Series: Quatermass

The late Nigel Kneale was a visionary and ground breaking writer whose 1950s BBC TV Quatermass serials were not only a massive influence on the likes of Doctor Who and The X-Files, and a big hit with the public, but also one of the first attempts to write dark and scary small screen sci-fi aimed purely at adults rather than children. These were all subsequently remade for the big screen by Hammer Studios, and with Optimum Releasing recently bringing out a freshly remastered Blu-ray disc of the third and final story, Quatermass and the Pit, the time is ripe for a fresh look at a film that has aged very well. Director Roy Ward Baker takes a highly imaginative, ideas-packed script and a strong, charismatic lead character and presents a chilling picture of mob mentality, racism, and mankind's violent tendencies.(read more...)

From 1957 to 1973, Hammer Film Productions reached iconic status within the genre of Gothic horror, with such entries as The Curse of Frankenstein, The Horror of Dracula, The Mummy, and The Vampire Lovers among others. However, the film that helped launch Hammer's successful, 16-year run as the king of the horror box office was, in fact, a contemporary science fiction film. Based on a 1953 BBC television serial written by Nigel Kneale, the superbly crafted and acted The Quatermass Xperiment put Hammer on the worldwide financial map and added to the sci-fi lexicon a new scientist-hero, Professor Bernard Quatermass.

(read more...)