlight the X rating dished out by the BBFC), known as The Creeping Unknown in the U.S., became a hit and put the company's name on the cinematic map. Quatermass 2 (a.k.a. Enemy From Space) followed shortly after, and the rest is history.

It seems like they were saving the best for last, and waited a whopping 10 years to deliver it. When skeletal remains are dug up during an extension to the London Underground, Palaeontologist Dr. Mathew Roney (James Donald) is called in, who concludes that the remains are that of an ancient race of 'apemen', possibly from 5 million years ago. Bernard Quatermass (Andrew Keir) disagrees however, and when further digging reveals a large metallic object, he believes it may be of alien origin. Colonel Breen (Game of Thrones' Julian Glover) insists that it is an unexploded bomb from World War II, and refutes Quatermass' claims. As the mystery unfolds, the discovery may lead to shocking revelations regarding man's evolution, and one that we are not ready to face.

Quatermass and the Pit may feature some incredibly dated effects, but this is sci-fi as complex and intellectual as 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968); a film it is often compared to. Based on the six- part series, Pit's main issue is the difficulty in condensing hours' worth of material into a 98-minute movie, hitting the audience with one theory and revelation after another. But great sci-fi is primarily built on a singular great idea, and this is up there with the best. While the twists and turns are often a struggle to keep up with, the frantic pace created by the lack of running time means that we're kept on the edge of our seats for the duration. Keir is also an improvement on American Brian Donlevy (who played the professor in the previous two films), infusing Quatermass with warmth and a distinct Britishness.