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:

It creeps, it crawls, it kills!

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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

Brian Donlevy and Margia Dean came onboard the project on the recommendation of Hammer's American distributor Robert L. Lippert, to increase appeal for US audiences.

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Goofs

As Victor stumbles out of bed while his wife sleeps, a crew member is reflected on the glass doors.

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Quotes

Insp. Lomax: Nobody ever wins a cold war.

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Connections

Referenced in Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990)

User Reviews

Quintessential 1950s Sci-Fi

A secret rocket expedition to Space unexpectedly crashes back to Earth. One lone astronaut is found to have survived only he's disheveled, not quite himself as he seems to be on the verge of some bizarre transformation! And what happened to the other two astronauts on board - all that seems to be left of them is two empty spacesuits?! How and why? What and when? A mystery that needs unraveling, a strange journey into unknown previously unexplored territory and a scientist hero named Quatermass whose methods the viewing audience are not always going to be inclined to agree with even if he is in essence correct in his line of thinking on many levels. A likely inspiration for many later film and TV works including THE BLOB, THE FLY, "The X-Files" and much more. 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.