Le monstre

POSSIBLE SPOILERS Government scientist Professor Bernard Quatermass (BRIAN DONLEVY) sends a rocket into space containing three astronauts. Radio contact is lost and later it crash lands in the English countryside. 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. Yet it is a milestone in the development of British horror cinema and along with the company's THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN, it spawned this country's horror boom of the 1950's and 60's. Richard Wordsworth's Carroon is one of the most sympathetic monsters in British horror and there is a classic scene at the London docks where the former is hiding out in an abandoned boat and is awakened by a little girl who is having a pretend picnic with her dolly. Unaware of the true horror that's going on, the little girl naively asks Carroon if he wants to join them. 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.

Before a little British company called Hammer became famous for Dracula and Frankenstein, there were the adventures of Professor Bernard Quatermass. Based on the live BBC serial from 1953, The Quatermass Xperiment put Hammer on the film world map. How that happened it obvious from this tense, realistic, and gritty science fiction classic.

The film is immensely helped by an excellent cast. Brian Donlevy's Quatermass is the archetype science fiction film scientist: a scientist obsessed with their quest for science before turning having to deal with the consequences of that quest. Donlevy plays Quatermass to perfection as a scientist who is both horrified and fascinated by the events he has set in motion. It's a strong performance filled with realism. fascination and horror. The cast also includes terrific performances from Jack Warner as Scotland Yard's Inspector Lomax, Margia Dean who takes the potentially clichéd Judith Carroon and puts flesh and blood on the character, and David King-Wood as Quatermass's fellow scientist Doctor Briscoe. The best performance of the film may well be from the character who never speaks: Richard Wordsworth as Victor Carroon. Wordsworth perfectly plays both the horror of the lone surviving astronaut and also sympathy as the worst off victim of the Quatermass experiment. This is especially true in a scene where Caroon finds himself at a dock where a little girl approaches him with her doll. It reminds one of the scene from the Universal Frankensein where the seemingly innocent takes on a darker meaning. Overall, the film has a terrific cast of actors bringing it to life.

At a time when science fiction films were defined by the clichéd and outrageous monster and alien invasion films, this film (and its TV counterpart) went in the exact opposite direction. Director Val Guest choose to do the film not in the style of the time but in a near documentary style. That's why the film work's fifty years later: it seems real in that it is a product of its time are place. If Britian had started the space race in the mid-1950's, one feels this is how it would have been.

The film is also helped by two very strong elements: the black and white cinematography and the music score. Doing the film in black and white adds atmosphere to a film that is part alien invasion and part manhunt. It helps especially in the film's fiery finale. The music score by James Bernard is terrific in adding to the atmosphere of the film and it never intrudes, but just helps to bring one a little bit closer to the edge of one's seat. The film wouldn't be the same without either one of these two elements.

Yet as much as I would like to call this film perfect, it isn't. There is one thing that the film hits and misses on: special effects. The downside of the film being so much a product of its time is that when the special effects are looked back at from a distance, they look primitive. That's not to say that the special effects are bad. The prosthetics work in particular looks good even by today's standards as far as I'm concerned. The finale of the film is the most obvious spot where the special effects are a bit of a let down by modern standards. Then again, it is hard to compare special effects from one era to another so this is an issue for the viewer to decide on.

While the special effects may hamper the film for some, one must admit that The Quatermass Xperiment is a classic of the genre. 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. If you can put aside the mid-1950's special effects, you're going to find a tense, realistic, and gritty science fiction classic.

Horror/science fiction films have rarely been singled out for the quality of the acting in them. Over the decades, a couple of "monsters" have been tapped for praise: Fredric March won an Oscar for his turn at Jekyll and Hyde, & Jeff Goldblum was rightly seen as an example of "inspired casting" in David Cronenberg's remake of _The Fly_.

But I think Richard Wordsworth has them both beat.

I enjoy _The Creeping Unknown_ overall, but it is Wordsworth's performance as Victor Caroon that lifts it into the stratosphere for me. I mean, sheesh, _look_ at him! This is an incredibly painful and, yes, passionate portrait of a man whose _body_ is being taken over and is changing into something else, even as he fights to retain possession of it. What might such a battle _feel_ like? Wordsworth lets you know, and in doing so anchors an almost cliché science-fiction "what if ...?" in raw human nerve endings. Watch him battle the frightening desires that overcome him; watch him try to stay ... human. He's first class, and why his career never really took off ...

