HAMMER HORROR - Series 2 - Card #153 - Quatermass And The Pit - Barbara Shelley

Description: HAMMER HORROR - Series Two - Individual Card from Set issued by Cornerstone in 1996 "Hammer Horror – Series Two” features dramatic images from a great many classic Hammer Horror Movies, including: CAPTAIN KRONOS – VAMPIRE HUNTER; THE DEVIL RIDES OUT; THE VAMPIRE LOVERS; THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES; THE MUMMY; THE MUMMY'S SHROUD; SHE; ONE MILLION YEARS BC; QUATERMASS AND THE PIT; THE SATANIC RITES OF DRACULA. Captain Kronos – Vampire Hunter is a 1974 British horror film. It was written and directed by Brian Clemens, produced by Clemens and Albert Fennell for Hammer Film Productions, and belatedly released on 7 April 1974. It stars Horst Janson in the title role, along with John Carson, Shane Briant and Caroline Munro. The music score was composed by Laurie Johnson, supervised by Philip Martell. It was intended as the first of a series of films focused on the title character and his companions. The film was rated R in North America. This was Clemens's only project as a director. Plot When his village is plagued by mysterious deaths, marked by highly accelerated aging, Dr. Marcus calls in his army friend, Captain Kronos. Kronos and his companion, the hunchback Hieronymus Grost, are professional vampire hunters. Grost explains to the initially sceptical Marcus that the dead women are victims of a vampire who drains not blood but youth, and that there are "as many species of vampire as there are beasts of prey." The discovery of another victim confirms Grost's explanation. Along the way, Kronos and Grost take in a local barefoot gypsy girl, Carla, who had been sentenced to the stocks for dancing on the Sabbath. She repays them by helping them hunt the vampire; she later becomes Kronos' lover. Grost and Kronos conduct a mystical test that indicates the presence of vampires. Their findings are contradicted by an eyewitness who claims to have seen "someone old, very old", whereas a youth-draining vampire should appear youthful. Marcus visits the family of his late friend, Lord Hagen Durward, and speaks with Durward's son, Paul (Shane Briant), and his beautiful sister Sara (Lois Daine). He must leave before speaking with the bed-ridden Lady Durward. While riding through the woods, Marcus encounters a cloaked figure that leaves him shaken, and he finds blood on his lips. At a tavern, Kronos defeats thugs led by Kerro, who were hired by Lady Durward's coachman to murder him. Kronos, Grost, Marcus and Carla set up a network of alarm bells in the woods to announce the passage of vampires. Meanwhile, a large bat attacks and kills a young woman. Marcus realises that he has become a vampire and begs Kronos to kill him. After various methods (including impalement with a stake and hanging) fail, Kronos accidentally pierces Marcus's chest with a cross of steel that Marcus had been wearing round his neck. Having thus determined the vampire’s weakness, Kronos and Grost obtain an iron cross from a cemetery. They are accosted by angry villagers who believe that they murdered Dr. Marcus. Grost forges the cross into a sword while Kronos conducts a knightly vigil. After seeing the Durward carriage flee the scene of a vampire attack, Kronos suspects Sara as the vampire. Carla seeks refuge at Durward Manor to distract the household while Kronos sneaks inside. The "bedridden" Lady Durward reveals herself as the newly-youthful vampire, and she hypnotises Carla and the Durward siblings. Lady Durward has raised her husband Hagen from the grave. She offers the mesmerised Carla to her husband, but Kronos erupts from hiding. Kronos uses the new sword's mirrored blade to turn Lady Durward’s hypnotic gaze against her. He kills Lord Durward in a duel, and then destroys Lady Durward. The next day, Kronos bids Carla goodbye, before he and Grost ride on to new adventures. Cast Horst Janson as Captain Kronos John Cater as Professor Hieronymus Grost Caroline Munro as Carla John Carson as Dr. Marcus Shane Briant as Paul Durward Lois Daine as Sara Durward Wanda Ventham as Lady Durward Ian Hendry as Kerro William Hobbs as Hagen Paul Greenwood as Giles Lisa Collings as Vanda Sorell Brian Tully as George Sorell Robert James as Pointer Perry Soblosky as Barlow John Hollis as Barman Susanna East as Isabella Sorell Stafford Gordon as Barton Sorell Elizabeth Dear as Ann Sorell Joanna Ross as Myra Neil Seiler as Priest Olga Anthony as Lilian Gigi Gurpinar as Blind Girl Peter Davidson as Big Man Terence Sewards as Tom Trevor Lawrence as Deke Jacqui Cook as Barmaid B. H. Barry, Michael Buchanan, Steve James, Ian McKay, Barry