The first time I saw this was as a kid on a Saturday morning triple feature at the theater; recently was able to watch this again and it makes more sense. Wonder why? Professor Bernard Quatermass (Brian Donlevy) puts a manned rocket into space and makes big news all over Europe, when it crashes into a countryside outside of London. The news cameras are rolling and Quatermass is concerned about the three astronauts that left on the journey. As the door is opened, only one traveler is found inside. Astronaut Victor Carroon (Richard Wordsworth) seems senseless and unable to communicate. After being taken to a private clinic, his wife (Margia Dean), manages to have him smuggled out. Scotland Yard and Quatermass start a manhunt to find they are now hunting a monster that is killing animals and people. Still, what happened to the other two astronauts?Uncanny and tense early Sci-Fi. At the movies all those years ago, I couldn't hit pause in order to get another root beer and popcorn. If you get a chance: don't pass this one up.Also starring are: David King-Wood, Jack Warner, Lionel Jeffries, Gordon Jackson and Harold Lang.

This movie is also known under it's US title 'The Creeping Unknown'. The Quatermass Xperiment is quite an interesting film especially the beginning of it (which is really the best part of the movie to me). I enjoyed the mystery of not knowing what happened to the astronauts - the wondering. Once it became clear as to what happened to the astronauts, the movie really became more of a stereo typical sci-fi horror of the 1950's, a creature feature if you will.I quite like this movie - and I think that quite a few sci-fi and horror fans would enjoy it.I will agree with some that has reviewed this movie that Prof. Bernard Quatermass is very much of a business man but he is also a scientist. What he found in this Xperiment is quite an interesting discovery - one that I will not mention because I will not spoil the movie for those that have not seen the film.7/10

This is a feature film remake of the 3-hour-long BBC production "The Quatermass Experiment" (1953), which was broadcast live in 1953 and is now partially lost in its complete form (only the first two 30 minute segments still survive). For this film version, Richard Landau and director Val Guest have compressed the original Nigel Kneale-penned television play into a more compact running time ranging from 78 to 82 minutes depending on the cut. All of the original actors from the TV version were replaced, with American actor Brian Donlevy taking over the central role of Professor Bernard Quatermass from Reginald Tate, who was slated to reprise the role but passed away before filming began. Not only an important genre title content-wise, this is also noteworthy as being one of the few Hammer horror films to precede their breakthrough hit THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1957). It was released in the U.S. under the title "The Creeping Unknown" in 1956, became an international hit and led to numerous other Quatermass tales, starting with the TV miniseries "Quatermass II" (1957), which itself prompted a theatrical remake that same year (released as "Enemy from Space" in the U.S.). That was followed by a third miniseries called "Quatermass and the Pit" (1959), which eventually saw a theatrical version in 1967 (released in the U.S. as "Five Million Years to Earth" in 1968) and brief revivals in both 1979 and 2005.A rocket crash-lands in a field in the English countryside. Part of a secret project headed over by scientist Quatermass, the ship had been launched "1500 miles into space" and was manned by three astronauts... only one of whom has returned safely. Engineer Victor Carroon (Richard Wordsworth) is that lone survivor and yet it's immediately apparent that something isn't quite right with him. For starters, he's disoriented, sickly and no longer speaks. He's also ice cold to the touch, his fingerprints change completely and his skin slowly begins to look cracked, pale and gray. Further analysis by Dr. Gordon Briscoe (David King-Wood) reveal his heart rate and blood pressure are so off that he *should* be dead. A gelatin-like substance is discovered aboard the crashed space crash that may be the remains of the two missing astronauts and, since a film camera was placed aboard, our heroes at least get a bit of proof that something inscrutable and other-worldly happened on board. They're just not entirely sure what.While Quatermass, Lomax (Jack Warner), an inspector who's been assigned the case, and others attempt to get to the bottom of things, Victor is taken to a clinic and put under observation. Not wanting her husband to be some guinea pig, his wife Judith (Margia Dean) hires sleazy private eye Christie (Harold Lang) to pose as an orderly and help bust him out of the clinic. Things don't go off quite as planned and, by the time the authorities get there, there's only a blood-drained corpse and a missing cactus to tell the tale of what really happened. Now free and on the run, Victor continues to mutate into something inhuman, absorbing other life forms (including a zoo full of animals) along the way until he becomes some a large, ever-growing, tentacled, octopus-like blob who finally turns up at the BBC.Well-directed, written, photographed, paced and acted (for the most part), this was influential not only to 50s sci-fi and horror in general (and the development of Hammer) but also the concept of 'body horror;' a subgenre of film where one's body is overtaken by something and goes through horrifying physical mutations as a result. That style of film would begin to become very popular in the mid 70s and continues to be popular to this day. This is one of the earliest films I've seen to attempt that. The makeups and special effects (by Philip Leakey and Les Bowie) I frequently see criticized, but they didn't bother me at all. In fact, I found them quite good for the time.Quatermass creator Kneale had mixed feeling about this version, but most especially disapproved of casting several American actors in lead roles. Though Donlevy claimed to be from Ireland and IMDb states he was born in Ireland, he was actually born in Cleveland, Ohio and the whole Irish thing was something cooked up entirely by his publicist. Either way, the actor doesn't do a bad job at all and his commanding, hard-edged and somewhat pushy performance is appropriate for the character. Apparently Guest didn't mind his work either because the actor got to reprise this role in the 1957 follow-up. Most everyone seems to agree that the real standout of the film is Wordsworth, the great-great grandson of poet William Wordsworth, who creates a pitiable and sympathetic character with no words and a limited amount of screen time. The character certainly has more than a few things in common with the Frankenstein Monster.The only flaw in the central casting was Dean, a former Miss California and one-time girlfriend of the president of 20th Century Fox, who was hoisted upon the filmmakers as part of the American co-financing deal. Yes, despite being currently listed on this site as being an entirely British production, this was actually co-produced and financed by Americans (Robert L. Lippert's "Regal Films; which was more-or-less a branch of Fox). Guest would later say of Dean: "She was a sweet girl, but she couldn't act." As a result of her inappropriate American accent (and presumed poor performance), all of her dialogue was dubbed over by someone else in post. Unfortunately, whatever actress they chose to dub the role also could not act and didn't even sound British! Regardless, it stands out like a sore thumb in this otherwise professionally-done movie.

