Thanks to a good friend I'm currently undergoing what sci-fi fans refer to as "the Quatermass-experience". That simply means watching the three QUATERMASS-movies in a short time period. The first one felt like a true sci-fi classic, but I honestly couldn't really tell, because I haven't seen enough of those black & white sci-fi flicks to compare it too. But I'm working on that.

After having seen QUATERMASS 2, I'm starting to get convinced that those movies really are a stellar trilogy (even though the individual stories aren't actually related). This second installment was the first British movie ever to feature a number "2" in its title, to indicate that it's a sequel. The movie itself shows a lot of similarities with the original INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (an alien organism invading earth, loss of human identity, a common higher consciousness, a global threat at hand...). But since they were produced around the same time none of the movies can be accused of stealing from each other.

Writer Nigel Kneale presents us a solid, coherent story undermined with plausible scientific facts. To put it rather simply: an organism not of this earth infects humans and even infiltrates the highest ranks of the British government. The story moves at a decent pace and never gets boring. Val Guest's directing is as good as it gets for a movie from the 50's. He clearly knew what he was doing on the set. Some minor continuity problems can be encountered (some night shots feature a few glimpses of daylight) and at least one scene seemed a bit artificially staged for convenience's sake (the one where Broadhead and Quatermass get their passes from the ministry-chap). But all that really isn't anything to complain about.

I sort of liked Brian Donlevy as Quatermass. He really feels like the prototype of an anti-hero. He's often a bit rude and really persistent. Especially that last characteristic made his character more believable. The rest of the acting was also decent, though all of the supporting roles were too small to be memorable. And I so much liked the fact that there wasn't an obligatory love-interest in the plot for Mr. Quatermass. That simply would not have worked.

There were a few details I really liked, like when Quatermass arrives in that little town in the area of Winterton Flats (or was it Willingdon Flats?). All the inhabitants work for the alien-infested factory and they have posters on the wall with slogans like "Remember: Secrets mean sealed lips" and "Talk about your job. Lose it". Another cool thing about the story was that it was actually Quatermass who designed the factory facility with the domes, which was originally to be a moon-colonization project. Only, the government stole his design and build it here on earth, for the alien organism to adapt itself. The factory was an excellent location and felt real. So were the few special effects (mainly miniatures of the domes). The 'rocket-lift-off' shots and effects looked rather silly though. I'm glad this movie was in black & white, that way, when we finally see the alien organism in all its giant glory, it looked a bit more terrifying.

So if you're curious about the history of sci-fi movies, than you just can not miss this one. Now I'm really looking forward to see QUATERMASS AND THE PIT.

Quatermass 2 finds the British scientific icon played once again by American Brian Donlevy, the better to get the American market distributed to. A little bit more money is put into this second Donlevy outing.

This time Donlevy is battling more creatures from outer space who use meteors carrying control devices to infect humans and bend them to their will. The humans in turn are building a big acclimatizing plant for these creatures to grow and thrive in before venturing out on the planet for conquest.

The place the outer space creatures are being housed in looks suspiciously like an oil refinery and in fact it is the Shell Oil Refinery in Essex. We're told that a lot of the Quatermass television series was shot there.

The United Kingdom never had the lavish Hollywood budgets to use and Quatermass 2 looks pretty cheap because of that. It's shot a lot in dark and could almost be described as science fiction noir.

But though this film is slightly better than the first Brian Donlevy Quatermass film, it's still not as good as Quatermass and the Pit with Andrew Keir.

While it comes across as a British spin on INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS, what QUATERMASS 2 most brings to mind is an old, Pertwee-era episode of DOCTOR WHO; I'm thinking something like The Green Death, perhaps. There are too many similarities to be purely coincidental: a remote, scientific institution hiding dark secrets; faceless guards under the influence of some malign influence; unfriendly villagers; cheesy special effects; the dedicated scientist hero and his various companions. It goes without saying that if you're a DOCTOR WHO fan then you'll love this.

I saw THE QUATERMASS XPERIMENT some years ago and I remember it feeling very different to this movie. It was smaller scale, more homely, more intimate. QUATERMASS 2 feels more like it's trying to be an American movie, with stuff taking place on a much larger scale. The conspiracy storyline is very hackneyed these days but it's handled with wit and decent pacing here and as a whole this is a nice early outing for the newly-horrifying Hammer, even it is the lesser vehicle to both the first film and X THE UNKNOWN. The film is notable for Brian Donlevy's gruff, hard-headed turn as Quatermass and for the appearance of many familiar British supporting players, including Percy Herbert, Charles Lloyd Pack and Michael Ripper. There's also a decent, semi-serious role for Sid James to sink his teeth into, too!