Remember watching this film one night with my dad who sadly passed away a couple of months ago, I was a teenager but remember dad being as scared as i was. RIP Dad.
What impressed me was its insight. When Quatermass & Ronay accept the Martian theory but the govt & the military won't, Quatermass asks Ronay what we would do if we were doomed ("perhaps through climate change") ? Ronay answers "Nothing. Just go on squabbling like always. " All those years ago & They were so right on both counts.
Yes, that's because they were most influenced by the Martians, always thinking in lock step with each other, never changing their minds and hating anyone who thought differently. It's as much a message now, perhaps more so, given the current nature of politics and society being so absolutely divisive in nature, partly as a result of the adoption of certain political ideologies and as a unforeseen result of technology feeding into that.
The scene with the policeman guiding Quatermass through an abandoned London flat is overwhelmingly-creepy. "Just kids..." (the nervous and sweating cop). We knew better.
To be fair to the cop - it's not himself thats inherently creepy but the setting - on the surface an abandonded tenemant due for demolition. The cop (who has lived in the area since he was akid) talks to Quatermass about "ghost" and as he does he visibly becomrds uneasy -showing the influence of the long dead martiand It's a really crepy scene - ehst we might read as "wrong" - on the surface everything is normal but underneath somethig it teribly wrong
One of the very best Sc-Fi horror thrillers ever made, both the six part live black and white BBC TV serial presentation and the theatrical film adaptation. Both very influential in the modern development of the Sc-Fi genre still to this day.
I think many in the UK saw this Christmas 1973 as a kid and turned out to be one scary film that everyone remembers. We were too young to have seen any of the tv series.
I watched this way back in the 70's got me hooked ever since and once in a while I see it again. World building back stories. It leads you down a path that few movies do any more.
I like this version of the story. The BBC original was on Iplayer for a while and I loved it - it was so much more imaginative than a lot of sci-f and the grounded nature of the setting made it so easy to watch. It was little details like the soil analysis of the pit showing a lot of radioactive decay products - consistent with the remains of a nuclear propulsion system that showed that Kneale knew his stuff.
I've watched this film for the 1st time last year and I really love it especially as I'm doctor who fan and this to me feels very much like a Patrick Troughton/John Pertwee style doctor who story
I must have been 10 when I saw the tv serial and was mesmerised and scared shitless at the same time - the whole country was. To this day I can't understand how my parents could let me watch it, especially that scene where the driller is left alone in the pit then starts jumping around and running through the streets with loose objects flying after him like his was a giant magnet. Jesus, it still gives me chills.
Highly intelligent screenplay . Perfectly cast with the finest actors and a denouement similar to that of 2001 except more frankly detailed and therefore more satisfying.
I remember the original BBC serial shown when I was 8. Scared me fartless, but I didn't miss an episode! Brilliant writing. The film was good, but wasn't long enough to cover everything that was in the serial.
@@rogueriderhood1862 The serial was very excellent and slowly built up tension. Probably too slow for modern day audiences though who demand fast paced action. A new version would be possible though -
BBC2 gave _Quatermass and the Pit_ its premiere broadcast on Christmas night 1973. I don't remember it myself, but my mother told me she was watching it with the family, when her waters broke before she gave birth to me on Boxing Day morning. Mars has been a lifelong obsession for me ever since.
Anyone remember the Quatermass TV series from the 80's? The van with the mesh screen on the windshield, people floating in the air then exploding, and the creepy nursery rhyme about "losing your hat and it'll never be found" - can't seem to find that on here.