Smith, Roger Williams as Villagers Linda Cunningham as Jane Caroline Villiers as Petra Julian Holloway - Kronos's voice Critical reception AllMovie called it "one of the last great Hammer Films productions." In later years, the film became a cult classic, largely because of its unusual mix of supernatural horror and swashbuckling action. It was to launch a set of new Hammer films, but into the 1970s the studio landed in financial troubles and ended up shutting down. Novelisation A novelisation of the film was released, written by Guy Adams under the title Kronos and published by Arrow Publishing in association with Hammer and the Random House Group in 2011. Comic book adaption The House of Hammer #1-3 (October 1976-January 1977) The Vampire Lovers is a 1970 British-American gothic horror film directed by Roy Ward Baker and starring Peter Cushing, Ingrid Pitt, Madeline Smith, Kate O'Mara and Jon Finch. It was produced by Hammer Film Productions. It is based on the J. Sheridan Le Fanu novella Carmilla and is part of the so-called Karnstein Trilogy of films, the other films being Lust for a Vampire (1971) and Twins of Evil (1972). The three films were somewhat daring for the time in explicitly depicting lesbian vampire themes. Plot In early 19th century Styria, a beautiful blonde (Kirsten Lindholm) in a diaphanous gown materializes from a misty graveyard. Encountering the Baron Hartog (Douglas Wilmer), a vampire hunter out to avenge the death of his sister, the girl is identified as a vampire and decapitated. Many years later, a dark-haired lady leaves her daughter Marcilla (Ingrid Pitt) in the care of General Spielsdorf (Peter Cushing) and his family in Styria. Marcilla quickly befriends the General's niece, Laura (Pippa Steel). Laura subsequently suffers nightmares that she is being attacked, and dies of a gradual sickness; whereupon Marcilla departs. Faking a carriage break-down, Marcilla's mother leaves her (now using the alias 'Carmilla') at the residence of a Mr. Morton, where Carmilla befriends and seduces Morton's daughter Emma (Madeline Smith). Thereafter Emma suffers nightmares of penetration on her heart, and her breasts shows tiny wounds. Emma's governess, Mademoiselle Perrodot (Kate O'Mara), becomes Carmilla's accomplice. The butler and a doctor suspect them; but Carmilla kills each one. A mysterious man in black watches events from a distance, smiling (his presence is never explained). Having killed the butler, Carmilla takes Emma prisoner and departs. When Mademoiselle Perrodot begs Carmilla to take her too, Carmilla kills her. Emma is rescued by a young man named Carl (Jon Finch), and Carmilla flees to her ancestral castle, now a ruin. All this coincides with the arrival of the General, who brings a now-aged Baron Hartog. They find Carmilla's grave, which reveals that her true name is Mircalla Karnstien, where the General forces a stake into Carmilla's heart, and cuts off her head. Thereupon Carmilla's portrait on the wall shows a fanged skeleton instead of a beautiful young woman. Cast Ingrid Pitt as Marcilla/Carmilla/Mircalla Karnstein Peter Cushing as General Spielsdorf George Cole as Roger Morton Dawn Addams as the Countess Pippa Steel as Laura Madeline Smith as Emma Morton Kate O'Mara as Mademoiselle Perrodot (the governess) Douglas Wilmer as Baron Joachim von Hartog Jon Finch as Carl Ebhardt Ferdy Mayne as doctor Kirsten Lindholm as first vampire John Forbes-Robertson as man in black Shelagh Wilcocks as housekeeper Janet Key as Gretchin Harvey Hall as Renton Charles Farrell as landlord Production The film was a co-production between Hammer and American International, who were interested in a vampire movie with more explicit sexual content to take advantage of a more relaxed censorship environment. It was decided to adapt Carmilla. Harry Fine and Michael Styne were two the two producers. Before production, the script of The Vampire Lovers was sent to the chief censor John Trevelyan, who warned the studio about depictions of lesbianism, pointing out that a previous lesbian film, The Killing of Sister George, had had five minutes excised by his office. In response, Hammer replied that the lesbianism was not of their doing but was present in the original story by Le Fanu. Trevelyan backed down. Production of The Vampire Lovers began at Elstree Studios on 19 January 1970 and used locations in the grounds of Moor Park Mansion, Hertfordshire (standing in for Styria, Central Europe). Produced on a relatively low budget of £165,227, it was the final Hammer film to be financed with American money—most of the later films were backed by Rank or EMI. While filming the scene in which Carmilla attacks Madame Perrodot, Ingrid Pitt's fangs kept falling out and dropping into Kate O'Mara's cleavage, prompting gales of uncontrollable laughter from both actresses. Finally, Pitt grabbed some chewing gum from the mouth of one of the crew members and used it to secure her vampire teeth.