Quatermass II: Enemy from Space (1957)
"Quatermass 2" (original title)
85 min - Sci-Fi | Horror - September 1957 (USA)
Professor Quatermass, trying to gather support for his Lunar colonisation project, is intrigued by mysterious traces that have been showing up. This article is about the Hammer film remake. For the original TV series see 6 Part Serial in TV Section.
Directed by Val Guest
Produced by Anthony Hinds
Written by Nigel Kneale
Val Guest
Starring Brian Donlevy
John Longden
Sid James
Bryan Forbes
William Franklyn
Vera Day
Music by James Bernard
Cinematography Gerald Gibbs
Editing by James Needs
Studio Hammer Film Productions
Distributed by Exclusive Films (UK), United Artists (USA)
Release dates
24 May 1957
Running time 85 minutes
Country United Kingdom
SPOILERS AHEAD!
Quatermass 2 (US title: Enemy From Space) is a 1957 British science fiction horror film. Made by Hammer Film Productions, it is a sequel to an earlier Hammer film The Quatermass Xperiment. Like its predecessor, it is based on a BBC Television serial – Quatermass II – written by Nigel Kneale. It was directed by Val Guest and stars Brian Donlevy reprising his role as the eponymous Professor Bernard Quatermass, making him the only actor to play the character on screen twice. John Longden, Sid James, Bryan Forbes, William Franklyn and Vera Day appear in supporting roles.
The plot concerns Quatermass' investigation of reports of strange meteorite showers in England. His inquires lead him to a huge industrial plant, strikingly similar to his own plans for a Moon colony. This top-secret plant is in fact the centre of a conspiracy involving alien infiltration of the highest echelons of the British Government. Quatermass struggles to convince a sceptical public of the threat before it is too late.
The first Quatermass film had been a major success for Hammer and, eager for a sequel, they purchased the rights to Nigel Kneale's follow up before the BBC had even begun transmission of the new serial. For this adaptation, Nigel Kneale himself was allowed to write the first draft of the screenplay, although subsequent drafts were worked on by director Val Guest. The plot is a condensed but largely faithful retelling of the original television serial. The main difference between the two versions is at the climax: in the television version Quatermass blasts off in a rocket to confront the aliens in outer space whereas in the film the rocket is fired, unmanned, to destroy the aliens' asteroid base. Returning director Val Guest once again employed many cinema vérité techniques to present the fantastic elements of the plot with the greatest degree of realism. Nigel Kneale was critical of the final film, mainly on account of the return of Brian Donlevy in the lead role. Kneale was unhappy with Donlevy's interpretation of the character and also claimed the actor's performance was marred by his alcoholism, a claim repudiated by Val Guest.
Although Quatermass 2 was financially successful, its box office performance was eclipsed by the massive success of another Hammer film, The Curse of Frankenstein, which was to be the first of their many Gothic horror films. As a result, it would be ten years before Hammer adapted the next Quatermass serial for the cinema with Quatermass and the Pit in 1967. Quatermass 2 was, however, the first film Hammer pre-sold the distribution rights in the United States, a financial model that would quickly become the norm for subsequent Hammer productions.
Director:
Val Guest
Writers:
Nigel Kneale (story), Nigel Kneale (screenplay)
Stars:
Brian Donlevy, John Longden, Sidney James |
Replies
The second quatermassy: THANK YOU, RIK!!
Thanks again - hope it is as good as the first one I am trying.
Paul
Thank you!
Thanks for sharing. This one is new to me.