The Quatermass Xperiment

Plot synopsis:
The British Rocket Group, headed by the taciturn Professor Bernard Quatermass, launches its first manned rocket into space. Shortly thereafter, all contact is lost with the rocket and its three crew: Carroon, Reichenheim, and Green. The large rocket later returns to earth, crashing into an English country field. Quatermass and his assistant Marsh arrive at the scene, along with the local emergency services, Carroon's wife Judith, Rocket Group physician Dr. Briscoe, and Blake, a Ministry official who chides him repeatedly for launching the rocket on impulse and without official permission. Finally opening the rocket's access hatch, the space-suited Carroon stumbles outside; inside, there is no sign of the other two crew members. Carroon is in shock, only able to say the words "Help me". Inside the rocket, Quatermass and Marsh can find no sign of the other two crewmen, only their completely-fastened spacesuits.
Carroon is taken to Briscoe's office for care, on the grounds that conventional hospitals and doctors would have no idea how to evaluate or treat the world's first returned astronaut suffering from some sort of adverse event while in space. But even with Briscoe's care, Carroon remains mute, generally immobile, but alert with his eyes which now have a feral and cunning aspect. Briscoe also discovers a strangely disfigured place on his shoulder, and notices changes in his face which suggest some sort of mutation of the underlying bone structure. Meanwhile, Scotland Yard Inspector Lomax has undertaken investigation of the other two men's disappearance and, having surreptitiously fingerprinted Carroon as a suspect, alerts Quatermass that the prints resemble those of nothing human.
At Judith's insistence that Briscoe is not helping her husband, Quatermass agrees to have Carroon transferred to a regular hospital, under guard. Meanwhile, Marsh has developed film from a camera that was aboard the rocket, and Quatermass, Lomax and Briscoe have a viewing. The crew is seen for a time pleasantly at their duties; then suddenly, something seems to jar the ship. After that, there is a nightmarish wavering in the air inside the rocket, and the men react as if something frightening, yet not manifestly visible, is there in the cabin with them. One by one they fall, Carroon the last to go.
Quatermass and Briscoe determine from the evidence at hand that something living in outer space has entered the ship, dissolved Reichenheim and Green in their sealed spacesuits, and evidently entered Carroon's body, which is now in the process of being changed by this unknown entity. Not knowing any of this, Carroon's wife, Judith, hires a private investigator, Christie, to break her husband out of the secured hospital. The escape is successful, but not before Carroon smashes a potted cactus in his hospital room, fuses it into his flesh, then kills the private investigator and absorbs all the forces of life in his body, leaving just a shrivelled husk. It does not take long for Judith to discover what is happening to her husband; Carroon flees and disappears into the London night, leaving her screaming outside the hospital, alive, unharmed, but entirely mad from fright.
Inspector Lomax then initiates a manhunt for the missing Carroon. After hiding out on a river barge, Carroon encounters a little girl, leaving her also unharmed through sheer force of willpower. Then, Carroon proceeds to a nearby pharmacy and kills the chemist, using his now-swollen, crusty, cactus-thorn-riddled hand and arm as a cudgel and leaving a twisted empty husk of the man to be found by police. Quatermass theorizes that Carroon has used select chemicals taken from the shelves to "speed up a change going on inside of him". That night finds Carroon at a zoo, barely visible amongst some shadowed bushes with far less of his human form remaining. In the morning, twisted corpses of zoo animals are found, their life forces having all been absorbed, and a trail of slime leading back out into the community. Among the bushes, Quatermass and Briscoe also find a small but living remnant of what was once Victor Carroon, and take it back to their laboratory. From his examination of this remnant, Quatermass concludes that some kind of alien life has completely taken over and will eventually release reproduction spores, endangering the entire planet
The remnant eventually dies of starvation, locked in a glass cage. On a tip to police from Rosie Wrigley, a vagrant tippler, Lomax and his men track the main mutation to Westminster Abbey, where it has crawled high up on a metal work scaffolding inside. It now is a gigantic shapeless mass of combined animal and plant tissue with eyes, distended nodules, and tentacle-like fronds filled with spores. Quatermass arrives, arranges for electric cables being used by a BBC company, filming in the Abbey, to be attached to the scaffolding. By having all the power in London diverted through the cables and into the scaffolding, Quatermass succeeds in cremating the Carroon-creature by electrocution, just as it has entered the final phase before release of its spores.
