The Quatermass Xperiment (1955)

A missile, launched by the team led by Prof. Quatermass, lands in the English countryside. Of the three members of the crew, two have mysteriously disappeared. The third one, barely alive, ... See full summary »

Director:

Val Guest

Writers:

Richard H. Landau (screenplay), Val Guest (screenplay),

Stars:

Brian Donlevy, Jack Warner, Margia Dean

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Brian Donlevy	...	Prof. Bernard Quatermass
Jack Warner	...	Insp. Lomax
Margia Dean	...	Mrs. Judith Carroon
Thora Hird	...	Rosemary 'Rosie' Elizabeth Wrigley
Gordon Jackson	...	BBC TV producer
David King-Wood	...	Dr. Gordon Briscoe
Harold Lang	...	Christie
Lionel Jeffries	...	Blake
Sam Kydd	...	Police sergeant questioning Rosie
Richard Wordsworth	...	Victor Carroon

Storyline

A missile, launched by the team led by Prof. Quatermass, lands in the English countryside. Of the three members of the crew, two have mysteriously disappeared. The third one, barely alive, undergoes an horrible metamorphosis turning into a monstrous "thing". When he breaks out and, chased in vain by inspector Lomax, starts killing humans and animals to feed his transformation, Quatermass realizes that this is the way chosen by an alien form of life to invade the Earth.

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Plot Keywords:

alien | rocket | hospital | astronaut | rocket crash | 

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Taglines:

Beware of "THE CREEPING UNKNOWN!"

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Genres:

Horror | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

June 1956 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Creeping Unknown

Filming Locations:

Bray Studios, Down Place, Oakley Green, Berkshire, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

£45,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Exclusive, Hammer Film Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

82 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film achieved a degree of notoriety Stateside when in 1956 the parents of Stewart Cohen attempted to sue the Lake Theater and distributors United Artists for negligence after their nine-year-old son died of a ruptured artery in the cinema lobby at a double-bill of this and The Black Sleep. Cohen entered the Guinness Book of Records as the only known case of someone literally dying of fright at a horror film.

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Goofs

Volkswagen Bus en route to the crash site is not the same Volkswagen Bus that arrives through the gate at the crash site. VW badge is larger, chrome trim is missing and license plate is different.

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Quotes

Insp. Lomax: Nobody ever wins a cold war.

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Connections

Followed by Quatermass II: Enemy from Space (1957)

User Reviews

Dashingly good sci-fi film with a strong stench of horror

Well written and terminally fascinating British sci-fi thriller from director Val Guest and writer Nigel Neale. 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. The special effects are perfectly acceptable for the period and the brooding sense of mid-century paranoia is well conveyed.

The hero is the script, though. The dialogue is fresh and colourful and writers Guest and Neale always keep the scientific jargon interesting. 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.