Enemy From Space!

Enemy from Space is the second Quatermass yarn, properly dubbed in England Quatermass 2. In this case we have the serial from BBC TV to compare and it's an interesting comparison and teaches much about the distinctive needs of both mediums.

Quatermass 2 from TV has a leisurely pace as an invasion from a mysterious foe is slowly revealed and then ultimately stopped by the singular bravery of a few stalwart people who raised a hand when it was needed. Enemy from Space moves a rapid clip with lots and lots of running around a pretty futuristic looking outdoor complex. Sometimes these types of settings get boring, but Val Guest keeps the camera moving and keeps our attention.

The plot is pretty simple and falls into that broad category of stories which include Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Village of the Damned and others. Aliens come to Earth and infiltrate the human race itself to gain its eventual goal, which in this case is a planet swimming in toxic amonotic compounds. And like those other shows, this one too is about conformity in society and how that can lead to all sorts of problems.

Enemy from Space does not have the dramatic tension of its predecessor The Creeping Unknown, but the threat is an even greater one on an intellectual level. Also Enemy from Space can boast the most memorable scene from the whole of the series, that of a desperate man slathered in poison trying to clamber down steps and live long enough to tell others of the threat. There is another Quatermass yarn and it took a decade to adapt to the big screen, and it 's the best of all. More to tomorrow.

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The Creeping Unknown!

I love the Quatermass stories. I didn't always know about them, and when I did learn of them there was little practical way to access them. But in recent years both the original BBC serials and the feature film versions have become available. The first of the series is The Quatermass Xperiment, which was dubbed The Creeping Unknown in its American feature length release and it compresses the story of a three or so hour serial into a brisk hour and a half or so. In this one case we do not have the original serial which did survive the rigors of time and disdain.

The creator of Quatermass and writer Nigel Kneale posited three methods that the Earth might encounter extraterrestrials -- we find them, they find us, they've always been here. In the three main Quatermass yarns he explores each of these scenarios. With The Creeping Unknown he explores what happens when man ventures into space and brings home something dangerous.

Of course Quatermass refers to Dr. Quatermass, the leader of a rocket group dedicated to getting mankind off the planet and into space. To that end of course dangerous missions are undertaken and one such mission ends tragically when the rocket returns to Earth in a farmer's field. The only survivor, in fact the only man aboard the vessel is overcome with some sort of infection which is steadily stealing his mind and transforming his body as it has more swiftly done to his compatriots.

The Creeping Unknown is on one level a classic science fiction monster movie with an eventual giant creature threatening the population. On a second level it's also a horror film following the slow and inevitable destruction of one man's self as he is transformed. What makes this transformation so potent in many respects is that the man himself never speaks but only communicates through posture and through his eyes the desperation.

It's well documented that Nigel Kneale's opinion of Brian Donlevy, the American selected to portray Quatermass, is quite low. It's equally documented that Val Guest, the director of the cinematic verson of the story found Donleavy with his abrupt surly attitude to be an excellent choice. The disagreeable combative nature of Quatermass reminds me of Arthur Conan Doyle's second great creation Professor Challenger, the often agitated protagonist of The Lost World and The Poison Belt among other tales.. I'm always impressed with the professional craftsmanship of British monster movies and always know when I'm watching one the story will make sense.

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Quatermass And The Brits!

I finally got to see Quatermass II, or as it's know in these United States -- Enemy from Space. This is the Hammer Films feature version of the vintage British TV Quatermass series which tells a tale which evokes classic yarns like Invasion of the Body Snatchers and other subtle alien invasion movies. Brian Donlevy is the cantankerous Professor Quatermass, a rocket scientist who is struggling to keep his rocket project up and running as his team gets wind of another secret project which seems to be getting all of the government's funds. They are led to it by mysterious objects which have fallen from space and when handled break open release a gas and and agent which dominates the mind and spirit of a human host.

The story is a complicated story in which against all odds Quatermass is able to penetrate the secret base operated by the hidden aliens and attempts to frustrate their efforts to transform Earth's atmosphere to suit their own needs. There's lots of mayhem and typical of a British sci-fi effort, a lot of death before it's all said and done. I don't love the plot of this story, especially at the end since so much of the solution is happenstance, but there's no denying the bravery of a few souls who give all to save this island Earth.

Quatermass II was preceded of course by The Quatermass Xperiment otherwise called The Creeping Unknown. This earlier tale has a rocket return to Earth which brings back one living astronaut who has been infected by alien spores which are slowly transforming him from a human into something else, something which poses a threat to all mankind. The story is for most of its telling a taught story in which the authorities are chasing after the escaped astronaut who slowly changes and murders as he does so.

I have the first movie in its original TV format and I like that one quite well, but finally getting to see the feature version is dandy. The original TV version of the first Quatermass story is apparently only partially extant, so I guess we can only speculate how good it was. But in all versions and in the later Quatermass and the Pit (still need a good copy of Five Million Years to Earth by the way) I am always attracted by the British settings and characters. The equanimity which is a core aspect of so many characters in these stories is always interesting. They have a charm apart from the surreal aspects of the story which helps to ground the proceedings. The Earth might be invaded and all of life as we know might end before dawn, but there's no need to panic! Love that.

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Quatermass And The Pit!

The movie I'd most like to own which I don't currently is Five Million Years to Earth, the 1967 big-screen adaptation of Nigel Kneale's BBC serial Quatermass and the Pit.

Which was its title in Britain, but I assume was just to oddball for American release. This movie was my first experience with the complex rocket scientist, Professor Bernard Quatermass, a character played irascibly and memorably by Andrew Keir, who finds common cause with the more refined paleontologist Dr. Mathew Roney (James Donald).  They are confronted with a mystery which challenges many a cherished sacred cow and which threatens to destroy London and possibly all of human society. Barbara Shelley is along as a beautiful lab assistant and obligatory minor love interest, strangely enough for Quatermass. Julian Glove does a remarkable job as the unsympathetic military martinet Colonel Breen.

This is delightful yarn that starts slow and builds beautifully to a crescendo, with many a neat jump along the way. There's a decided creepiness to the story which blends science fiction with the supernatural in such a smooth way that the difference is negligible. The movie made a huge impact on me when I first saw it, though the years and experience with more BBC material of this type has dulled its impact a bit.
 

Which is why I likely now prefer the original BBC six-part serial version of the story since I've been able to glom a copy and enjoy it. The measured pace of the six-part serial better serves the story which has some very memorable highlights at the end of each chapter.

Andre Morrell plays Quatermass in this one and he does a magnificent job as a somewhat less irritable figure who is upset that his beloved "Rocket Group" designed for research and exploration is being turned to military use by the government and that Colonel Breen (Anthony Bushell). The story of the London dig which uncovers some peculiar hominid remains brings in Roney (Cec Linder) and his assistant (Christine Finn) to seek out the answers which ultimately challenge everything.

Christine Finn is too young to be matche with Quatermass in this version and the love interest is instead supplied by the young military officer Potter (John Stratton). This frees up Quatermass to have a more thorough teaming with Roney as the story rolls foward. In particular this version makes more of the troubling religious aspects of the story.

The black and white also helps obscure the "aliens" who cause all the panic, since the less vivid imagery helps obscure the limited special effects results which to a small degree undermines the effectiveness of the color big-screen version.

The finale of the serial is somewhat less focused than the film version, but the ending is perhaps a bit more thematically resonant as Quatermass is given a final speech which ties it up where the film merely seems to stop in a moment of confusing shame.

Either one is a hoot to watch and I can only look forward to the time in the future when I can relish them again.

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