Anoraks Assemble

The Quatermass Xperiment is a 1955 Hammer film directed by Val Guest. It was based on the 1953 BBC serial of the same name.

Three astronauts are sent into space in a rocket designed by Professor Quatermass. The rocket crash lands back on Earth, and only one astronaut – the unfortunate Victor Carroon – is still on board. Very quickly he begins mutating into an alien creature.

As the authorities try to discover exactly what happened, the doomed Carroon escapes and it is left to Quatermass and Inspector Lomax to try and track him down.

The Quatermass Xperiment was a huge success, and I can understand why. It taps into the 1950s post-war paranoia, atomic bombs and the like. Should we be messing with things we do not understand?

Also, the make up on Victor Carroon is quite incredible. Even early on in the film he almost looks like a walking corpse. In fact, there is something quite Frankenstein’s monster about him after he escapes from the hospital. His lumbering, shambolic, confused demeanour is actually quite heartbreaking.

There are a couple of memorable scenes, such as the horrific moment Quatermass and co watch the recovered footage of what exactly happened inside the doomed capsule. Also, the scene at the zoo when Carroon is nearby. The animals just know something is wrong.

The casting is okay. Brian Donlevy is fine as Quatermass, but not terribly likeable, whilst the likes of Jack Warner and Lionel Jefferies offer good support.

But this is Richard Wordsworth’s film as the tragic Carroon, and it is his performance which stays long in the memory