Perhaps because an earlier BBC mini-series functioned as a something of a practice run, this Sci-Fi Horror from Hammer Studios is unusually well thought out/put together . . . and nods toward H.G. Wells’ WAR OF THE WORLDS don’t hurt either. It opens as construction at a London Underground station is halted by the discovery of a fossilized skull, a leftover from some primitive ancestor. But further digging reveals further mysteries, an impregnable pod, a decaying army of alien life forms, inexplicable mind-control & force fields emanating from some energy source. Could the pod itself be a living danger? Naturally, military & police discount all evidence before their eyes to politicians & police eager to play down any panic inducing threat, even as scientists & historians warn of apocalyptic implications. Remnants of a Martian attempt to colonize the Earth Five Million Years Ago as their planet was growing inhabitable?!! (Note alternate American poster title.) A bit glib & too brightly lit at first, director Roy Ward Baker & scripter Nigel Kneale soon find their groove with help from an exceptional cast who seem to be enjoying taking this one seriously (James Donald, Andrew Keir and Barbara Shelley in red plaid or green summer dress, just right for research!). With simple but well turned effects (other than the plasticky aliens) and a legit fear factor in the smash finale, this could be Hammer’s top pic. Certainly their best sans Christopher Lee and/or Peter Cushing.
DOUBLE-BILL: Author Nigel Knead much preferred this QUATERMASS to the earlier pair with Brian Donlevy as the professor, THE QUATERMASS XPERIMENT/’55; QUATERMASS 2/’57.
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