Quatermass Xperiment, The (1955) *** (out of 4) Effective sci-fi tale from Hammer has Professor Quatermass (Brian Donlevy) sending a rocket into space with three astronauts but when it crashes back to Earth there's only one alive with the other two missing. The one who survived, Victor Carroon (Richard Wordsworth) soon starts to transform into some sort of monster and before long he's stalking London. I'll be honest and admit that I'm really not a huge fan of British cinema and especially some of the science fiction that came from them during the 50s and 60s. With that said, THE QUATERMASS XPERIMENT is without question one of the best of its genre simply because the film goes for the "less is more" approach and this really adds a level of creepiness that's hard to find in a genre picture from this era. Just take a look at the opening sequence as lovers are in a field making out only to heard a loud noise, which sends them running into the house and seconds later there's a crash. The sci-fi genre has had countless spaceship crashes but I really can't think of one more effective than what's on display here. We never really get to see anything but it's the direction of Val Guest that really puts us on the edge of our seats. This strong direction continues in the next major scene when they go to open up the spacecraft to see what's inside. The screenplay is actually very well-written and offers up several good twists and turns as the film moves along. One such example is a scene where the wife of the astronaut tries to sneak him out of a hospital and things don't go as planned. As for the monster, it's quite effective and again it's because of the less is more approach. We really never get a good look at the monster and as it deforms more we just see bits and pieces of it. When we first see what's happened to the hand it's just a few seconds that we get to see but the effect is quite chilling. The performances are another major plus with Donlevy doing an excellent job as the scientist only interested in the future and not caring what's going on in current times. Donlevy manages to be a guy you love to hate and this serves the film well. Wordsworth is very effective in his scenes dealing with his mental breakdown and Jack Warner is fun as the Inspector. THE QUATERMASS XPERIMENT has become a cult favorite over the years and it's easy to see why. This genre gave us so many bad movies that it's always hard trying to find one that actually works. It's clear not too much money was spent on the production but everyone involved took the material and raised it up to the levels of a classic.