Quatermass And The Pit [VHS] [1967]: James Donald, Andrew Keir, Barbara Shelley, Julian Glover, Duncan Lamont, Bryan Marshall, Peter Copley, Edwin Richfield, Grant Taylor, Maurice Good, Robert Morris, Sheila Steafel, Arthur Grant, Roy Ward Baker, Spencer Reeve, Anthony Nelson Keys, Nigel Kneale: Amazon.co.uk: Video

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Amazon.co.uk Review
We have met the enemy, and it is us: when a Martian spacecraft with a terrifying link to the origins of humanity is unearthed beneath a London tube station, only the esteemed Professor Bernard Quatermass can save London's suddenly murderous population from itself. One of the most intelligently paranoid science fiction films ever produced, this pessimistic masterpiece functions as a dark flip-side to the relatively optimistic alien-induced evolution theory presented in the later 2001: A Space Odyssey. Nigel Kneale's brilliant script (which posits a surprisingly plausible, otherworldly rationale for the existence of the supernatural) was later appropriated by acknowledged fan John Carpenter for his underrated Prince of Darkness. A must-see for horror and science fiction aficionados. This film is also known as Five Million Years to Earth. --Andrew Wright

Synopsis
Workmen unearth prehistoric skulls while carrying out excavations on the London Underground. Very soon a strange and malevolent force is unleashed.

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18 Reviews

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4.3 out of 5 stars (18 customer reviews)

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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sophisticated sci-fi horror, 25 May 2005

By	Sally-Anne "mynameissally" (Leicestershire, United Kingdom) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Quatermass And The Pit [DVD] [1967] (DVD)

It seems a contradiction in terms to label a Hammer horror film "sophisticated", but this one is definitely a cut above the rest. This horror takes a scientific approach to an intermittently on-going haunting event at the site of an underground railway excavation. A rocket scientist, the Professor Quatermass of the title, and a military man, Colonel Breen, who is poised to usurp control of Quatermass's rocket group, are sidetracked from their struggle for control of the group, by an intriguing find in the underground excavation. Things take a decidedly spooky turn when soldiers are brought in to dig out the supposed 'bomb'. Quatermass teams up with the archaeologist, Dr Roney, who is retrieving 5 million year old fossil bones from the site. Roney and Quatermass are also united in their dislike of Breen, the bumptious blimp who gets their backs up when he writes off every bizarre occurrence as some WWII Nazi propaganda plot. Dr Roney's assistant, Barbara, takes the initiative and starts investigating old records of the area and finds the 'hauntings' have been going on for a long time. These people are scientists though, and just because something inexplicable seems to be happening, their instincts do not lead them to look for supernatural causes. They begin to wonder if ghosts could just be phenomena that were badly observed and wrongly explained. The rocket expert's interests focus on space and the archaeologist's interests focus on our ancient ancestors. When the two get their heads together, their conclusions are astonishing.

This is the best of Hammer's adaptations of the three Quatermass BBC series, in my opinion. Andrew Keir makes a fine Professor Quatermass and the other actors are also very good. The atmosphere of fear and tension creeps up steadily. The music is excellent: it's not obtrusive, it doesn't drown out the dialogue, it's completely absent a lot of the time but when it is there, it's appropriate, sinister and adds wonderfully to the atmosphere of threat and danger. I've always taken the opportunity to watch this film when it's been shown on television. It terrified me when I was young and now I can still get hooked into the spirit of fear. I'm pleased with the DVD even though it offers no extras at all - not even subtitles. It's good just to be able to watch it whenever I like.

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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Definitely NOT the pits...., 8 Nov 2004

By	Roger Shallot (Merrie England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Quatermass And The Pit [DVD] [1967] (DVD)

I remember seeing this one on one of those saturday night horror double bills that BBC2 used to show in the late seventies and early eighties. Some of the films that were shown were of very
dubious quality indeed ("Night of the Lepus" anyone ?), but most of them were interesting and some of them were very good indeed. Quatermass and the Pit was one of the very best.
The plot concerns and alien spaceship found during building work in a London underground station, and whilst that may seem a little bit creaky and familiar, it turns out to be anything but.
By the end of the film, the cast of characters are speculating on the nature of the strange race which visited Earth at some time in the dim and distant past, but more startlingly on that race's influence on mankind's development, beliefs and very existence upon the planet. Ambitious stuff, and all done intelligently and convincingly. Particularly good is the subtle investigation of the strange goings on which have been going on in the vicinity for hundreds of years, usually dismissed
as nohing but local superstition and ignorance but now proving to be just a little bit more than that.
The cast is impressive... Andrew Keir, in what is probably his best remembered role, is perfect as Quatermass who is pehaps used here as a linking character instead of a driving character. He is excellently assisted by James Donald as the committed and ultimately heroic archaologist, Barbara Shelley and Julian Glover, whilst familiar faces such as Michael Ripper and Sheila Steafal also pop up. As is usual in films were alien spacecraft are discovered, there's a bit of friction between the
military and the scientists but there's a nice bit of overlap as the story develops and everyone begins to understand the possible significance of what is going on.
It isn't a horror film as such, but when the chills are delivered they still manage to have an effect nearly forty years later, and the atmosphere builds up quite nicely from one of intrigue into one of psychological and physical menace.
The script is as excellent as the perfromances of the cast, and if the special effects look a little bit limited by today's CGI standards, it is a flaw which can be understood and forgiven.
In short, it's a very impressive film indeed, and modern film makers could well make a note or two when planning the next action packed special effects driven blockbuster. There's nothing particularly wrong with that approach, but a little intelligence never does any harm.
The DVD is basic and their are no extras to speak of, which is a little disappointing. However, it's still nice to be able to replace my 'taped off the telly VHS version' which was beginning to shoe the signs of wear. The professor didn't surface again in the movies as far as I know, and we had to wait for the
John Mills TV series to see him again.
All in all, a cracker, and at this price, and absolute must !

