- Actors: James Donald, Andrew Keir, Barbara Shelley, Julian Glover, Duncan Lamont
- Directors: Roy Ward Baker
- Writers: Nigel Kneale
- Producers: Anthony Nelson Keys
- Language English
- Classification: 15
- Studio: Warner
- VHS Release Date: 1 Oct 1999
- Run Time: 97 minutes
- Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
- ASIN: B00004CLVT
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 8,410 in Video (See Top 100 in Video)
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Product Description
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
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:VHS Tape
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.
I really like it because it is very British (even Quatermass is British in this film, unlike the other two) and really gets it just right with the atmosphere. it is genuinely a bit creepy even now.
also the central ideas are quite intelligent, it doesn't assum ethat because it's sci-fi it can't try and say something similar. I particularly like the idea that our ideas and images of the devil and gargoyles have been formed by ancient experiences.
I haven't seen the original TV series, and by the looks of some of the comments below I should check it out. however I think the film stands up perfectly well on its own. just the thing for Sunday afternoon viewing.
I really like it because it is very British (even Quatermass is British in this film, unlike the other two) and really gets it just right with the atmosphere. it is genuinely a bit creepy even now.
also the central ideas are quite intelligent, it doesn't assum ethat because it's sci-fi it can't try and say something similar. I particularly like the idea that our ideas and images of the devil and gargoyles have been formed by ancient experiences.
I haven't seen the original TV series, and by the looks of some of the comments below I should check it out. however I think the film stands up perfectly well on its own. just the thing for Sunday afternoon viewing.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:VHS Tape
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.
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Known in the Colonies as "Five Million Years to Earth" but first released as "Quatermass and the Pit" in the U.K., this science fiction/horror classic is for my money the best film ever produced by Hammer Studios. Whatever the title, the film quickly gets you hooked, as workers extending the London subway system uncover some ancient skeletons to the delight of Dr. Mathew Roney (James Donald) and his assistant Barbara Judd (Barbara Shelley). By the time Dr. Quatermass (Andrew Keir) arrives upon the scene, the workers have uncovered an alien spaceship and the strange insect-like creatures that apparently piloted it from another planet. Unfortunately the arrogant Colonel Breen (Julian Glover) dismisses it all as a Nazi hoax left over from the war, despite the fact the craft is made from an unknown metal. Quatermass deduces the strange creatures might have been ancient Martians and is worried about all the strange psychic phenomenon associated with this area. But Breen and the bureaucrats have their way until all hell breaks loose.
Like the original version of "The Thing From Another World," this is a film where the dialogue and the performances make you forget we are dealing with strange creatures from another planet. In point of fact, "Quatermass and the Pit" uses a bare minimum of special effects to create its thrills and chills. To be fair, the idea of Martians affecting human evolution to institute a surrogate race war is way out there, but such concerns are forgotten when the giant Martian image turns everybody in London mad and all that is left between humanity and the end of civilization are a couple of scientists and a giant crane. This 1967 film was directed by Roy Ward Baker, whose eclectic list of credits includes "A Night to Remember" and "The Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires." Baker deserves a lot of credit for the tone of the film, which he maintains even during the final credits as an exhausted Quatermass and Barbara survey the ruins around them. If you do not watch the DVD version of this classic film, then make an effort to get the widescreen VHS version, which remains my favorite science fiction film of the Sixties (yes, over "2001").
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Quatermass rules!
The 3rd, and best, Quatermass film gets a great release on this Anchor Bay DVD. Image transfer is solid, the audio 5:1 soundtrack is very effective, and gives another dimension to... Read more
Published 19 months ago by jimbob
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 July 2005 by Nick Brown
Sophisticated sci-fi horror
It seems a contradiction in terms to label a Hammer horror film "sophisticated", but this one is definitely a cut above the rest. Read more
Published on 25 May 2005 by Sally-Anne
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 4 Feb 2005 by D. W. Bissett
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 6 Jan 2005 by Mr. S. Crook
Definitely NOT the pits....
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. Read more
Published on 8 Nov 2004 by Roger Shallot
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
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"
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
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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