The Quatermass Xperiment is a 1955 Sci-fi horror film based around a BBC series which was broadcasted two years earlier. The film takes place mostly in London, where a Scientist - Professor Quatermass has sent a ship into space and on it's return brings an alien with it, using the disguise of the last surviving astronaut , the only one who made it back to earth. The astronaut begins to mutate and escapes into the suburbs of the city, where Quatermass with the help of a police Inspector, must track it down.



Despite the age-old method of acting and cheesy scenes, I enjoyed this vintage Sci-fi film, it had a very eery atmosphere and the special effects were quite impressive for the 1950's. It was very evident how different this film was from Hollywood's equivalent at the time. It was a much smaller production, yet had a very 'British' quality to it, especially as throughout the plot nobody panicked, keep calm and carry on hunting the alien.




This film and the previous TV series seems to be a very important milestone in British Sci-Fi history, and it seems to have made a lot of money for it's production company, Hammer Film Productions. It became a big hit, and even followed up two sequels a few years later.  Despite the anti-climatic ending (The monster just sat there and got fried) the acting in the film was entertaining and the filming locations were varied, giving it a very English theme, especially with the Westminster Abbey as a finale.