Actuakers One of my all time favorites.

SparkMore n my opinion it was a great movie with some interesting elements, even though having some plot holes and the ending probably was just too messy and crammed together, but still fun to watch and not your casual movie that is similar to all other ones.

Lidia Draper Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Jenni Devyn Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

punishmentpark A very nice British sc-fi horror oldie, that may very well have some of the first body horror stuff in it, though I'm no expert. I saw part two years before, and I can say it makes no difference which one you watch first, story-wise.Although I thought there was quite some silliness in here (why would a rocket on fire be too hot to put water on, why is immediately opening a rocket door fatal, but a couple of minutes later safe, etc.?), but 'The Quatermass experiments' has a couple of important things going for it. The (body) horror I mentioned before may be minimal, but it is quite well done, there are plenty of terrific locations and settings used (Westminster Abbey even) and, finally, Richard Wordsworth's appearance and acting as the doomed spaceman Victor Carroon are pretty damn good.The story may have its fair share of silly details, but on the whole it works, and it is reasonably fast paced.A big 7 out of 10.

gavin6942 Professor Bernard Quatermass is in charge of a manned rocket mission that has gone awry. They lost contact with the spaceship at one point and have no idea how far into space it may have traveled. When the rocket crash lands in a farmer's field they find that only one of the three occupants, Victor Carroon, is on board; the others have simply vanished.Somehow when you say "1950s science fiction", this film tends to be overlooked. Often for more American films, some of which are better and many of which are worse. Why? And most interestingly, this comes from Hammer, the fines folks who brought life back to Dracula and Dr. Frankenstein. They are not really known for their science fiction, but maybe they should be.Jeff Szpirglas calls Kino Lorber's Blu-ray release "well worth the wait" Americans had to endure. Indeed, beyond the crisp picture, we get some nice interviews: John Carpenter and Ernest Dickerson, as well as director Val Guest. The latter, of course, is a real treat, but for me Dickerson is the hidden treasure. He has not yet received the attention he deserves.

Prichards12345 The first Quatermass film was made at a time when it was not far-fetched to present a movie about a British Space Programme's first mission going horribly wrong. These days we can't even get our bins collected weekly! So even if a UK space ship is rather quaint today this takes away nothing from the impact of the film itself, which stands up remarkably well after over 50 years.The Quatermass X-periment is a tense, pacey, and atmospheric horror-thriller; based on Nigel Kneale's beautifully written BBC t.v. series, director Val Guest gives it a down to earth approach that really works. Gripping and full of imaginative touches, it holds the viewer in thrall right to the end.While Brian Donlevy is a boring Quatermass, bullying his way through the story and the cast some marvellous character actors like Jack Warner, Thora Hird, Richard Wordsworth and David King-Wood more than compensate. King-Wood would have made a much better fit with Kneale's troubled, humanistic professor than the immobile-faced Donlevy does; instead he's the big Q's assistant, Dr. Briscoe.The story of course, concerns the crash landing of the first UK space flight and the subsequent mystery of the disappearance of two of the crew, only Victor Carroon (Wordsworth - who is simply brilliant in the part) stumbling out of the rocket when the hatch is opened. Carroon seems strangely changed, physically and mentally. Why, for instance, is he so attracted to plants? Aha! To give away more of the twisting plot would be to spoil this marvellous film - but look out for Carroon's escape from the hospital, his encounter with a young girl (Jane Asher) while on the run, and a sequence in a zoo as particular highlights. One of Kneale's great strengths as a writer was to keep the air of normalcy through well-written small character parts while cosmic horror unfolds all around. All the Quatermass stories are about possession in one form or another, and they are all landmark pieces of sci-fi/horror. The success of this film, of course, would lead to Hammer's Gothic horror revivals.Quite simply this is a fantastic film all round.

ackstasis In 1953, British television produced "The Quatermass Experiment," perhaps the first adult science-fiction television series. I watched the first two episodes earlier this year, but was disappointed to learn that the remaining four episodes are considered lost (having been broadcast live and never recorded). Fortunately, the series' success was noticed by British studio Hammer Film Productions, and a feature-length adaptation was released two years later. Considered shocking in its day (and branded with an X-rating, proudly emphasised in the title), 'The Quatermass Xperiment (1955)' traces the fortunes of narcissistic scientist Prof Quatermass (Brian Donlevy), whose foray into space- travel brings home a mysterious parasitic extraterrestrial organism that uses human beings as hosts. There are some intense moments here: a trail of dead animals at a London zoo, a dead man's desiccated facial features, an octopus-like alien organism writhing amid flames...The premise of extraterrestrial parasites using human beings as vectors has since been reused to differing degrees in such films as 'The Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956/1978)' and 'Alien (1979).' Brian Donlevy, a familiar face in American noirs like 'The Glass Key (1942)' and 'The Big Combo (1955),' is the film's only recognisable face, and he seems curiously miscast. Maybe miscast is the wrong word: the Hammer version of Prof Quatermass – cold, resolute, and indifferent – differs significantly from Reginald Tate's keen, almost fatherly researcher. As a result, the audience is left with nobody in whom to place their trust: the dangerously single-minded Quatermass elicits less sympathy than astronaut Victor (Richard Wordsworth), who, albeit unwittingly, becomes the film's primary antagonist. If 'The Quatermass Xperiment' contains comparatively little gore to justify its extreme rating, then its emotional coldness nevertheless leaves a unsettlingly bitter taste.