Quatermass 2
by Val Guest
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Canada
DVD details
Actor: Brian DonlevyDirector: Val Guest
Producer: Aubrey Baring
Writer: Nigel Kneale
DVD: Region Code 0
Format: NTSC
Running Time: 85 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-12-05
Studio: Anchor Bay Entertainment
DVD Reviews of Quatermass 2
DVD Review: A Lost Masterwork
Summary: 5 Stars
I first saw this classic Hammer film (1957) when it premiered on US television in the early '60's on New York channel 9's (WOR-TV) "Million Dollar Movie". The idea was that the station would play the same film twice an evening (7 and 9 PM) and several times in a row on the week-ends. I happened to catch it early in the week and recall spending the rest of the week watching it over and over again (this was the age of "you miss the broadcast, you missed it entirely" television).
Of course, compared to the current age of CGI graphics and action sequences designed specifically to be as spectacular as possible, this 1957 low budget black and white British "pulp sci fi" film seems rather tame. But in terms of content, story, tightness in pace and execution it is a stunning example of how a brilliant director (Val Guest) can wring great things out of very limited raw materials.
Personally I would place this as one of my top 10 all time favorite sci fi films. I revisit it at least twice a year (I have the VHS release from long ago), and it never fails to impress and unnerve.
Even the strident performance by Brian Donlevy (best known as a B-Picture villian from the '30's and '40's) adds a sense of urgency to the tone of the picture. The action takes place over three days between the first hint of something not quite right in the little (and currently missing) village of Winerdon Flats, to the explosive conclusion when the alien infestation is defeated. In between the film presents an unrelenting atmosphere that is dark, creepy and rife with paranoia. It gets it's power not from what it shows but from what it implies. Like the American classic "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" there are contemporary political overtones rooted in the "Red Scare" of the 1950's, but "Quatermass II" does them better and crisper.
Also worth noting is how skillfully director Val Guest is able to infuse a sense of realism through overlapping dialogue and a hint of "happening right now" urgency in various scenes.
In general the performances are sharp, real and impelling. If it has a flaw it is that it must bow to its budget limitations for the final reveal of the monster in the final five minutes. You sense that director Guest had to suck it up and muddle through something he knew would never come off the way he might have hoped but was necessary to completing the film.
Even the musical score is startling, consisting of strings and timpani in a combination of "fingernails on a blackboard" screech and thunderous, ominous rumbling that gets the viewer in the proper (highly disturbed) mood before the action even begins.
On the whole it is an example of just how brilliant, insightful and disturbing a thing can be created with extremely limited resources and any sci-fi fan will be utterly delighted by this unique experience. Well worth the investment and likely to become a favorite.
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