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Just what I expected

A different way of telling a story

The movie is surprisingly subdued in its pacing, its characterizations, and its go-for-broke sensibilities.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

I really enjoyed this British take on the boom in the "It came from outer space" movies of the 50's. Things get a little silly at the conclusion with oversize Martian monsters which look like the jumble of wires behind my TV set, thrashing about a miniature power plant, but before then there's genuine tension and excitement as Quatermass, a sort of earthbound pre-60's American Dr Who, uncovers a Roswell-type cover-up of an alien invasion which, wouldn't you know it, threatens the world itself.Peopled with quality UK actors like future director Bryan Forbes, Sschhh-you-know-who, William Franklyn and effective in a rare straight role, Carry On king Sid James, this was a brisk little low-budget sci-fi thriller, with a cogent (you couldn't call it believable) plot, effective use of locations, especially the power plant where the aliens are breeding and for good measure, decent characterisation too.Brian Donlevy will please wig-spotters everywhere and seems a bit too old to be saving the world, but reminds us that even the first Dr Who was an older man and otherwise is convincing in the pivotal authoritative role. The "aliens-walk-among-us" premise while hardly original gets nicely reworked and even allowing for the naivety of the everyday folk who wouldn't know an alien invasion if it rode a bicycle into the air in front of them, still, I was gripped by the story.I see from the credits that this was an early Hammer film and even if the studio, to make an honest pound, later had to turn to classic horror remakes, this was a satisfying and exciting sci-fi yarn the equal of any contemporary Hollywood variation on the same theme.

The Quatermass Xperiment had been a major success for Hammer upon its release in 1955, becoming the company's biggest grossing film up to that time. Moving quickly to capitalise, Hammer Film Productions put together the elements for the sequel, Quatermass 2 (AKA Enemy From Space). Val Guest once again directs and co writes with Quatermass creator Nigel Kneale, Brian Donlevy returns as the irrepressible professor Quatermass, James Bernard scores and Anthony Hinds is again on production duties. Joining Donlevy in the cast are John Longden, Sid James, Bryan Forbes, William Franklyn & Vera Day. The plot sees Quatermass investigating meteorites that have been falling at Winnerden Flats. Whilst up in the Winnerden Valley, Quatermass and his colleague, Marsh, discover a huge power plant complex that looks suspiciously like the model Quatermass has been working on as part of a potential colonisation of the Moon. When Marsh is burnt by one of the meteorites, guards appear from nowhere and take him away down in the valley. Just what is going on at this strange plant? Quartermass intends to find out, but Winnerden has many secrets, secrets that could spell doom for mankind.A sequel that is at least the equal of its predecessor, Quatermass 2 deals in politico paranoia and chilly alien invasion hysteria. Similar to Don Siegel's excellent Invasion Of The Body Snatchers from the previous year, the film doesn't rely on shlonky shocks to make its heart beat. There's much sci-fi discussion and jobs-worth like characters that are easy to follow, but all serve a purpose as Winnerden's secret starts to show its cards. As Quatermass' trail leads to the higher echelons of power, the paranoiac feel of the piece really kicks in, with the mood greatly enhanced by Gerald Gibbs' monochrome photography and Guest's imaginative use of hand held cameras for certain scenes. The effects work is clever and does its job, while the cast work hard to make the effective story work. Tho the film made good money it was overshadowed by the huge success of Hammer's release of The Curse Of Frankenstein the same year, while the film wasn't given much promotional help from Kneale who was very critical of the finished product. With much of his scorn directed towards Donlevy who he always felt was wrong for the role of the intrepid boffin. With that in mind, it's perhaps unsurprising to find the film still today is very divisive among critics and sci-fi fans alike. So you take your chance then. Personally I think it's one of the best sci-fi movies to have come out of Britian. As was the first film, and as was Quatermass And The Pit from 1967. Pretty great trilogy actually. 8/10

This science fiction thriller grabs our attention from the first scene where a young couple are driving fairly wildly; something is clearly wrong with the man who has a mark on his face after touching some strange rocks. I assumed these would be the main characters but after nearly crashing into Quatermass and telling him what happened we don't see them again. Professor Quatermass takes the rocks to work but is more concerned that his project to set up a colony on the moon has been cancelled. His colleagues had monitored a strange meteor shower in the area where the couple had driven from and analysis shows that the rocks aren't natural so Quatermass and a colleague go to the site and are shocked to find a large complex which is identical to their planned moon base. When his colleague picks up one of the unbroken rocks something is released and he suddenly becomes ill, Quatermass can't find out what is wrong as security guards take his friend and order him to leave the area. In order to have a look around he gets on an official tour with a member of parliament who has been concerned about the plant. Things don't go well on the tour; the MP dies after contact with the "food" the plant claims to be making and Quatermass is lucky to escape. Once back in London he gets help from a police inspector and a journalist and returns to the plant where they must confront the security forces to discover the plants shocking secret and destroy it, in this task they are helped my local workers who want revenge after one of them is infected.Despite being an old film this looked good as it was filmed at a real chemical works rather than using fake looking models, the only effect that looked poor by today's standards was the monster but that only appears briefly at the end. Today a film of this sort would probably be over two and a half our long, full of special effects and with a romantic side story tagged on, this however is less than an hour and a half long with minimal effects and no romance in sight which keeps things taut throughout. Brian Donlevy was good in the role of Quatermass and Sid James put in a fun cameo performance as the reporter who had a liking for drink. The sinister atmosphere was heightened by having all of the security personnel wear gas masks which effectively rendered then faceless, increasing the feeling that they were mindless automatons.

Just like its predecessor, this is a movie that surprises within its genre. '50's science-fiction/horror wasn't exactly known for its class or greatness but some of the exception from the '50's to this were also some great classic ones at the same time. Just think about "The Day the Earth Stood Still" and "The Thing From Another World" for instance. What those movies all did was taking its genre serious and approach it from a scientific and also more classic horror approach. So instead of having straight forward monsters we have an actual build-up, with solid written story and characters to like and feel for."Quatermass 2" is also a movie that approaches the genre with some more class than many of its fellow genre pieces from the same time period. It's a movie that mostly relies on its mysterious build up and eerie atmosphere. It has some great moments in, though it also is being quite ridicules at times. But this also has to do with the fact that of course by todays standards the '50's science-fiction flicks look all so terribly outdated now days.It's an Hammer film from the period that the Hammer studios were not only solely known for its horror productions. The movie also does have some of the, what later would be, typical Hammer film moments in it. Basically Hammer films were all some early exploitation flicks but in its beginning period it still showed some more class and also had some obviously more serious intentions still with its movies.The acting in the movie is really great. Brian Donlevy reprises his Dr. Quatermass role again and he was great to watch again. The role of Lomax is this time being played by John Longden, who also did a real great job.It's a good looking movie with its atmosphere. The movie is shot in black & white, which enhances the mystery and also tension of the entire movie. It's a movie that really is build on its atmosphere and mystery. It does use some special effects but it does this to a minimum. It's really not the type of science-fiction movie you would expect from one that got made during the '50's.Just like its predecessor, a great little '50's gem.7/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/