I remember sitting down with my parents one day and watching this during daytime. I wasn't very old ( I can't remember how old now, but I think I must have still been in school). I do recall that when the image of the Devil/ Martian loomed over London I wasn't at all scared, possibly because to me it looked like the Martian insectoids more than Satan. I'm not sure why I started looking it up after all this time, but I have. What I don't remember from all those years ago was Colonel Breen's demise... perhaps it was cut from the film as being too graphic for daytime viewing. And yes, for all that I'm a lot older, and there have been far worse things shown on screen these days, I did find those few seconds of footage showing what happened to him pretty unpleasant. It's easy to forget just how far film and visual entertainment has come in terms of visual effects since then, but in terms of story, I honestly think, with a few light tweaks, it could still hold its own with the very best of modern day SF. After all, even if the SFX are superlative, and the actors are first class and give the performance of their lives, no blockbuster is going to do well if the story is absolute rubbish!
Saw this at Home Cinema in Manchester and rushed out to buy the Blu Ray the next day. What an absolutely superbly acted and perfectly paced sci fi film. Cant lie I do get a giggle out of everyone solution to being shocked by aliens being 'chin up old boy get a shot of whisky down you'
I actually saw this at the theater when it came out. My family mistakenly let me, their 8 year old son and the oldest of 4 boys pick the movie that night. I thought it was cinematic magic, my Mother walked out, with my brothers in tow, long before the end and didn't speak to me for a few days...
I do think that the six part serial is better than the 1967 film. More time to develop the characters and plot .Nigel Kneale certainly knew what he was doing
The 1967 film was better than the 1958 BBC TV series. At more than three hours, the TV series was too slow as it plods along with unnecessary scenes to fill out the story. You don't need in excess of three hours to develop the plot and characters. A tight, well written script will do this in half the time. The film version never really slows down as the pace is kept moving along at the right tempo. Also the special effects were superior to anything that the TV series had. We are entitled to our opinion, but for me, the 1967 film surpasses the 1958 TV series:
@@TheQ-Continuum The tv serial was written and designed as a six part serial each episode running for 35 minutes and ending as a cliff hanger. there are more characters in it and more substance to the story.
@@TheQ-Continuum, I agree with you! The tv serial was too long... I think saying the film version is worse, is an utter insult to Kneale, who wrote both! People who saw the original tv broadcast, watched under very different conditions than a cinema release (and later tv broadcast of the film). The film was much more efficient, and did an excellent job of building tension and mystery, whilst moving the plot forward at an impressive pace, without padding anywhere! BBC's Day of the Triffids (1980) suffers even more so! I fully understand the slow-build-up of suspense, the break-down of society-social-commentary and all that (I have read the book 4 times)... But it is also excruciatingly dull! Filled with a lot of pointless exposition, to fill six episodes that pseudo intellectuals will say is essential! To close, I own everything I've mentioned (DotT on dvd, & both Quatermas productions on blu ray) so feel as well placed as anyone to offer critique!
@@tooleyheadbang4239 Oooo, That's very diplomatic!I love it ;-) I do love everything I mentioned, even though my ranking may differ from others... My favourite (because I saw it first as a 70's kid on the BBC Horror Double-Bill) is the movie version. If you 'Had' to pick 'One' front-runner, which would it be? See ya
All 3 Quatermass films Hammer turned out were excellent, and for me at least - and rather uniquely so - each one was better than the last. Unusual for a trilogy.
I prefer the Martian design from the BBC serial, but also prefer the Hammer spaceship design over the original. Changing the setting of the excavation to the London Underground was a genius idea.
well i was born in 57 but did not see any square pins sockets till the 70s but they were very few of them about i worked as an electrician so by then they were totally common with exception of a few properties
Yes, the Cut for the movie was well done even though I miss a couple of scenes from the original Mini-Series like the side story about the journalist trying to find out what the hell the Military and the Historians were doing in this pit of the Tube´s construction sight or the more advanced scenes about the events in Hobe´s Lane.
