Customer Reviews
MORE SCI-FI THAN HORROR - By: stuart, 06 Aug 2007 
Quatermass & the Pit (a.k.a. Five Million Years To Earth) is one of the best science fiction movies to come out of Britain. I think the only better film in the genre is Quatermass 2 (a.k.a. Enemy From Space), which Quatermass & the Pit is a sequel of (of sorts).
To the uninitiated, the Quatermass saga centers on Professor Bernard Quatermass, a gruff but brilliant scientist in the employ of the British Government who is always working toward putting mankind in space. All the movies are based on Nigel Kneales brilliant television series. Quatermass (a.k.a. The Creeping Unknown) was the first movie in the series, concerning a failed attempt at launching a rocket into space. Quatermass 2 featured Quatermass's moon project & the ends to which it had been perverted by an alien race. In both films, Quatermass was portrayed by Brian Donlevy, who was fairly well intoxicated through most of the shooting, but still was able to act with the necessary brusqueness & overacting. It fit well with his interpretation of the character, but wasn't necessarily a good version of the television Quatermass.
Andrew Keir takes over as Quatermass in this movie, & is a bit more subdued than his predesessor, which seems to make this Professor a bit more intelligent & rational. James Donald is excellent, as always, as Professor Roney, the inadvertant hero of the film. Barbara Shelley is excellent as always.
The other movies in the series were about us trying to get into space, but this film is about something in space coming here...at least coming here a long time ago. Quatermass & the Pit offers a rather novel approach to natural & unnatural selection...Martians seeded our world with more intelligent proto-men who were actuallly our ancestors.
The special effects in this movie are very good...some are quite creepy in fact. The giant glowing image of the Martian hovering above London haunted my dreams for many a night when I was a child.
This is a movie for those who like the classic works of science fiction by Bradbury, Clarke or Asimov...no frills, good story, good characterizations & nice effects. There is reallly nothing NOT to recommend about Quatermass & the Pit...just watch it & enjoy!
Great Hammer Sci-Fi - By: Nick Brown, 15 Jul 2005 Quatermass & the Pit is one of the finest of Hammer's vast & largely very fine oeuvre. Strangely, however, when you hear people speak of Hammer horror, this film rarely gets a mention, & that's a great injustice as it easily ranks up there with the best of them. The plot follows a group of construction workers that discover a plot of skeletons while extending London's subway station. This immediately attracts the attention of local scientists Mathew Roney & Barbara Judd, & later the man of the title; Dr Quatermass, who end up facing opposition from both the army & the press while trying to investigate the find. Where did the skeletons come from? How did they get there? And what's the meaning behind that bomb in the tunnel? All these questions & more are answered in Quatermass & the Pit.
As you might expect, the film is very camp. The effects are truly ridiculous & very easy to laugh at; but they add to the fun & charm of the movie. The reason why Hammer Horror films succeed is that, despite being unpleasant at times, it's obvious that they were made with a lot of heart, & the good nature that went into making them always shines through. Unlike many horror (or Sci-Fi) films, however, this one actuallly bothers to pose some interesting questions & reallly gets you thinking. The normal idea behind alien based Sci-Fi is completely turned on it's head, & it makes for both an enjoyable & interesting, not to mention original movie. It's quite ingenious, in fact; much more so than many recent 'thought-provoking' movies. There is also quite a lot of the trademark British humour in the film, which is always nice to see. It's obvious that the film is meant to be tongue in cheek anyway, but it's always nice to have a few moments of laughter in there. Quatermass & the Pit is directed by Hammer Horror supremo Roy Ward Baker. When people think of Hammer directors, it's often Terrence Fisher that comes out on top; but Baker is by far my favourite. He's delivered the lovely Asylum, the ingenious Dr Jekyll & Sister Hyde, not to mention The Vampire Lovers; & now this. And that's only the ones that I've seen!
