A chance to revisit the old-school of sci-fi with more in common with a Doctor Who plot than today's tall tales and CG wizardry. Professor Quatermass almost crashes his car into that of a distraught woman who's boyfriend is delirious and suffering from a nasty lesion on his face. At the same time, science bods at the professor's observatory are, well, observing I guess, strange objects falling to Earth not far from where the accident occurs.
Investigating, Quatermass stumbles across an exact replica of his own team's plans for a moon colony, except this version has been built on Earth in the ruins of a demolished village. The small meteorites are all around, and mysterious security guards turn him away but not before abducting his colleague who tampers with the rocks and gets infected.
This is good, fun film which takes itself seriously but nowadays must be viewed with good humour. The high-level conspiracy and mystery surrounding the plant are very straightforward and effective, and with no real desire to show off there are very few special effects, with most of the time spent running around a chemical plant. The original creator of Quatermass objected to Donlevy's portrayal but I found the most entertaining element of the movie was the lead character's utter stubbornness and lack of people skills. He doesn't have the time or inclination to be a dashing hero and is all the more interesting for it. |