You're celebrating the wrong production, Mark. It is a very good film. Certainly the best of the Quatermass film adaptations. However, to put bluntly, it's nowhere near as good as the original 1958 TV production. Not even in the same league. The BBC's 1958 television production of 'Quatermass and the Pit' remains a powerful masterpiece that completely eclipses the 1967 film remake in almost every respect. In fact, of the two productions, the 1958 TV version feels far broader and more cinematic than the 1967 film version does. It's certainly stood up very well for the handful of cinema screenings it's had over the years. Some scenes in the TV version were performed live, it is true. However, most of it was shot more conventionally on 35mm film, on location and on large studio sets - just as any cinema feature would be. The scenes of panic on the streets of London are particularly more effective in the 1958 production, than they are in the rather cramped studio scenes we got in the Hammer remake. The 1958 TV version shows off better cinematography, better design work and it is just far more atmospherically directed all round. At around three hours long, the TV version needs sticking with, but it's very much worth doing so. By the last two episodes we have some expert (and chilling) pieces of sustained visual storytelling, that are unique among 50s TV and also completely missing from the film remake. The scene in the church yard is one of the highlights - mixing horror and religion in a way that was pretty unique for the time and would remain so for decades to come. The first two Quatermass TV serials (1953's 'The Quatermass Experiment' and 1955's 'Quatermass II') were very crude live TV productions and the film remakes certainly improve on the look of those productions. However, 'Quatermass and the Pit' is very different. It doesn't deserve to be a mere footnote when talking about the 1967 film remake. It should be the other way round. Full disclosure, I work for the BBC and recently produced a new BluRay restoration of the 1958 production of 'Quatermass and the Pit'. We'd be happy to send you a copy any time.
I saw the film version first in 1973 then the TV version a few years ago on here. Now they are both excellent - but my problem is - having seen the film first - the BBC version came over as a bit slow and measured. However the shots on Mars are better accomplished - strangely - on the TV version while the shock cut to Breen (being melted in front of the ship) is far better in the film adaptation. I agree the TV version needs more acknowledgment - but I feel modern audiences brought up on fast moving Superhero films probably wouldn't appreciate it.
I mostly agree, but certain scenes in the theatrical version are simply more powerful, especially the stoic Roney (James Donald) sacrifice at the end with the rather downbeat ending, which maintains the dark tone.
You argue against yourself calling the original crude. I just finished watching the BBC original and loved it and agree it was crude but the 1967 remake is much more creepy.
What makes the serial superior is that the drama expands to 3+ hours and the story develops better suspense. The film is excellent as a condensed version.
What puzzles me about this film is that you know when they tell to sw the generator off I noticed they got square 3 pin sockets two of them be precise just above the shut off switch I was nine years old when I first saw this film and I can tell Sq pin socket did not exist only smaller 3pin and the larger version non of them had fuse like today units ?
A Great film and like Alien in that it let's your imagination fill in we're shit special effects would have destroyed the movie, always showing you enough and then it's over to your mind to horrifie yourself
SUCH a brilliant, classic British movie! 👍👍👍👍👏👏👏👏
Remember watching this film one night with my dad who sadly passed away a couple of months ago, I was a teenager but remember dad being as scared as i was. RIP Dad.
What impressed me was its insight. When Quatermass & Ronay accept the Martian theory but the govt & the military won't, Quatermass asks Ronay what we would do if we were doomed ("perhaps through climate change") ? Ronay answers "Nothing. Just go on squabbling like always. " All those years ago & They were so right on both counts.
The name is rooney.
Roney actually.
Yes, that's because they were most influenced by the Martians, always thinking in lock step with each other, never changing their minds and hating anyone who thought differently. It's as much a message now, perhaps more so, given the current nature of politics and society being so absolutely divisive in nature, partly as a result of the adoption of certain political ideologies and as a unforeseen result of technology feeding into that.
@@RobertLeather No, we're just stupid.
@@marccolten9801 No - he's got it - Spot on correct.
The scene with the policeman guiding Quatermass through an abandoned London flat is overwhelmingly-creepy. "Just kids..." (the nervous and sweating cop). We knew better.
