THE QUATERMASS XPERIMENT (1955)

THE QUATERMASS XPERIMENT (1955)

Tagline: It's coming for You from Space to wipe all living things from the face of the Earth! Can It Be Stopped?

(Sci-Fi, Horror, Don’t Go Into Space) [PG]

Note – This movie wasn’t given an MPAA rating, but if it was it would get a PG. In the United States, it was renamed THE CREEPING TERROR, but this review is for the original version. 

Really saw it? You mean that this time it's not a halluc... It's not a gin goblin?

In this one, a rocket ends up crashing on a farm somewhere outside of London. Scotland Yard shows up along with a controversial Professor named Bernard Quatermass who was actually responsible for the rocket launch. When they inspect the rocket, two astronauts are dead and one named Victor Carroon is very messed up with some kind of weird skin stuff going on. He gets taken to a clinic for observation, but his wife Judith doesn’t trust Quartermass and ends up getting her husband out with the help of a nurse. It doesn’t take long before Victor who isn’t speaking goes on a rampage. What is wrong with him, what manner of outer space disease has infected him, and can it be stopped?

First off, this movie reminded me a lot of the plot line in THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD. No, the movie is not exactly the same or anything, but in both films, they are trying to stop something from spreading. The other thing is that both movies are incredibly well written.

In the film Quatermass comes across at first like a man that knows what he is doing, but as the movie moves along, and especially at the ending, I kind of ended up thinking he was a mad man. In spite of this, I thought a lot of his lines were actually pretty funny because he overplays the line “we’ve got to” several times. It’s kind of a different way of accomplishing things via motivation, but I couldn’t stop laughing. He is saying “we’ve got to get this film developed”, “we’ve got to make sure the coffee is black as possible”, “we’ve got to walk around saying we’ve got to”. Just kidding, I get what the writers were going for, but in a real-life situation, I probably would have just started cracking up even if it was a serious situation. 

The score here is very effective and the sets are sufficiently on scale and well lit when they need to be. This doesn’t feel as claustrophobic as some other films in the genre. Yes, there is definitely a horror element that is very FRANKENSTEIN-like, but nothing too over the top gore-wise. Apparently and sadly this movie is the first documented film where a person died of fright watching it. I have no idea why anyone would bring a 9-year-old to a horror flick especially after the British had it rated X, which at the time meant that you needed to be at least 16 to see the movie. 

Acting-wise everyone is stellar. Brian Donlevy who plays Bernard Quatermass is absolutely brilliant. He is best known for QUATERMASS 2 and 1965’s CURSE OF THE FLY. We also get Richard Wordsworth who only mumbles a few lines, but is fantastic in his role. His other big sci-fi movie was 1958’s THE REVENGE OF FRANKENSTEIN. Slightly less impressive is Margia Dean who plays Judith Carroon. I don’t know if my very slight issue with her was the acting itself or just me not being crazy about the character. This wasn’t her only sci-fi film. She also appeared in MESA OF THE LOST WOMEN. 

Overall I have to give this one a 5 out of 7. The acting is really good and the script is really good, but by 1955, we already had a bunch of great sci-fi flicks that I would put above this one. Still, it’s worth at least one view. Just don’t show it to your kid if they are squeamish and below the age of 16, just given the movie's history.

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