After a decade long absence from the silver screen, Hammer released Quatermass And The Pit in 1967. Adapted by Nigel Kneale from his own TV serial that aired in 1958 and early 1959 on the BBC, the film version would prove to be as much as fitting conclusion to the Hammer Quatermass films as it TV counterpart was for the BBC serials. For like the TV version it remains not only the best of best of the three initial Quatermass stories but also one of the most imaginative and brilliantly crafted pieces of science fiction to ever be put on a screen either big or small.
The film features a fine cast of actors. Playing Professor Bernard Quatermass is Andrew Keir, replacing Brian Donlevy from the first two Hammer Quatermass films (and the fifth actor to play the role if you include the three BBC serials). Keir, alongside actor André Morell as Quatermass in the TV version of Pit, gives what might very well be the definitive Quatermass. From the moment Keir appears he takes on the role and makes it his own. He does this by being convincing as both scientist and as a man frightened by what he discovers in the pit and beyond. He is man who discovers a horrifying truth and struggles to convince his bureaucratic bosses of it before an even greater horror is unleashed yet retains a sense of authority at the same time, not an easy thing to do but Keir pulls it off brilliantly. Even more important, Keir's performance makes the whole film all the better for it.
Joining Keir is a fine supporting cast. James Donald is Dr. Matthew Roney, the anthropologist who is fascinated by his discoveries and willing to face the consequences of them no matter the cost. Julian Glover is Colonel Breen, a military man forced upon Quatermass' British Rocket Group who takes Quatermass into the pit and, as a man almost primitive in his thinking to the point of ignoring the facts, becomes most responsible for the films ending. There's others as well ranging from Bryan Marshall as the leader of the bomb disposal squad to Barbara Shelley as Roney's assistant to Duncan Lamont (who incidentally appeared in a pivotal role in the BBC version of first Quatermass serial, The Quatermass Experiment) as Sladden and Edwin Richfield as the Minister of Defense as well. The supporting cast, in roles big and small, give fine performances while anchoring the film firmly in reality.
With with its fine cast, it is as much the aspects of the serial behind the camera that make Quatermass And The Pit as imaginative and brilliantly crafted as it is. The sets stand out from the Underground (subway here in the States) station where the pit is located to Roney's lab and the halls of the Ministry of Defense. The score by composer Tristram Cary, in both its orchestral and electronic pieces, helps give the film a strong sense of both atmosphere and tension, especially in the lead up to its finale. The special effects are well done as well ranging from the effective insect like Martians to the various effects seen in the finale. While some of the effects might not be up to the standards of present day CGI, they remain effective nonetheless.
Then there is the script of course. Though it took nearly a decade before it could be brought to the big screen, writer Nigel Kneale superbly adapts his classic serial into a fine piece of science fiction film. The film, released a year before Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke brought it to the mainstream in 2001: A Space Odessy, asks the fascinating (and to some terrifying) question "what if what makes us human isn't human at all?" and terrifyingly answers it in a way that turns 2001's ideas standing on their heads. Kneale looks at human nature and in particular racism and the occult in a science fiction context and shows us the consequences of racism in a way that is too realistic to be ignored. Though free from the limitations of live TV and only about half the length of the TV version, Kneale's script is full of fine dialogue and debates on everything from the nature of racism to the military takeover of otherwise peaceful scientific research. In particular there is one scene set at the Ministry where Quatermass is called to explain what has been found in the pit, that stands out as amongst the best pieces of science fiction writing ever. If there is a fault with the script it is that it ends the film at a rather odd point when compared to the TV version and misses out on using a fine piece of Kneale's original script in the process. Overall though Kneale adapts his scripts superbly and gives this remake a life of its own.
In short Quatermass And The Pit is not only the best of the Hammer Quatermass films but may well be the finest film Hammer ever produced. This is thanks to the films fine performances, good effects, fine music and a brilliant script. While perhaps too dialogue heavy for some, Quatermass And The Pit is proof that you don't necessarily need a huge budget to create a fine science fiction film.Quatermass couldn't have ended at Hammer any better.
9 out of 10 found this helpful.
Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
