Customer Review(s)
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Three Astronauts Never Knew What Was In Space . . . And What It Would Do To Them
Comment: Released in 1955, "Quatermass Xperiment" is a creepy, horrifying masterpiece of science fiction. What is the Quatermass Experiment? Professor Barnard Quatermass sends three British astronauts into the far reaches of the galaxy for observations. Their rocket crash lands on earth and only one astronaut, Victor Caroon, remains on board. Empty space suits of the other two are immediately found. Escaping from the hospital, Caroon attacks and absorbs plants, animals, and humans. Each time he feeds, he mutates into a creature that is a composite of all its victims until it finally resembles a shapeless glob with numerous tentacles.
Brian Donlevy does a superb job as Quatermass. However, in "Quatermass Xperiment," Quatermass is more ruthless and less compassionate than his character in "Quatermass and the Pit." He is obsessed with the progress of science no matter the cost of human lives. The disaster with the first rocket mission is barely over before he begins planning another. I was more fond of the Professor Quatermass from "Quatermass and the Pit." I wished he had been in this film.
"Quatermass Xperiment" was such a big success that it gave Hammer Production enough money to finance the gothic horror films that came later. If only "Quatermass Xperiment" had been made in color like "The Curse of Frankenstein" or "Horror of Dracula." It would have been incredible.
The pacing of the movie is quite good; it is never boring. The special effects were excellent for that time; the victims'' corpses, especially their faces, were gruesome. However, a higher body count would've been nice.
"Quatermass Xperiment" was definitely an influence on "The Blob," which was released in 1957 and starred Steve McQueen. It also influenced the mutating monsters that were found in such modern hits as "Relic" and "Resident Evil."
I enjoyed "Quatermass Xperiment" so much that I watched it twice in a roll. It is must have for fans of Hammer Production and fans of science fiction horror.
Customer Rating: Summary: A Classic Science Fiction Film
Comment: Before a little British company called Hammer became famous for Dracula and Frankenstein, there were the adventures of Professor Bernard Quatermass. Based on the live BBC serial from 1953, The Quatermass Xperiment put Hammer on the film world map. How that happened it obvious from this tense, realistic, and gritty science fiction classic.
The film is immensely helped by an excellent cast. Brian Donlevy's Quatermass is the archetype science fiction film scientist: a scientist obsessed with their quest for science before turning having to deal with the consequences of that quest. Donlevy plays Quatermass to perfection as a scientist who is both horrified and fascinated by the events he has set in motion. It's a strong performance filled with realism. fascination and horror. The cast also includes terrific performances from Jack Warner as Scotland Yard's Inspector Lomax, Margia Dean who takes the potentially clichéd Judith Carroon and puts flesh and blood on the character, and David King-Wood as Quatermass's fellow scientist Doctor Briscoe. The best performance of the film may well be from the character who never speaks: Richard Wordsworth as Victor Carroon. Wordsworth perfectly plays both the horror of the lone surviving astronaut and also sympathy as the worst off victim of the Quatermass experiment. This is especially true in a scene where Caroon finds himself at a dock where a little girl approaches him with her doll. It reminds one of the scene from the Universal Frankenstein where the seemingly innocent takes on a darker meaning. Overall, the film has a terrific cast of actors bringing it to life.
At a time when science fiction films were defined by the clichéd and outrageous monster and alien invasion films, this film (and its TV counterpart) went in the exact opposite direction. Director Val Guest choose to do the film not in the style of the time but in a near documentary style. That's why the film work's fifty years later: it seems real in that it is a product of its time and place. If Britain had started the space race in the mid-1950's, one feels this is how it would have been.
The film is also helped by two very strong elements: the black and white cinematography and the music score. Doing the film in black and white adds atmosphere to a film that is part alien invasion and part manhunt. It helps especially in the film's fiery finale. The music score by James Bernard is terrific in adding to the atmosphere of the film and it never intrudes, but just helps to bring one a little bit closer to the edge of one's seat. The film wouldn't be the same without either one of these two elements.
Yet as much as I would like to call this film perfect, it isn't. There is one thing that the film hits and misses on: special effects. The downside of the film being so much a product of its time is that when the special effects are looked back at from a distance, they look primitive. That's not to say that the special effects are bad. The prosthetics work in particular looks good even by today's standards as far as I'm concerned. The finale of the film is the most obvious spot where the special effects are a bit of a let down by modern standards. Then again, it is hard to compare special effects from one era to another so this is an issue for the viewer to decide on.
While the special effects may hamper the film for some, one must admit that The Quatermass Xperiment is a classic of the genre. From the terrific performance (especially of Donlevy and Wordsworth), to the realistic style and tone, to the excellent cinematography, to the dark score by James Bernard, The Quatermass Xperiment is a tour de force for the more intelligent and less action based science fiction films. If you can put aside the mid-1950's special effects, you're going to find a tense, realistic, and gritty science fiction classic.
Customer Rating: Summary: A good movie to see
Comment: Only true fans of science fiction will appreciate the creeping unknown
a.k.a.The Quatermass Xperiment. I happen to be one of them. I remember
watching this fim at the age of eight and it scared me silly. Later on
I understood better and it didn't bother me.
Basicly I like the film. When you consider that this is mid 50's London
when true special effects weren't even around yet,I think the film super-
cedes itself into a wonderful smooth-flowing movie even if the plot is
somewhat typical of Sci-fi movies of the 50's. For what it's worth,even
the United States did't have the best sci-fi special effects like the
ones we see today with comperization. It actually took real crews of men
and women to produce those effects.
Brian Donlevy in his performance as the arrogant Professor Quatermass
is so hateful you have to love him. Another memorable one is Richard
Wordsworth who play Carroon. Absolutely brilliant. I also found amusing
the overly dramatic expresssion of the BBC announcer in the trailor who
witnesses this unknown thing with his own eyes. Only the TV announcer
in Gorgo did better. The only notables are King-Wood who play the good
doctor's assistant and Jack Warner who played Lomax. I liked his sarcasm
when talking to Quatermass. Actually brought Quatermass to his knees if
only in a figurative sense. Otherwise everyone else just essentially
played their parts. Still it is good science fiction fun.
