In the dawn of the space age,
and in the midst of the post-war recovery, the British
Rocket Group, headed by brash American Professor Bernard
Quatermass (Brian Donlevy), sends forth an experimental
craft manned by three astronauts. When the ship crash
lands on earth, having been out of touch with earth for
some time, the Rocket Group are quick on the scene.
Quatermass was the suprise hit of the 1950s, and responsible for the waves of British sci-fi tv and films that followed in its wake. The product of BBC staff writer Nigel Kneale, the program was hastily penned to fill a gap in the schedules. Its gritty vision of aliens gripped the nation, and emptied the streets for six weeks. Folowing its established trend of adapting BBC radio shows for film, small independant production company, Hammer Films snatched up the rights to the series, and gave the project to Val Guest to direct. The result was a resounding success which beat all expectations of the company. They cut the three hours of teleplay to just 80 minutes of theatrical screen time. Fast paced, visually expressive, and laced with the paranoias which single out Brit sci-fi. Guest told producer Anthony Hinds he wasn't interested in the project, but read the scripts at his wife's insistence whilst on holiday, and never looked back. Nigel Kneale has repeatedly complained about Hammer's treatment of his script, not least by the casting of Irish-American veteran Brian Donlevy as the titular character. The actor's alcoholism doesn't show on screen, and his rather distant performance, gives the Professor a clinical quality and authority which would have been lost on another actor. Val Guest adopts the use of hand-held cameras in order to provide an almost documentary quality which would become something of a Guest trademark (he refers to his version of cinema-verite in every interview I've read). Richard Wordsworth has been unanimously praised for his painfully sympathetic reading of Carroon - a man struggling with his conscious and the growing parasite inside him. There's elements to be revisited in several Doctor Whos of the 1970s and in the Alien films. (Watch out also for a cameo from Thora Hird). The visual effects are used sparingly to great effect, and even the showdown in Westminster Cathedral, with its tripe-based alien life-form manages to come across as convincing. Quatermass's impact cannot be too lightly stated. The film is essential viewing for every boffin and nerd in the country as well as anyone who claims to know anything about British cinema. The success and hype created (the film's title was changed to Xperiment in order to flaunt the new X certificate, seen as the death-nail for films at the time, and the film also gained a reputation and featured in the Guiness Book of Records after reports of causing one viewer to suffer a fatal heart attack), would be responsible for the wave of Hammer's horror films, and provided the funding for The Curse of Frankenstein. DD Video have been around for years, but have only recently come to a mainstream attention. Their range of Hammer dvds looks set to give the Region 1 equivilants a run for their money. Their special edition of Quatermass Xperiment sets a new boundary, providing the first special edition release of this title. There's plenty of supplemental material, and the production values are quite high. The trailer suffers in that its for Hammer's later picture Quatermass and the Pit (surely there are trailers available for Xperiment?), and the new interview covers some of the same ground as the commentary, and is badly shot and produced. These quibblings aside, the commentary with Guest, and the extensive viewing notes by Jonathan Rigby and Marcus Hearn make this essential stuff. transfer Design extras Viewing Notes Booklet I don't usually count things like this, but at 24 pages, this is a beautifully researched and laid-out booklet detailing the background to the production, and some critical analysis of the feature. Marcus Hearn and Jonathan Rigby throw down the gauntlet for future Hammer releases. Director Commentary A solo commentary from director Val Guest, aided by Hammer historian Marcus Hearn (who published Guest's autobiography So You Want to Be In Pictures). A good insightful piece, which does its job of enhancing the viewing. Val Guest Interview (7 mins 52 secs). Newly shot video interview between Marcus Hearn and Val Guest. Suffers a little from covering the same material as the commentary. Poorly lit, and looking very ropey and evidence of video-based nature. Quality of picture and sound is sub-standard, but a nice extra all the same. Fullscreen. Subtitles None. Trailers SUMMARY RJES |
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DISC: Feature length: 78
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