The threat eliminated, Quatermass quickly walks out of the Abbey, preoccupied by his thoughts. He ignores all who ask questions. Marsh, his assistant, approaches and asks "What are we going to do?" Never breaking stride, Quatermass offhandedly replies, "We're going to start again." He leaves Marsh behind, walking into the London night, and a second manned rocket roars into space.

Tags: suspenseful, murder

Review:
Two of the crew members are missing, but the survivor, Victor Carroon (RICHARD WORDSWORTH) is slowly being taken over by an alien fungus that feeds on the blood of animals and human-beings.In a bid to win audiences away from their TV sets (something that was a real threat to cinemas at the time), Hammer elected to film the popular BBC serial THE QUATERMASS EXPERIMENT (the E was replaced with X in order to emphasise it's X certificate), which was the creation of writer Nigel Kneale.
The gamble payed off and Hammer had a box office hit on their hands in 1955.Seen today, THE QUATERMASS XPERIMENT is obviously very tame in comparison to modern day sci-fi and horror films, most of it's shock sequences occur off screen with the camera cutting away and harping back on reaction shots.
One can see that Carroon is fully aware of what would happen if the girl touches him and runs away accidentally breaking her dolly.Wordsworth is brilliant as Carroon and so is Brian Donlevy as Quatermass while director Val Guest's documentary approach gives the picture a sense of conviction..
The unfortunate astronaut inexplicably turns into a monster that threatens to extinguish the entire world The premise of alien-intelligence invading earth through an unfortunate space-mission is extremely stereotyped by today's standards, but "The Quatermass Xperiment" is one of the only oldies in the genre that still feels genuine and original.
Science fiction does not get much better than this film which grips you with its terrific suspense as we see Victor Caroon (played as a tragic and terrifying figure all at once in a terrific performance from Richard Wordsworth) go where no man has gone before in more ways than one might imagine..
It is a film of big ideas and planet-sized concepts that stares up into the unknown with a combination of wonderment and dread.Originally a highly popular TV series, it spawned two excellent sequels and decades of creative Hollywood pilfering.Brian Donlevy is wonderful as Quatermass, a scientist with the bullying manner of a military drill Sargent and a fierce, pragmatic streak.
After a rocket that he sent into space crashes back to Earth, Quatermass and unofficial partner-in-crime Inspector Lomax (Jack Warner) uncover a bizarre alien conspiracy in which a surviving astronauts's body has been "borrowed" by extraterrestrials keen on relocating.Director Guest gives the drama a no-nonsense, almost documentary feel.
All the characters are believable and the performances are top notch.Despite the fact that James Bernard's solid score is a little overbearing at times, this is a dashingly good science fiction film with a strong stench of horror..
From the terrific performance (espeically of Donlevy and Wordsworth), to the realistic style and tone, to the excellent cinematography, to the dark score by Jame Bernard, The Quatermass Xperiment is a tour de force for the more intelligent and less action based science fiction films.
Donlevy is relatively good at playing double crossing mobsters in the likes of THE BIG COMBO but he`s utterly unconvincing as a rocket scientist and it doesn`t help that he keeps pronouncing his name as " Qittermiss ", Margia Dean is utterly appalling as Judith Carroon , but Richard Wordsworth is outstanding as Victor Carroon even if he doesn`t have a single line of dialogue.The BBC serial of THE QUATERMASS EXPERIMENT shocked the viewers of Britain when it was broadcast and in its own way the film version is almost as groundbreaking , it was a big hit at the UK box office which led to Hammer Films to concentrate solely on horror films something they would excell at for the next 10-15 years .Trivia point 1 - The montage scenes of soldiers searching for Carroon at night time are actually culled from another British SF flick - SEVEN DAYS TO NOON Trivia point 2- The last four episodes of the BBC serial were shown live on television but because of an industrial dispute they weren`t - unlike the first two episodes - recorded onto film which means no one will ever see the complete BBC QUATERMASS EXPERIMENT.
