THE QUATERMASS XPERIMENT aka THE CREEPING UNKNOWN - 1955
Hammer Films / United Artists / MGM-UA
Rating: USA - Unrated |
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50's Black-and-White sci-fi is an acquired taste. I grew up on and can still enjoy it for what it is, but I understand that people who were born P.S.W. (Post Star Wars) might have a hard time suspending their disbelief. It's a shame though, because sometimes these old movies tell a really good story.
Unfortunately, this isn't one of those times. THE
QUATERMASS XPERIMENT was directed by Val Guest (WHEN DINOSAURS
RULED THE EARTH, THE DAY THE EARTH CAUGHT FIRE) and written by
Nigel Kneale (THE CREATURE, THE WITCHES)
and Richard H. Landau (THE BLACK HOLE, FRANKENSTIEN
1970). This movie is one of three (also including QUATERMASS 2 and QUATERMASS
AND THE PIT) that were based on a British TV series about the
adventures of Rocket Scientist Professor Bernard Quatermass.
The story is good, basic sci-fi: A rocket crashes in the English countryside. It’s
the first launch of an apparently international organization known as
the Rocket Group and headed by Quatermass. Of the three astronauts sent
up, only one is found alive inside the crashed vehicle. There is no trace
of the other two men; just empty space suits. We quickly realize that
astronaut Victor Carroon (Richard Wordsworth: THE
CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF, THE REVENGE OF FRANKENSTIEN) has been infected
by some space dwelling life form. Wordsworth was a good choice for this
role. He's gaunt and looks a bit scary.
The bad choice was Brian Donlevy (NIGHTMARE, THE CURSE OF THE FLY)
as Bernard Quatermass. First of all, why an American was chosen to play
a guy with such an English name in a movie that takes place in England,
I'm not sure. It is conspicuously unexplained. Second, Donlevy behaves
(and dresses) more like an FBI G-man that
a rocket scientist. He's immediately an unlikable asshole as he orders
people around and never lets anyone finish a sentence. He was in charge
of the rocket launch and immediately makes it clear that the lives of
the astronauts are a minor concern. He tells the distraught wife of the
surviving astronaut, "There's no room for personal feelings
in science."
Speaking of science, the movie does a pretty sloppy job of it, even allowing for
the era. The rocket went 1500 miles out in space, and then was lost for
more than 2 days before it somehow came back. If I could go back in time
and ask the writers, "But wasn't it on a sub-orbital trajectory?"
they'd likely answer, "Sub what? It's a spaceship, not
a submarine! What are you, stupid?"
The idea that space might contain unknown horrors was (and
in a different way, still is) a common theme in sci-fi, even though
most people still believed it would never happen. This was the era when
top American scientist Vannevar Bush publicly stated that, "Space
travel is utter bilge."
Astronaut Carroon’s medical condition is clearly the result of an alien infection,
which soon leads to transformation and merry mishaps ensue.
Meanwhile technicians manage to recover film from an onboard camera on the wrecked
rocket. Quatermass and the local authorities get together for the viewing
of the silent movie. This scene was actually compelling, as they show
the mission going well at first, but then odd, unexplainable things happen
and the film goes blank. Could this be the movie, that the movies that THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT ripped off, ripped off?
Good sci-fi concepts can't save bad acting and unintentional humor. I give this
one 2 shriek girls.
This review
copyright 2000 E.C.McMullen Jr.
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