I am probably all alone on a windswept plain in this, but I think Wordsworth's acting here is as frenzied and solid as that of Klaus Kinski in any of the great movies he did with Werner Herzog. So shoot me! :)

The Quatermass series both inspired and paved the way for many sci-fi greats that would follow it, from shows such as 'Doctor Who' to 'Alien'. Indeed both of these examples successfully blended horror with sci-fi just as Quatermass did right in its very first outing - 'The Quatermass Experiment'. The horror element no doubt also inspired Hammer Films to do this remake only two years after the original series, and they do it well.

Pre-dating Gagarin's successful trip into space, the story involves the first successfully-manned rocket returning from its maiden voyage. The program is headed by professor Bernard Quatermass of the British Rocket Group - a man extremely determined to push the frontiers of science - even if it means sacrificing lives. There's more than a touch of Jules Verne's science-is-the-beginning-and-the-ending about this man. Unfortunately, upon the rocket's return, where there were once three men there is now but one. To top it off, he doesn't seem to be feeling especially well - and it isn't travel sickness.

In 'Xperiment', Quatermass is portrayed by American Brian Donlevy, no doubt to broaden the film's potential market. Donlevy gives his version absolute conviction - this is a man who will not be stopped by any setbacks, convinced as he is that humans must become an interplanetary species. We really need people like him today. Other well-known actors of the day round out the strong cast, but I'd also like to give special mention to Richard Wordsworth, as the troubled sole-surviving astronaut Victor Caroon. Wordsworth could convey so much with just his face that he has presence without uttering a word.

The film also capitalises on the way space - particularly then, is a great unknown, where anything nice or nasty could happen simply by being there. As a result of the rocket's return, something wicked this way does come, and Hammer show their great skill not only in realising it effectively, but in creating wonderfully suspenseful moods in between. Doubtless the monochrome provides many more helpful dark shadows in this endeavour, but the production values really are more than good enough to convince even today.

So with a fascinating story by creator Nigel Kneale, well-chosen actors, and an excellent big-screen realisation, 'The Quatermass Xperiment' still shows why it pioneered what was to come. But more than that, it's still excellent in its own right.

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 . The picture concerns about the events occur when a space aircraft falls on Oakley Green . There arrive Quatermass (Brian Donlevy) , a police official(Jack Warner) and an obstinate scientific . But one astronaut (Richard Wordsworth who brings abominable terror and helplessness to his character) carrying an alien infestation from outer space from destroying Earth . The former pilot is now possessed by a strange malignant force . Not long after a terrible thing stalks the street of the town .The plot is developed for continuous discovery leading a spooky and astounding finale set at Westminster Abbey.

This chiller is an outstanding adaptation of TV serial exhibited in BBC (1953) by Nigel Kneagle . An elderly and bleak Brian Donlevy is very good as Quatermass, he gives a tremendously powerful acting as rough scientist . Extraordinary performance of Richard Wordsworth , he gives an eerie atmosphere , an air of foreboding, an evil that hangs over his amazing role who causes him to turn into a disgusting monster. This bears remarkable resemblance to Frankestein monster , even appears with a little girl played by Jane Asher , future Hammer-star and starring of ¨The masque of red death¨. The great climax film is ,of course, the ending confrontation between the protagonists and the weird entity.

As turns up the Irish Brian Donlevy as starring who repeats role in ¨Quatermass II¨ both directed by Val Guest, the third part is titled ¨Quatermass and the pit¨, this is one of the best science fiction films of the history with Andrew Keir and directed by Roy Ward Baker ; besides John Mills starred the final chapter titled the ¨Conclusion Quatermass¨ directed by Piers Haggard . In the picture appears the usual Hammer technicians, as cameraman Elder Willis creating a riveting cinematography ; Les Bowie who makes some competent special effects , sensational makeup by Philip Leakey ; an awesome production design and musical conductor by James Bernard composing a tense and thrilling score . This successful movie owes a lot to prestigious artist and technician team that encourage its studio Hammer to continue to become Europe's foremost purveyor of terror and mystery . This nail-biting film is well produced by Anthony Hinds and compellingly directed by Val Guest. The movie was firstly exhibited in 1955 in London Pavilion and tiled ¨Quatermass Xperimet¨ and in US titled ¨The creeping unknown¨. The flick will appeal to science fiction movies enthusiasts and Hammer fans .Rating : Above average and well worth watching . Essential and indispensable seeing .