Film Review
Quatermass serials is often cited
as the best and is certainly the one that is most faithful to the
original series scripted by Nigel Kneale.
Quatermass and the Pit effectively
weaves together supernatural and science-fiction ideas with an
ingenious plot that rationalises mankind's propensity for
self-destruction, topical since the film was made at the height of the
Cold War. The film deals with a theme that was of great concern
to Kneale and many contemporary writers - man's exploitation of science
for military ends. Contrast the perspectives of the
scientists Quatermass and Roney with that of Breen and his government
paymasters. The latter are blinkered by a paranoid obsession with
national self-interest and military supremacy, whilst the former are
concerned with the welfare of mankind as a whole and have the
imagination to realise the truth and act before it is too late.
In the previous decade, Hammer had adapted the first two Nigel Kneale
serials -
The Quatermass
Xperiment (1955) and
Quatermass
2 (1957) - but failed to repeat the box office success of
these films with
Quatermass and the
Pit. The first of the films to be made in colour, this
third
Quatermass film lacks
the darkly oppressive atmosphere of the original television serial but
has significantly better effects (although these are pretty primitive
by today's standards). The denouement is particularly well
realised, with a spectacular depiction of the release of demonic forces
that threaten to engulf the world. The only let down is the
absurd
deus ex machina plot
resolution. How convenient it is for the all-powerful demonic
spectre to materialise next to the very thing that can destroy it...
As Professor Quatermass, Andrew Keir is far more sympathetic and
believable than his predecessor in the films, Brian Donlevy, being much
closer to Kneale's conception of a patrician-like savant with
anti-establishment tendencies. The performances are amongst the
best of any Hammer sci-fi film, and include a fine turn from Julian
Glover, playing one of long line of villains who, if placed end-to-end,
would probably stretch from here to Mars and back. Duncan
Lamont, who was excellent as Victor Caroon in the first Quatermass
serial, appears in a small role, as the drill operator. Sci-fi
aficionados should also watch out for Gareth Thomas, future star of the
BBC TV series
Blake's Seven.
Nigel Kneale had intended to script a fourth Quatermass film but the
poor return of
Quatermass and the Pit
persuaded Hammer that the series had run its course. Kneale would
rework his ideas for this unmade film into a further television serial,
which was made by Euston Films and Thames Television, transmitted on
ITV in 1979. Here, John Mills played an elderly Quatermass,
saving the world for a fourth and final time.
© James Travers 2009
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.
Next Roy Ward Baker film:
The Anniversary (1968)
Film Synopsis
Whilst workmen are building an extension to the London Underground, a
prehistoric human skull is discovered. Palaeontologist
Matthew Roney is called in and he concludes that the skull is over five
million years old. Further excavation uncovers a strange metal
object which Roney mistakes for an unexploded bomb. A military
unit turns up, led by Colonel Breen, to defuse the bomb. Breen is
accompanied by Professor Quatermass, his colleague in the British
Experimental Rocket Group, who immediately realises that mysterious
object is no bomb but an alien artefact. The material of which
the object is made proves resistant to any cutting device but,
suddenly, an opening appears - revealing a chamber containing
a number of large insect-like creatures. Whilst Roney is
examining these monstrosities, Quatermass pursues his own investigation
and learns that the area around the building site has a history of
mysterious occurrences dating back hundreds of years, with numerous
reports of demonic apparitions. As Breen becomes increasingly
convinced that the object is nothing more than a Nazi propaganda
weapon, Quatermass develops a more fantastic theory. The object
is a space ship belonging to the last remnants of a race of Martians
who, before their extinction millions of years ago, attempted to alter
the course of human evolution to preserve something of their
civilisation. What Quatermass does not realise is that ship is
far from inert. It harbours psychic forces that have the
potential to drive mankind to destruction...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.