... There are three crew aboard. When the rocket returns for a crash landing only one crew member remains. The other two having somehow disappeared. The remaining crewmember is barely alive and slowly undergoes a transformation.
This version of "The Quatermass Experiment" was released by Hammer ... Read review
The British Experimental Rocket Group launches a manned space ship and Professor Bernard ... more
Quatermass (Jason Flemyng) joins his colleagues John Paterson (Mark Gatiss) and Judith Carroon (Indira Varma) in tracking the rocket's journey. When all contact is lost Judith has extra cause for concern - her husband, Victor (Andy Tiernan), is one of the three astronauts on board.The rocket crash lands but only Victor emerges, clearly afflicted with a debilitating illness. Dr Gordon Briscoe (David Tennant) joins Quatermass in trying to diagnose Carroon's strange contamination.Carroon escapes and Ministry of Defence investigator Lomax (Adrian Dunbar) leads a desperate hunt across London. As Carroon's horrifying mutation accelerates, Quatermass realises that his experiment has placed the whole of mankind in jeopardy...
Science Fiction - Director: Hiroyuki Yamaga - Original Language: Japanese - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Ayako Kawasumi, Fujiko Takimoto
Production Year: 2007 - Science Fiction - Director: Francis Lawrence - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Alice Braga, Charlie Tahan, Dash Mihok, Will Smith, Salli Richardson, Willow Smith
Advantages: This is at least complete. Disadvantages: Rather moves away from the original
...manned rocket is sent above the atmosphere. There are three crew aboard. When the rocket returns for a crash landing only one crew member remains. The other two having somehow disappeared. The remaining crewmember is barely alive and slowly undergoes a transformation.
This version of "The Quatermass Experiment" was released by Hammer Films in 1955, only some two years after the original television production. This is the ... ...aware of. It differs from the original in that it is much shorter. Where the original was 6 episodes of approximately 30 minutes each for a total time of 180 minutes, this version is only some 78 minutes overall. Thus you can see that the action has been compressed.
The other main differences are of course that there is a totally different cast and crew.
Professor Quatermass is played here by Brian Donlevey. Among the cast ... more
Plot synopsis. An experimental manned rocket is sent above the atmosphere. There are three crew aboard. When the rocket returns for a crash landing only one crew member remains. The other two having somehow disappeared. The remaining crewmember is barely alive and slowly undergoes a transformation.
This version of "The Quatermass Experiment" was released by Hammer Films in 1955, only some two years after the original television production. This is the version that has been repeated on the TV that people will be more aware of. It differs from the original in that it is much shorter. Where the original was 6 episodes of approximately 30 minutes each for a total time of 180 minutes, this version is only some 78 minutes overall. Thus you can see that the action has been compressed.
The other main differences are of course that there is a totally different cast and crew. Professor Quatermass is played here by Brian Donlevey. Among the cast you will note such names as Jack Warner, He of television's "Dixon" fame. Also Gordon Jackson, Thora Hird, Lionel Jeffries, Sam Kidd and Jane Asher as a little girl (unaccredited). For most modern audiences these names may not mean a lot.
Brian Donlevy, though born in Ireland, would appear to have spent his time in America where he seems to have enjoyed some acting fame. Here he plays the professor in a totally different way from the TV performance. For the film he is portrayed as a more forceful, impatient character. Kneale himself refers to him as an arrogant bully.
The role of Mrs Carroom was taken by the American actress Margia Dean. I am assuming that this was for the American market, as according to IMDb the billing on posters for this market had her name in a more prominent place above the film title.
Of particular note is the pivotal role of Richard Wordsworth playing the astronaut Victor Carroom. He has a gaunt face that is put to very good use showing the outer face of the inner turmoil as he gradually changes into... what? Whilst not receiving any recognition in Oscar form I believe that this is a very strong performance. So strong that he does not appear to have received any major film role subsequently though he did do some television work.
It may be of interest to know that upon release the film was titled "The Quatermass Xperiment" in honour of receiving an X certificate, meaning that it was to be shown to persons aged 16 and over. Now it rates a PG.
More details can be found on IMDb should you wish them. It may be of interest to note that the TV production cast some £3000, the film budget was £40,000
Mention the name Quatermass and people will vaguely remember something on television, either "The Pit" or this version. As most of the original TV version is now completely lost, this is all that they have to go on. Made with a mostly British cast and with a British understatement that was at odds with the American offerings of the same time. These have a more strident type of theme and message, or so we accept now.
Classified as Sci-fi/horror/thriller the film follows the original script very well in that the suspense is maintained and gradually built up. The film does not go in for sudden shocks and buckets of blood. Sometimes it is better to have a creeping sense of horror where the threat is not seen rather than graphic sights of dismembering bodies. Something that cannot be seen but can be felt can be far more threatening and frightening.
The differences between the television series and the film are mainly in the person of Professor Quatermass himself. Where in the television he is a very humane person, in the film he is far more arrogant. The ending in the film is far more dramatic and Val Guest refers to it is poignant. It moves the professor far away from the original performance, having read the 4 missing scripts I can see that the ending for the film was more dramatic. Mankind won but by ruthlessness rather than by reason as was the case on the television.
The pace of the film is quite fast as they have to cram all the action into the shorter time. There is no attempt to go into any great detail for any of the characters. The horror aspect seems to be the main motive and horror types of films were becoming rather popular at this time. The main producers of these films being American with some good examples being produced and some particularly bad ones. This may have been an attempt to capitalise on a market that was being dominated by the American films of Alien Invasions and Alien Possession.