Vintage British sci-fi movie with a fascinating Brian Donlevy as Quatermass from original BBC production that kept millions glued to their TV screens in a serial formed by six episodes of 30 minutes starred by Reginald Tate and directed by Rudolph Cartier .
It's a serious, occasionally thrilling, and undeniably entertaining little picture.After a rocket ship holding three astronauts crash-lands in the English countryside, Professor Quatermass (Brian Donlevy) arrives with his troupe of investigators and fellow scientists.
The film also works thanks to some impressive special-effects work, and a stoic Wordsworth in a performance and role that surely became the framework for Christopher Lee's Monster in Hammer's The Curse of Frankenstein (1957).It's a short, snappy piece that moves along nicely, never getting too caught up in the science and wholeheartedly embracing the fiction.
Here with this one we get an interesting look at the political aspects that surround the space programme, and this in turn dovetails nicely with the police investigation as the "Yard" search for the man, soon to be monster.Effectively using London locations such as Westminster Abbey, Guest's movie also pulses with great characters.
And in comparison to the other four Quatermass features, is the least ambitious in scope (especially compared to the superbly outre Quatermass and the Pit) and has the weakest of the Professor Quatermass actors (Brian Donlevy always struck me as a bit too stiff and, well, American).Yet, the film does what all good science fiction does:  take a concept, then play out the various scenarios and consequences that result.
In this case, man encounters an unknown organism from space - an entity that is capable of absorbing any living matter, taking on its mass and characteristics.Parts of the film resemble the standard "monster on the loose" or "it came from outer space" flicks that dominated drive-ins at the time, but Kneale's script is wisely constructed like a police procedural, and Val Guest directs it like a film noir mystery.See it.
This Sci-Fi film was way a head of its time and did a very good job of showing what a 1955 rocket into space would look like and it will definitely make you laugh in comparison to 2006!
This effective low-budget film achieves these goals to a frightening degree.The story opens as the first manned rocket into space crash lands in the British countryside outside of London.
It all started many decades earlier).Quatermass and his assistants, along with the police and military scour the city to find and destroy this unknown menace before it can reproduce and threaten all life on Earth.Directer Val Guest handles the filming in an almost semi-documentary manner, often employing a hand-held camera (did the BLAIR WITCH people ever catch this late night?).
Though many modern day/high tech people like to poke fun at early low-budget 'B' films, primarily for lacking technical effects that didn't exist then, it's interesting to note how their plots and ideas have been constantly pirated.If you're growing weary of special-effects demo rolls and John William's cloying sound tracks, then give this early adult science-fiction horror effort a try..
In both movies a rocket returns from space with its crew members transformed into alien entities Here two members are missing entirely although the space suits remain.The other crewman is soon transformed into a mute alien entity pursued by the authorities and the movie climaxes in Westminster Abbey where the now completely non-human victim retreatsWhat gives the picture its impact even now is the crisp atmospheric direction and a performance by Richard Wordsworth as the transfigured astronaut,a display of acting that evokes pity and terror in equal measure and that for my money is as good as any in the horror/science fiction genre One scene even comes close to surpassing the scene in Frankenstein where the monster encounters a small girl The most terrifying character is Quatermass himself so monomaniacal and driven that although almost bringing about the end of the civilized world he crashes on without apology or regret intent on duplicating the experiment
The climax takes place in Westminster Abbey in the middle of a BBC broadcast; director Val Guest cleverly combines stock footage with studio sequences to suggest an entire community under threat unless the mutating organism can be destroyed.In the leading role of the Professor, Brian Donlevy comes across as a determined personality - so determined, in fact, that he cannot contemplate the idea of giving up on his experiments, even though this particular mission has gone horribly wrong.