Overalll, this is an incredible movie. It's generous mix of horror, Sci-Fi & fantasy is truly refreshing & it makes for an interesting & enjoyable ride. I loved every minute of this film, & it easily ranks as one of the best Hammer Horror's that I've seen. Make sure you don't skip this one.
Sophisticated sci-fi horror - By: Sally-Anne, 25 May 2005 
It seems a contradiction in terms to label a Hammer horror film "sophisticated", but this one is definitely a cut above the rest. This horror takes a scientific approach to an intermittently on-going haunting event at the site of an underground railway excavation. A rocket scientist, the Professor Quatermass of the title, & a military man, Colonel Breen, who is poised to usurp control of Quatermass's rocket group, are sidetracked from their struggle for control of the group, by an intriguing find in the underground excavation. Things take a decidedly spooky turn when soldiers are brought in to dig out the supposed 'bomb'. Quatermass teams up with the archaeologist, Dr Roney, who is retrieving 5 million year old fossil bones from the site. Roney & Quatermass are also united in their dislike of Breen, the bumptious blimp who gets their backs up when he writes off every bizarre occurrence as some WWII Nazi propaganda plot. Dr Roney's assistant, Barbara, takes the initiative & starts investigating old records of the area & finds the 'hauntings' have been going on for a long time. These people are scientists though, & just because something inexplicable seems to be happening, their instincts do not lead them to look for supernatural causes. They begin to wonder if ghosts could just be phenomena that were badly observed & wrongly explained. The rocket expert's interests focus on space & the archaeologist's interests focus on our ancient ancestors. When the two get their heads together, their conclusions are astonishing.
This is the best of Hammer's adaptations of the three Quatermass BBC series, in my opinion. Andrew Keir makes a fine Professor Quatermass & the other actors are also very good. The atmosphere of fear & tension creeps up steadily. The music is excellent: it's not obtrusive, it doesn't drown out the dialogue, it's completely absent a lot of the time but when it is there, it's appropriate, sinister & adds wonderfully to the atmosphere of threat & danger. I've always taken the opportunity to watch this film when it's been shown on television. It terrified me when I was young & now I can still get hooked into the spirit of fear. I'm pleased with the DVD even though it offers no extras at alll - not even subtitles. It's good just to be able to watch it whenever I like.
Defintely One Of Hammer's Best Sci-Fi Films - By: D. W. Bissett, 05 Feb 2005 This third QUATERMASS film from Hammer Films is regarded by many to be the one of the best flicks Hammer has ever done & they are right.
QUATERMASS & THE PIT (1967) is an intelligent & at times, frightening film about an evil force being unleashed onto the people of London after an Martian spaceship is found in an London Underground excavation.
The acting is good, the music as well & the editing is tight. Even the special effects aren't bad, considering this was made in the late-1960's & we didn't had CGI in those days. There are a few unconvincing SPFX shots, but it isn't a harsh complaint.
A must buy for fans of science fiction & fantasy.
Small budget, big ideas, great film - By: Mr. S. Crook, 07 Jan 2005 I fell in love with this film the first time I saw it on TV many years ago. It's very typical Nigel Kneale territory, with events in the distant past having a big impact on the present & possibly future, & providing an explanation for so many of those things we don't understand about ouselves & the world we live in. There's ghosts, necromancy, religion, alien invasions, PK & genetic engineering alll rolled in without it seeming to be completely barmy. Eat your heart out XFiles.
The special effects aren't exactly stellar, but if you make alllowances for the money available, & when the film was made, they are actuallly pretty good.
I love it so much because everyone who had a hand in its making took it seriously. The cast don't ham it up, the director does an impressive job, & Kneals script & story are superb. Keir makes an excellent Quatermass, (easily the best of those who've played him in my opinion) & his supporting cast alll work like it was going to be the most important film of that decade. Just watch the byplay between the army guys excavating the 'bomb' & the archaeologists or between Quatermass & the civil servants.
For those who care about such things, Blake puts in a brief appearance...
