 |
| From https://gonzohistory.files.wordpress.com /2015/04/quatermass-and-the-pit-photos-2.jpg |
Director: Roy Ward Baker
Screenplay: Nigel Kneale
Cast: James Donald; Andrew Keir;
Barbara Shelley; Julian Glover; Duncan Lamont
Synopsis: An archaeological site
containing an ancestor of mankind is found during an extension being built in
the London Underground. When it's perceived that an unexploded World War II
bomb has also been found, leading to Colonel Breen (Julian Glover) and Professor Bernard Quatermass (Andrew Keir) visiting the site, its
discovered that they might've uncovered an alien vessel instead. A possible
origin to the human species may've been found as well as a potential threat to
them as well.
For a few months before this
Halloween season, I've been going through the Quatermass stories created by the mind of one of the most acclaimed
writers of British sci-fi and horror television Nigel Kneale. Originally I intended to only watch the Hammer productions, but an accident led
to viewing the three original BBC
mini-series. This was for the better, an (almost) chronological trip through
the franchise which was as much as a discovery for me of Kneale, my only knowledge of him for a while that of his brief involvement
with Halloween III: Season of the Witch
(1982), which he disowned the involvement with story wise because of his
displeasure with the violence and gore. Sadly only the first two of six
episodes of The Quatermass Experiment
(!953) have survived, but Quatermass
II (1955) and Quatermass and the Pit
(1958-59) have. Hammer cast American actor Brian Donlevy as Quatermass in the adaptation of the first two
series, then with Andrew Keir in the
titular role came the most well known of their adaptations in 1967.
 |
| From http://www.obscurefilm.com/wp-content/uploads /2013/10/obscure-film-quatermass-and-the-pit-11.jpg |
The original reason for going
through the Quatermass franchise was
because I grew up with Quatermass and the
Pit and wanted more than just the memory of it I held for all these years
before. My parents during the DVD boom of the early 2000s rented a lot of
films, including horror movies, from a place called Global Video in town and from LoveFilm
when they had an account. Strangely, though they were a young couple between
the Sixties and Seventies, they didn't really rent older films that often. Somehow
Quatermass and the Pit was the
exception, abruptly ending up on the TV screen and being etched in memory for
me as a result. History even repeated when, planning to watch only a couple of
episodes per night, I ended up marathoning the whole of the BBC television
production with my father one night.
 |
| From https://billydunleavy.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/quatermass3-5.jpg |
I once, years ago, made the
suggestion American stories explained how an object became evil, while in
British stories the object is inherently evil, the vessel found a likely cause
of centuries of paranormal activities in the nearby street Hobb's End. This was
completely wrong, but there are clear differences in a lot of the storytelling
even if both countries can share the same storytelling structures together. There
are examples in American stories that follow the ideal of forces out of clear
explanation - HP Lovecraft, Edgar Allen Poe and, discovering his
work, William Hope Hodson, beings
that merely exist be they gods or giant crabs that have grown out of human
society. But especially when serial killers and slashers films become more significant
in American horror films, rational reasons influenced supernatural stories and
tales of cursed icons, and significantly they depict forces that could've
easily come to existence the same era its victims did. The British, like
Japanese, do veer towards forces and influences that have always existed before
mankind, more than likely influenced by each country's individual folklore. Nigel Kneale's work on Quatermass does offer scientific
explanations or aliens trying to conquer the Earth, but there are visible links
to the idea of unforeseen primordial forces in all the version of Quatermass in the BBC and Hammer versions. This
is poignant here as, while the story suggests magic and the supernatural can be
explained by way of aliens, it doesn't stop it from presenting a force that
could destroy mankind, an innate will suddenly awoken in the finale where any
human in the vicinity of the vessel baring a certain few will sudden develop a
hive mind and destructive abilities. The strange insect-like creatures found
the vessel, while explained in a science fiction way, have a sense of elder
forms from an ancient position long before man literally existed. The archaic is
found in Quatermass and the Pit even
if it's using then-modern terms.
Ironically after viewing the BBC
mini-series first, I prefer that version of the story than the one whose memory
of which led to this venture in the first place. Kneale, scripting both versions, was also very good at dialogue and
memorable characters, where exposition actually leads you to feel even more
interested in what was happening, and he made a character like Quatermass such
a bold and noble man. He also had an interest in eccentric and quaint
Britishness, such as in the mini-series with an elderly couple who start the
interest in Hobb's End and its paranormal history. The mini-series over six
episodes had more time to allow the characters to breath and the main theme of
the story to stand out, a subtext for human barbarism where Quatermass is
originally stuck with Colonel Breen because the military would rather want army
bases on the Moon rather than live harmoniously on human metropolises in the craters. The whittling
down of the plot for the film allows the story to move quickly but with less
detail that made the story more gripping. Both have to deal with an issue that,
unless with a high budget, it's difficult to pull off the finale where London
goes up in flames. The original mini-series manages to go further for the
better, including the involvement of an American airplane over the skyline,
regardless of the limitations.
 |
| From http://www.notcoming.com/images/reviews/l/quatermassandthepit.png |
Technical Detail:
Hammer films are fondly remembered for their lush colours, and I
cannot object to seeing this tale this way with handsome production design as
well. It shares a very different mood from the previous Hammer Quatermass films
which, being black and white, become much more atmospheric in comparison to Quatermass and the Pit. If there is a
major flaw, there are details much more better done in the BBC production such
as the insectoid beings found in the mysterious vessel having an ickiness that
is strangely absence in the Hammer
film. This version is cinematic, but depending on your tastes the sense of
improvisation and creativity with the BBC
version may appeal more.
Abstract Spectrum: Psychotronic
Abstract Rating
(High/Medium/Low/None): None
Nigel Kneale in the Quatermass
adaptation never depicts cryptic ideas or anything metaphysical, so it's not
worth discussing this aspect further.
 |
| From http://www.obscurefilm.com/wp-content/uploads /2013/10/obscure-film-quatermass-and-the-pit-2.jpg |
Personal Opinion:
There are plenty of classic Hammer films I still need to see, but
I've been indifferent to many of them. This adaptation does explain my issues
why, in how they can be too clean and straightforward for me, lacking the contemplation
or detail of other British horror films like The Wicker Man (1973), or the baroque style of European genre
films. The first two Quatermass
films stand out differently due to their monochrome look and tones, but Quatermass and the Pit is does suffer
from these failures. There is a greater sense of mystery to the TV version,
despite its technical limitations, in comparison to this much more glossier
adaptation.
That said, I still enjoy this
version immensely. In either version it's an incredibly engaging and smart
sci-fi narrative, one that is creepy in its implications. My nostalgia with the
film will never become tarnished now I've revisited it, and if anything the
viewing of these Quatermass stories
has led me to love the character of Professor Bernard Quatermass as a whole,
wanting to investigate any remaining stories. It's also led me to want to
investigate Nigel Kneale's other
work, such as The Stone Tape (1972),
an even better result from my nostalgia trip in how it's meant seeing some
intelligent science fiction.
No comments:
Post a Comment