The Inspector understands Quatermass's ultimate responsibility for what happened, but there is absolutely nothing he can to do apprehend the Professor.The idea of familiarity gone wrong - due to the catastrophe - is further reinforced by the casting of a gallery of familiar faces in supporting roles, from Gordon Jackson as the harassed BBC director, to Sam Kydd as a police constable, and Thora Hird as a down-and-out (speaking in a dreadful London accent) telling her experiences of having witnessed the missing astronaut who has been possessed by the organism (Richard Wordsworth).
"The Quatermass Experiment" rather has the look of a TV show of the time with its modest production values and population by a host of soon to be constant British TV character actors - including a very young Gordon Jackson, Thora Hird, Sam Kydd and even taking in old "Evening All" himself Jack Warner.That said, it's still a good little thriller and creates suspense throughout by holding back the sight of the mutated monster which of course threatens the very existence of the world itself.
Throw in old avuncular Warner as the least convincing police commander you'll ever meet and the film certainly has its crosses to bear.And yet, I was attracted to its black and white picture of Britain in the austere early 50's, with most of the peripheral characters, like Hird's alcoholic vagrant and Kidd's gently sardonic cop making up a lot for the slightly overacted mannerisms of the leads.No, for me, this bold attempt by a British studio at the sci-fi genre is no embarrassment and holds its own with most of the Hollywood output in the same field..
Val Guest's film originally is a big-screen adaptation of the BBC's Science-Fiction series "The Quatermass Experiment" (1953) which was penned by Nigel Kneale.
But even apart from its status as a milestone, "The Quatermass Xperiment" is a must-see for every self-respecting Horror/Sci-Fi fan, as it simply is an ingenious, creepy film that still fascinates after more than five decades.The brilliant Professor Bernhard Quatermass (Brian Donlevy) has shot the first manned rocket into space.
In this instance, Dr. Quatermass (Brian Donlevy) has sent a rocket with three passengers into "outer space." But the rocket goes missing, and when it suddenly crash lands in the English countryside two of the astronauts are dead and one is--well, he is strange, to say the least.Survivor Victor Carroon (Richard Wordsworth) is alternately comatose and spastic, and as time passes his skin begins to alter.
Brian Donlevy seems a bit out of place in Merrie Old England, but his performance has lots of drive; Richard Wordsworth is memorable indeed as the very unfortunate astronaut; and the film is sprinkled through with the likes of character actress Thora Hird, who is a lot of fun because she's so good, and ingénue Margia Dean, who is a lot of fun because she's so bad.
This tense little thriller makes great use of its limited resources, and its running time: from the opening, with a downed rocket and a maniacally stubborn scientist, to a creepy showdown in Westminster Cathedral (followed by the perfect resolution), the pace never lets up; this alarming, inexorable escalation marks all the Quatermass movies, and gives them their unique doomy kick.A great cast helps immensely.
The plot tells the story of professor Bernard Quatermass, the man who sent into space the firstmanned British rocket, and his investigations about the disappearance of two astronauts in its return.
Transformed into a gigantic hybrid vegetal/animal monster, Carroon was used as a nasty way of Earth invasion and was finally electrocuted in the Abbey of Westminster during a live television transmission.It's interesting to note that due to the success of this film and the two subsequent productions ["X-The Unknown" and "Quatermass II - Enemy from Space"], the Hammer received the necessary impulse and subsidies to produce the terror movies that made it world-wide famous.
Val Guest directed this science fiction tale based on a Nigel Kneale TV miniseries that stars Brian Donlevy as American rocket scientist Bernard Quatermass, who is called to the English countryside to investigate a rocket ship of his that has crashed.
The plot evolves around an astronaut monstrously enveloped by an alien fungus and must be destroyed by the scientists with the help of police and firemen.It's all done in straightforward sci-fi manner, but all of it looks low-budget as though not much thought was given to developing the story's full potential as a thriller.BRIAN DONLEVY delivers what can only be called a robotic performance, as though sedated under either medication or alcohol to the point where he remains as expressionless as a mechanical doll.
