Quatermass and the Pit

Unrated

2/16/19681h 37m

Theatrical Release (US)

~ World in panic! Cities in flames! ~

Overview:

A mysterious artifact unearthed below a London subway station proves to have powerful psychic effects on the people around.

Director:

Roy Ward Baker

Status:

Released

Language:

English

Buget:

$0.00

Revenue:

$0.00

Key words:

spacecraft
london, england
professor
paleontology
riot
london underground
martian
scientist
based on tv series

Cast

Andrew Keir

~ as ~

Prof. Bernard Quatermass

James Donald

~ as ~

Dr. Mathew Roney

Barbara Shelley

~ as ~

Barbara Judd

Julian Glover

~ as ~

Colonel Breen

Bryan Marshall

~ as ~

Captain Potter

Maurice Good

~ as ~

Sergeant Cleghorn

Duncan Lamont

~ as ~

Sladden

Peter Copley

~ as ~

Howell

Edwin Richfield

~ as ~

Minister

Grant Taylor

~ as ~

Police Sergeant Ellis

View full cast & crew

Reviews (1)

John Chard
Written 10 year(s) ago
9
Creepy, interesting, above all else...intelligent.

Whilst excavating at the site of a new underground tube station, workers unearth a mysterious object. On to the case comes Professor Quatermass who deduces that the object is Martian in origin. Initially viewed with scorn and disbelief, it becomes apparent that the Martian race have been involved in the human race before, and now they have been awoken again.

This was the third Hammer film adaptation of Nigel Kneale's BBC-TV Quatermass serial, with previous entries being The Quatermass Experiment & Quatermass 2. This to me, tho, is undoubtedly the shining light of the bunch. Chiefly what works the best in this one is the wonderful fusion of mystery and intelligence, the eerie sense of dread only off set by a yearning to find out just what has happened? And more crucially, what will happen? Building up perfectly, courtesy of Roy Ward Baker's astutely paced direction, Quatermass And The Pit is a film that just begs you to pay attention to every little detail, each conversation is fully fleshing out this most intriguing story. Then there is the finale that pays off handsomely, to hint at what is involved would result in a spoiler of sorts, and really it would be stupid of me to prepare you for the film's closure.

See it because it's one of the best genre entries of the 60s, a must for sci-fi enthusiasts that like a bit of brains to go with their genre persuasion. 8.5/10