To be fair to the cop - it's not himself thats inherently creepy but the setting - on the surface an abandonded tenemant due for demolition. The cop (who has lived in the area since he was akid) talks to Quatermass about "ghost" and as he does he visibly becomrds uneasy -showing the influence of the long dead martiand It's a really crepy scene - ehst we might read as "wrong" - on the surface everything is normal but underneath somethig it teribly wrong
.............The pace throughout is superb. The way it builds to the climax.
One of the very best Sc-Fi horror thrillers ever made, both the six part live black and white BBC TV serial presentation and the theatrical film adaptation. Both very influential in the modern development of the Sc-Fi genre still to this day.
Loved the series as a young one. The suspense was beautiful. Keep coming back to it over the years.
The way Nigel neale could blend sci fi and the paranormal always made his work fascinating.
This is a movie I never miss when it is shown. It is a great Sci Fi film more intent on the story line rather than special effects.
Cole Parker - totally agree with you - I never miss it either. Absolute classic.
Great film. Seen it many times and get something new out of it with every viewing.
I think many in the UK saw this Christmas 1973 as a kid and turned out to be one scary film that everyone remembers. We were too young to have seen any of the tv series.
Utterly *superb* film.
One of me *VERY* fave sci-fi horror films ever.
I watched this way back in the 70's got me hooked ever since and once in a while I see it again. World building back stories. It leads you down a path that few movies do any more.
Saw this as a teen, scared the shit outta me! A common reaction apparently.
I like this version of the story. The BBC original was on Iplayer for a while and I loved it - it was so much more imaginative than a lot of sci-f and the grounded nature of the setting made it so easy to watch. It was little details like the soil analysis of the pit showing a lot of radioactive decay products - consistent with the remains of a nuclear propulsion system that showed that Kneale knew his stuff.
I've watched this film for the 1st time last year and I really love it especially as I'm doctor who fan and this to me feels very much like a Patrick Troughton/John Pertwee style doctor who story
The Daemons was definitely inspired by Quatermass & The Pit.
I must have been 10 when I saw the tv serial and was mesmerised and scared shitless at the same time - the whole country was.
To this day I can't understand how my parents could let me watch it, especially that scene where the driller is left alone in the pit then starts jumping around and running through the streets with loose objects flying after him like his was a giant magnet. Jesus, it still gives me chills.
Same with me. I remember sneeking down from my bedroom 6 years old and watching Sladen with the loose cables moving around. Scared the shit out of me.
So... not just me that was scared...(at age 14)
Highly intelligent screenplay . Perfectly cast with the finest actors and a denouement similar to that of 2001 except more frankly detailed and therefore more satisfying.
I've Loved this Film since I was 7 years old. The Skull dug up at the beginning...
This film terrified me when I was just 15 - having been shown late night around Christmas 1973
Reason why it will always be remembered.
I remember the original BBC serial shown when I was 8. Scared me fartless, but I didn't miss an episode! Brilliant writing. The film was good, but wasn't long enough to cover everything that was in the serial.
The film was much better better visual effects
@@rogueriderhood1862 The serial was very excellent and slowly built up tension. Probably too slow for modern day audiences though who demand fast paced action. A new version would be possible though -
BBC2 gave _Quatermass and the Pit_ its premiere broadcast on Christmas night 1973. I don't remember it myself, but my mother told me she was watching it with the family, when her waters broke before she gave birth to me on Boxing Day morning. Mars has been a lifelong obsession for me ever since.
That film scared the heck out of me 😱
Anyone remember the Quatermass TV series from the 80's? The van with the mesh screen on the windshield, people floating in the air then exploding, and the creepy nursery rhyme about "losing your hat and it'll never be found" - can't seem to find that on here.
I remember sitting down with my parents one day and watching this during daytime. I wasn't very old ( I can't remember how old now, but I think I must have still been in school). I do recall that when the image of the Devil/ Martian loomed over London I wasn't at all scared, possibly because to me it looked like the Martian insectoids more than Satan.