[self-published source] Critical reception The Vampire Lovers has received mixed reception from critics. Variety's review of the film was mixed, claiming the story was not great and it had "fairly flat dialog," but the script had "all the needed ingredients." A. H. Weiler of The New York Times called it "a departure from the hackneyed bloody norm... professionally directed, opulently staged and sexy to boot." The Monthly Film Bulletin declared, "Rather below par, even by recent Hammer standards, this involves the customary heavy breathing, lusty fangs and tolerably luxurious sets, with the innovation of an exposed nipple or two to support the lesbian angle." Dave Kehr wrote a favourable retrospective review for Chicago Reader, writing that the film "resulted from the last significant surge of creative energy at Britain's Hammer Films, which thereafter descended into abject self-parody." Film critic Leonard Maltin gave the film a passing grade of two-and-a-half stars, calling it a "rather erotic Hammer chiller". Allmovie wrote, "This Hammer Films production isn't their finest moment but its easy to understand why it has become an enduring cult favorite with horror fans: The Vampire Lovers pushes the "bloodshed & bosoms" formula of the Hammer hits to its limit". On review-aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 56%, based on nine reviews, and is certified "rotten". Home media The Vampire Lovers was released on 26 August 2003 on DVD by MGM Home Video (Fox Video) as a double-sided Midnite Movies Double Feature DVD consisting of both The Vampire Lovers and Countess Dracula (1971). Scream Factory released the film on Blu-ray on 30 April 2013. The Devil Rides Out, known as The Devil's Bride in the United States, is a 1968 British horror film, based on the 1934 novel of the same name by Dennis Wheatley. It was written by Richard Matheson and directed by Terence Fisher. The film stars Christopher Lee, Charles Gray, Niké Arrighi and Leon Greene. Plot Set in London and the south of England in 1929, the story finds Nicholas, Duc de Richleau (Christopher Lee), investigating the strange actions of the son of a friend, Simon Aron (Patrick Mower), who has a house replete with strange markings and a pentagram. He quickly deduces that Simon is involved with the occult. Nicholas de Richleau and Rex Van Ryn (Leon Greene) manage to rescue Simon and another young initiate, Tanith (Niké Arrighi), from a devil-worshipping cult. During the rescue, they disrupt a ceremony on Salisbury Plain, in which the Devil, the "Goat of Mendes" (Baphomet) appears. They escape to the home of the Eatons, Marie (Sarah Lawson) and Richard (Paul Eddington), friends of Richleau and Van Ryn, and are followed by the group's leader, Mocata (Charles Gray), who has a psychic connection to the two initiates. After visiting the house while Richleau is absent to discuss the matter and an unsuccessful attempt to influence the initiates to return, Mocata forces Richleau and the other occupants to defend themselves through a night of black magic attacks, ending with the conjuring of the angel of death. Richleau repels the angel, but it kills Tanith instead (as once summoned, it must take a life). His attacks defeated, Mocata kidnaps the Eatons' young daughter Peggy (Rosalyn Landor). The Duc has Tanith's spirit possess Marie in order to find Mocata, but they only are able to get a single clue, and Rex realizes that the cultists are at a house he visited earlier. Simon tries to rescue Peggy on his own, but he is recaptured by the cult. De Richleau, Richard, and Rex also try to rescue her, but they are defeated by Mocata. Suddenly, a powerful force (or Tanith herself) controls Marie and ends Peggy's trance. She then leads Peggy in the recitation of a spell which visits divine retribution on the cultists and transforms their coven room into a church. When the Duc and his companions awaken, they discover that the spell has reversed time and changed the future in their favour. Simon and Tanith have survived, and Mocata's spell to conjure the angel of death has been reflected back on him. Divine judgement ends his life, and he is subject to eternal damnation for his unholy summoning of the angel of death. Nicholas de Richleau comments that it is God to whom they must be thankful. Cast Christopher Lee – Nicholas, Duc de Richleau Charles Gray – Mocata Niké Arrighi – Tanith