What you get for your money is a single disc. There is the film itself . It contains a film trailer for Quatermass and the pit.(about 2 and half mins ) Audio commentary by Val Guest and Hammer historian Marcus Hearn.(This commentry runs in the background of the film) Specially filmed interview with Val Guest.(approx 8 mins and gived some interesting insights) There is also a 24 page booklet with details of the film and some stills from the film.
Amazon.co.uk has it in stock priced £10.47 from the RRP of £15.99
Filmed in Black and White. Region 2 coded. Rated PG Run time 78 minutes ASIN: B00008IAUZ
Final thoughts. In some ways it is a pity that this is the only complete version. My opinion is that the original TV version was superior. But at least with this I have a complete version. It still has the power to make your hair stand up and given my head that is quite an achievement.
Advantages: a good history lesson in cinema Disadvantages: a bit dated
The 1955 film 'The Quatermass Xperiment' was a huge success at the time. Based upon the 1953 BBC six part television series of a similar name, it is deemed to be one of the first British horror movies, and has been hugely influential. Part of its success was due to Hammer Films treating the film's science fiction content as horror - creating an atmosphere rather than just focussing on the story. Professor Bernard Quatermass is an American with a ... ...aboard. Something goes wrong during the flight, leading to two of the mens' death, and doing something funny to the third. This third crew member flees his nurses at his hospital, and goes on a bit of a rampage, absorbing others into himself and growing...
Richard Wordsworth puts on a good performance as Victor Carroon, the changed astronaut. Although he doesn't say much, as he's only human for a small part of the film, you can see the anguish in ...
Pyrokeet 28.08.2007
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Quatermass Experiment (DVD)
Did you enjoy it?
Story
Characters / Performances
Special Effects
How does it compare to ...
Similar reviews »
Reviews which might be of interest for "The Quatermass Experiment (DVD)"
Advantages: no-frills sci-fi, great cast Disadvantages: loses a lot without live broadcast
If you didn't spend the night of April 2nd, 2005 hiding under the dining room table with a packet of chocolate digestives and an aged relative - you weren't there. You didn't experience the cross-generational collision of 1950s science-fiction reconstructed, re-enacted and delivered with twenty-first century aplomb.
Basically, you missed THE QUATERMASSEXPERIMENT: LIVE on BBC Four. You know it. You're ashamed of it. And now you're looking for the DVD to make up for it.
Good for you!
QUATERMASS began as a weekly science-fiction serial - created by the late NIGEL KNEALE - in 1953. As each of the original episodes were performed and broadcast live, and no one thought to commit them to film archive at the time, few of these early examples of science-fiction on television survive.
Fifty-two years, six STAR WARS movies and nine ...
Advantages: An excellent production that will appeal to any fan of classic TV and SF. Disadvantages: Because it's a recording, it loses some of the excitement of watching it live.
I watched this film on BBC4 when it was first broadcast, and I was impressed that it went so well, so when I saw the DVD on sale for £10 earlier this year, I snapped it up. If (like me) you're a fan of classic era TV (by which I mean the TV of the 50s, 60s and 70s) and especially if you're a fan of classic TV SF, then this DVD is a must purchase. Not because it's old - it was only made in 2005 - but because it was a deliberate attempt to pay homage to 1950s TV drama by employing the same methods that were available to TV production companies 50 years ago. By this, I mean it was broadcast live, with just the occasional pre-recorded film insert used when necessary - exactly the way the original TV serial was made.
The original version of "The QuatermassExperiment" was a six part TV serial made by the BBC in 1953 and written by Nigel ...
Advantages: Probably the best British TV science-fiction series ever Disadvantages: Poor transfer to DVD in places, although given the equipment in use....
and longer-ranged rockets based on material captured in Germany at the end of WW2. In 1953 it was not known whether it was possible to launch a man into space and return him safely - this feat was still eight years in the future.
Although Kneale did not know it at the time, he was writing the first of a trilogy which would influence writers for generations to come, and still remain as probably the finest three SF stories to emerge anywhere in the world. The three, included on this three-disc DVD set, are "The QuatermassExperiment", "Quatermass II" and "Quatermass and the Pit". Also included is an impressive documentary about Nigel Kneale's SF work during and post-Quatermass, a shorter doc about the making of the 'Demons' in "The Pit", and a recording of a programme showing the director of the three Quatermass series, Rudolph Cartier, in ...
Audio Commentary By Val Guest, Introduction And Interview With Val Guest
Aspect Ratio
Full Screen
DVD Description
A missile is launched by Professor Quatermass and his team but when it lands back in England two crew members have disappeared but the third, who is barely alive, turns into a 'thing'. The 'thing' starts killing humans and animals to feed its transformation...
Compare The Quatermass Experiment (DVD) to other similar Science Fiction & Fantasy »
![The Quatermass Experiment Dvd [2005] | Tennant](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/106095112.jpg "The Quatermass Experiment Dvd [2005] | Tennant")
![The Quatermass Experiment [VHS] [1953]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/88645395.jpg "The Quatermass Experiment [VHS] [1953]")
![The Quatermass Experiment [DVD] [2005]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78514812.jpg "The Quatermass Experiment [DVD] [2005]")