I'm not sure why I started looking it up after all this time, but I have. What I don't remember from all those years ago was Colonel Breen's demise... perhaps it was cut from the film as being too graphic for daytime viewing. And yes, for all that I'm a lot older, and there have been far worse things shown on screen these days, I did find those few seconds of footage showing what happened to him pretty unpleasant.
It's easy to forget just how far film and visual entertainment has come in terms of visual effects since then, but in terms of story, I honestly think, with a few light tweaks, it could still hold its own with the very best of modern day SF. After all, even if the SFX are superlative, and the actors are first class and give the performance of their lives, no blockbuster is going to do well if the story is absolute rubbish!
Saw this at Home Cinema in Manchester and rushed out to buy the Blu Ray the next day. What an absolutely superbly acted and perfectly paced sci fi film.
Cant lie I do get a giggle out of everyone solution to being shocked by aliens being 'chin up old boy get a shot of whisky down you'
I actually saw this at the theater when it came out. My family mistakenly let me, their 8 year old son and the oldest of 4 boys pick the movie that night. I thought it was cinematic magic, my Mother walked out, with my brothers in tow, long before the end and didn't speak to me for a few days...
😂
One of the greatest sci fi movies ever made ... very creepy
A truly brilliant film
Has the gorgeous Barbara Shelley too. :)
Love this film.
I do think that the six part serial is better than the 1967 film. More time to develop the characters and plot .Nigel Kneale certainly knew what he was doing
The 1967 film was better than the 1958 BBC TV series. At more than three hours, the TV series was too slow as it plods along with unnecessary scenes to fill out the story. You don't need in excess of three hours to develop the plot and characters. A tight, well written script will do this in half the time. The film version never really slows down as the pace is kept moving along at the right tempo. Also the special effects were superior to anything that the TV series had. We are entitled to our opinion, but for me, the 1967 film surpasses the 1958 TV series:
@@TheQ-Continuum The tv serial was written and designed as a six part serial each episode running for 35 minutes and ending as a cliff hanger. there are more characters in it and more substance to the story.
@@TheQ-Continuum, I agree with you! The tv serial was too long... I think saying the film version is worse, is an utter insult to Kneale, who wrote both! People who saw the original tv broadcast, watched under very different conditions than a cinema release (and later tv broadcast of the film). The film was much more efficient, and did an excellent job of building tension and mystery, whilst moving the plot forward at an impressive pace, without padding anywhere! BBC's Day of the Triffids (1980) suffers even more so! I fully understand the slow-build-up of suspense, the break-down of society-social-commentary and all that (I have read the book 4 times)... But it is also excruciatingly dull! Filled with a lot of pointless exposition, to fill six episodes that pseudo intellectuals will say is essential! To close, I own everything I've mentioned (DotT on dvd, & both Quatermas productions on blu ray) so feel as well placed as anyone to offer critique!
@@jmartin1885 The film version makes a better film than the BBC one.
But the BBC one makes a better TV serial!
@@tooleyheadbang4239 Oooo, That's very diplomatic!I love it ;-)
I do love everything I mentioned, even though my ranking may differ from others...
My favourite (because I saw it first as a 70's kid on the BBC Horror Double-Bill) is the movie version.
If you 'Had' to pick 'One' front-runner, which would it be?
See ya
All 3 Quatermass films Hammer turned out were excellent, and for me at least - and rather uniquely so - each one was better than the last. Unusual for a trilogy.
I prefer the Martian design from the BBC serial, but also prefer the Hammer spaceship design over the original. Changing the setting of the excavation to the London Underground was a genius idea.
As anything metallic found down there, first thought would be WW2 bomb.
Barbara Shelly is in this movie va VA Voom for real
this is a great film, i watched it when i was a kid
great film
well i was born in 57 but did not see any square pins sockets till the 70s but they were very few of them about i worked as an electrician so by then they were totally common with
exception of a few properties
Great movie; Barbara Shelley is also out of this World. Pity that the “ Hancock and the Pit “ episode is missing.