These harder edged films although rather tame by today's standards were popular with audiences leading to Hammer specialising in the horror genre.Professor Bernard Quatermass (Brian Donlevy) sends a rocket into space containing three astronauts and when it crash lands two of the astronauts are missing but the survivor, Victor Carroon has been taken over by an alien fungus and is slowly mutating.There are shades of Frankenstein in Carroon as he realises that he is becoming a monster and the film has nods to the James Whale Universal classic.The big problem is and a reason why creator Nigel Kneale was unhappy with this version is the characterisation of Quatermass.
A third crewmember is in deep shock, his body tissues seem to be undergoing a change.Thus begins THE CREEPING UNKNOWN, the first of the filmed versions of the BBC QUATERMASS SERIES.This film really needed better direction (tight closeups would have really helped), some humor (Brian Donleavy's Professor Quatermass is a dour character, indeed), and makeup effects for the crewmember's transformation from man to monster.
Quatermass Xperiment, The (1955) *** (out of 4) Effective sci-fi tale from Hammer has Professor Quatermass (Brian Donlevy) sending a rocket into space with three astronauts but when it crashes back to Earth there's only one alive with the other two missing.
Super-scientist Quatermass (the hero of "Enemy from Space" and "Five Million Years to Earth") is portrayed by Brian Donlevy in this British film about a pioneer rocket flight that returns to Earth with only one surviving astronaut aboard.
It is with those memories in mind that I pay tribute to Richard here and recommend you watch his powerful performance as Victor Caroon in "The Quatermass Xperiment." Although Brian Donlevy is listed as the star of the film, you can just as well look past his boorish interpretation of Nigel Kneale's Prof.
Shot in stark black and white, this is a slow paced but short little number with some great bits of music from James Bernard and solid direction from Val Guest, who would later make the effective THE DAY THE EARTH CAUGHT FIRE.THE QUATERMASS XPERIMENT contains many fine scenes.
So even if a UK space ship is rather quaint today this takes away nothing from the impact of the film itself, which stands up remarkably well after over 50 years.The Quatermass X-periment is a tense, pacey, and atmospheric horror-thriller; based on Nigel Kneale's beautifully written BBC t.v. series, director Val Guest gives it a down to earth approach that really works.
Gripping and full of imaginative touches, it holds the viewer in thrall right to the end.While Brian Donlevy is a boring Quatermass, bullying his way through the story and the cast some marvellous character actors like Jack Warner, Thora Hird, Richard Wordsworth and David King-Wood more than compensate.
King-Wood would have made a much better fit with Kneale's troubled, humanistic professor than the immobile-faced Donlevy does; instead he's the big Q's assistant, Dr. Briscoe.The story of course, concerns the crash landing of the first UK space flight and the subsequent mystery of the disappearance of two of the crew, only Victor Carroon (Wordsworth - who is simply brilliant in the part) stumbling out of the rocket when the hatch is opened.
This classic British science fiction film opens with the first manned rocket returning to Earth and crash landing in the English countryside.
The scientists slowly diagnose some form of alien space virus invaded the ship, but not before the astronaut, whom they now realise is gradually transforming into some kind of monster, escapes ...Nigel Kneale's original series of Quatermass BBC TV plays are amongst the best sci-fi / horror yarns ever written; gripping, suspenseful, intelligent, imaginative and scary as hell.
Carroon escapes the attention of the authorities & Quatermass quickly realises that an alien life-form has taken over Carroon's body & is turning him into a blob like creature that devours any living thing in it's path...Besides the opportunity the review a film beginning with 'Q' & being known under the alternate title of The Creeping Unknown when released in the USA this British production from Hammer studios was co-written & directed by Val Guest & this is a neat enough little sci-fi chiller based on the serialised 6 episode BBC Quatermass TV show that aired in 1953 written by Nigel Kneale who also co-wrote this with director Guest.
Unfortunately, to get to it one has to endure a whole load of painfully dry sci-fi claptrap and dull police procedure, as Professor Bernard Quatermass (Brian Donlevy) and the authorities try to figure out what happened to the crew of Britain's first rocket into space.After lots of dreary talk and scientific mumbo jumbo, the lone survivor of the mission, Victor Carroon (Richard Wordsworth), escapes from his hospital room and wanders the streets of London, slowly mutating into a part plant/part human creature inhabited by an alien being.