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12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Hammer At Its Best!, 5 Jul 2002

By	E. A. Redfearn "eredfearn2" (Middlesbrough) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

In more ways than one, this film alongside The Devil Rides Out produced a short time later, are landmarks in Hammer Film's History, for Hammer went into decline after these films were released. Overall, this version of Quatermass is a splendid achievement for its time. It does however, lack the atmosphere of the original Television broadcast of 1958/1959. One reason is that its made in colour and the atmosphere is lost somewhat. In black and white, there was a feeling that there was always something lurking in the shadows, especially in the haunted house scene which is one of the highlights of the Television version. Still, there is much to enjoy here despite budget limitations which had an adverse effect on special effects. The actors, especially Andrew Kier, Barbara Shelly and Julian Glover all played their parts with distinction. The final scenes of the destruction of London may look amateurish at times, but it doesnt detract from the film though. Worth seeing how well films can be made on limited budgets unlike the multi-million dollar productions which seem to be the norm nowadays. Needs to be seen on DVd though.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars MORE SCI-FI THAN HORROR
Quatermass and the Pit (a.k.a. Five Million Years To Earth) is one of the best science fiction movies to come out of Britain. Read more

Published 23 months ago by stuart

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Hammer Sci-Fi
Quatermass and the Pit is one of the finest of Hammer's vast and largely very fine oeuvre. Strangely, however, when you hear people speak of Hammer horror, this film rarely gets a... Read more

Published on 15 Jul 2005 by Nick Brown

5.0 out of 5 stars Defintely One Of Hammer's Best Sci-Fi Films
This third QUATERMASS film from Hammer Films is regarded by many to be the one of the best flicks Hammer has ever done and they are right. Read more

Published on 5 Feb 2005 by D. W. Bissett

5.0 out of 5 stars Small budget, big ideas, great film
I fell in love with this film the first time I saw it on TV many years ago. It's very typical Nigel Kneale territory, with events in the distant past having a big impact on the... Read more

Published on 7 Jan 2005 by Mr. S. Crook

4.0 out of 5 stars The finest British SF film ever...?
Well I think it is! OK, you can make a case for "2001" being British,since it was made here and Kubrick was about as British as you can get without being born here! Read more

Published on 25 Oct 2004 by Robert Frampton

4.0 out of 5 stars British cinema at it's best
Hollywood it ain't.

With a typically British cast the main star is the script.

Very intelligent and well paced- as it unfolds a gradual realisation and horror takes hold... Read more

Published on 20 May 2004 by marcusmuck

5.0 out of 5 stars Remember in the U.K. as "Quatermass and the Pit"
Known in the Colonies as "Five Million Years to Earth" but first released as "Quatermass and the Pit" in the U.K. Read more

Published on 13 Feb 2004 by Lawrance M. Bernabo

5.0 out of 5 stars Quatermass in colour for the first time.
This is an excellent British sci-fi from the 1960s, combining a genuinely intelligent, thought-provoking script (Nigel Kneale, as you would expect), and a host of familier faces... Read more

Published on 20 Nov 2003 by S. Hapgood

5.0 out of 5 stars great bit of sci-fi
watched this film when I was a kid and thought it was really scary. so I bought it again a couple of years back and have watched it loads of times since. Read more

Published on 12 Sep 2003 by tomsk77

4.0 out of 5 stars If you do not have this movie, hop to it.
When I was a youngster many movies gave me nightmares such as "It Came From Outer Space" (1953) where I kept seeing eyeballs. Read more

Published on 1 Dec 2002 by bernie

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	38% buy Quatermass And The Pit [DVD] [1967] 4.5 out of 5 stars (12) �4.68
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	25% buy The Quatermass Collection - The Quatermass Experiment / Quatermass 2 / Quatermass And The Pit [DVD] 4.5 out of 5 stars (16) �10.98
	5% buy The Devil Rides Out [DVD] [1968] 4.9 out of 5 stars (19) �3.98


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Quatermass And The Pit [VHS] [1967]

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