Yes, the Cut for the movie was well done even though I miss a couple of scenes from the original Mini-Series like the side story about the journalist trying to find out what the hell the Military and the Historians were doing in this pit of the Tube´s construction sight or the more advanced scenes about the events in Hobe´s Lane.
You're celebrating the wrong production, Mark.
It is a very good film. Certainly the best of the Quatermass film adaptations. However, to put bluntly, it's nowhere near as good as the original 1958 TV production. Not even in the same league.
The BBC's 1958 television production of 'Quatermass and the Pit' remains a powerful masterpiece that completely eclipses the 1967 film remake in almost every respect. In fact, of the two productions, the 1958 TV version feels far broader and more cinematic than the 1967 film version does. It's certainly stood up very well for the handful of cinema screenings it's had over the years. Some scenes in the TV version were performed live, it is true. However, most of it was shot more conventionally on 35mm film, on location and on large studio sets - just as any cinema feature would be. The scenes of panic on the streets of London are particularly more effective in the 1958 production, than they are in the rather cramped studio scenes we got in the Hammer remake. The 1958 TV version shows off better cinematography, better design work and it is just far more atmospherically directed all round.
At around three hours long, the TV version needs sticking with, but it's very much worth doing so. By the last two episodes we have some expert (and chilling) pieces of sustained visual storytelling, that are unique among 50s TV and also completely missing from the film remake. The scene in the church yard is one of the highlights - mixing horror and religion in a way that was pretty unique for the time and would remain so for decades to come.
The first two Quatermass TV serials (1953's 'The Quatermass Experiment' and 1955's 'Quatermass II') were very crude live TV productions and the film remakes certainly improve on the look of those productions. However, 'Quatermass and the Pit' is very different. It doesn't deserve to be a mere footnote when talking about the 1967 film remake. It should be the other way round.
Full disclosure, I work for the BBC and recently produced a new BluRay restoration of the 1958 production of 'Quatermass and the Pit'. We'd be happy to send you a copy any time.
Thanks for sharing your insights!
I saw the film version first in 1973 then the TV version a few years ago on here. Now they are both excellent - but my problem is - having seen the film first - the BBC version came over as a bit slow and measured. However the shots on Mars are better accomplished - strangely - on the TV version while the shock cut to Breen (being melted in front of the ship) is far better in the film adaptation.
I agree the TV version needs more acknowledgment - but I feel modern audiences brought up on fast moving Superhero films probably wouldn't appreciate it.
I mostly agree, but certain scenes in the theatrical version are simply more powerful, especially the stoic Roney (James Donald) sacrifice at the end with the rather downbeat ending, which maintains the dark tone.
You argue against yourself calling the original crude. I just finished watching the BBC original and loved it and agree it was crude but the 1967 remake is much more creepy.
What makes the serial superior is that the drama expands to 3+ hours and the story develops better suspense. The film is excellent as a condensed version.
Highly recommended! Unconventional take on the “alien invasion” trope blending cosmic horror and folk horror.
Brilliant film
What puzzles me about this film is that you know when they tell to sw the generator off I noticed they got square 3 pin sockets two of them be precise just above the shut off switch I was nine years old when I first saw this film and I can tell Sq pin socket did not exist only smaller 3pin and the larger version non of them had fuse like today units ?
The square-pin sockets are BS 1363, and were introduced in 1947.
Quatermass and the Pit? Is that like Huey Lewis and the News?
A Great film and like Alien in that it let's your imagination fill in we're shit special effects would have destroyed the movie, always showing you enough and then it's over to your mind to horrifie yourself
True, cgi cannot replace a well directed and acted movie.
That would be a great time to trip on LSD
Scifi and Horror have lost a lot with big budgets [except the vanishing few] they don't have to rely on plots anymore so don't.
I was looking for this movie for ages. I'm glad I finally found it. Thank you so much for talking about it!
Treat to find it in HD if you know where to look.
And in colour!
Brilliant movie