Tuesday, November 30, 2021

The Quatermass Xperiment (1955)

Classic British sci-fi, low quality effects but high quality thrills. A British spacecraft crash lands in a field, when Professor Quatermass (Brian Donlevy) orders the craft opened they find only one of the three crewmen accounted for, the other two have vanished. The survivor, Carroon (Richard Wordsworth), is in a bad way. As Quatermass and Inspector Lomax (Jack Warner) of the Met begin their investigation, Carroon begins to mutate...

The scientists discover that Carroon has been infected by an alien organism. It makes him lethal to others who come into contact with him, which is quite a problem as he has escaped hospital and is now loose on the streets of London. Dr Briscoe (David King-Wood) discovers that the organism is due to spawn, London could soon be overrun by thousands of killer alien creatures...

The film is a bit of a slow burner but has an air of menace and alien horror over everything which slowly builds. Maybe the final monster looks a bit ridiculous but the film, by then, has earned you suspend enough disbelief. A great film.