Carlisle Leon Greene – Rex Van Ryn (dubbed by Patrick Allen) Patrick Mower – Simon Aron Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies – Countess d'Urfe Sarah Lawson – Marie Eaton Paul Eddington – Richard Eaton Rosalyn Landor – Peggy Eaton Russell Waters – Malin Uncredited John Bown – Receptionist Yemi Ajibade – African Ahmed Khalil – Indian Zoe Starr – Indian girl Willie Payne – Servant Keith Pyott – Max Mohan Singh – Mocata's servant Liane Aukin – Satanist John Falconer – Satanist Anne Godley – Satanist Richard Scott – Satanist Peter Swanwick – Satanist Bert Vivian – Satanist Eddie Powell – The Goat of Mendes (uncredited) Others John Brown Richard Huggett Production First proposed in 1963, the film eventually went ahead four years later once censorship worries over Satanism had eased. Production began on 7 August 1967, and the film starred Christopher Lee (in a rare heroic role), Charles Gray, Niké Arrighi and Leon Greene. The screenplay was adapted by Richard Matheson from Wheatley's novel. Christopher Lee had often stated that of all his vast back catalogue of films, this was his favourite and the one he would have liked to have seen remade with modern special effects and with his playing a mature Duke de Richleau. The A-side of British rock band Icarus's debut single "The Devil Rides Out" was inspired by the advance publicity for the film of the same title. Though the song does not appear in the film, the single's release was timed to coincide with the film's premiere and the band was invited to the premiere. Reception Reviews of the film have been widely favorable. It currently has a 93% "Fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes. [The film] sustains flavor and atmosphere in beautiful color photography[...]. Under Terence Fisher's direction [...] the first 20 minutes are dandy, as a steely aristocrat, played with suave dignity by Christopher Lee, tries to outwit the evil ones[...]. This civilized counterattack [...] and some realistic dialogue, steady the action until a flaring, flapping climax[...]. Aside from Mr. Lee, the acting [...] is much too broad. Still, [...] "The Devil's Bride" does hold together, and superstitious moviegoers could do a lot worse. — Howard Thompson, New York Times Review Director Terence Fisher has a ball with this slice of black magic, based on the Dennis Wheatley novel. He has built up a suspenseful pic, with several tough highlights, and gets major effect by playing the subject dead straight and getting similar serious performances from his capable cast. Christopher Lee is for once on the side of the goodies. — Staff review, Variety A disappointingly routine version of Dennis Wheatley's black magic thriller. [...] Christopher Lee is as professionally suave as ever as de Richleau and Charles Gray is suitably sinister as the arch-Satanist [...] But the script is very long-winded, and Terence Fisher's direction never takes fire. Box Office According to Fox records the film required $1,150,000 in rentals to break even and by 11 December 1970 had made $575,000 so made a loss to the studio. The Satanic Rites of Dracula is a 1973 horror film directed by Alan Gibson and produced by Hammer Film Productions. It is the eighth film in Hammer's Dracula series, and the seventh and final one to feature Christopher Lee as Dracula. The film was also the third to unite Peter Cushing as Van Helsing with Lee, following Dracula (1958) and Dracula A.D. 1972 (1972). Plot Introduction In 1974, a Secret Service agent (Maurice O'Connell) barely escapes from an English country house, in which satanic rituals are celebrated. Before he dies of his wounds, he reveals to his superiors that four prominent members of society – a government minister, a peer, a general and a famous scientist – are involved in the cult, led by Chin Yang (Barbara Yu Ling). Photos of the four dignitaries taken by the agent are developed, and a fifth photo, apparently showing an empty doorway, is assumed to be a mistake. In order to avoid any reprisals by the minister, secret service official Colonel Mathews (Richard Vernon) calls in Scotland Yard's Inspector Murray (Michael Coles) to work on the case independently. Murray (who had appeared in the preceding Dracula film) suggests consulting noted occult expert Professor Lorrimer Van Helsing (Peter Cushing). At the house The cult kidnaps the Secret Service secretary Jane (Valerie Van Ost), who is later bitten by Dracula (Christopher Lee). Murray, Secret Service agent Torrence (William Franklyn) and Van Helsing's granddaughter Jessica (Joanna Lumley) arrive at the country house. They separate; Murray and Torrence investigate inside the house, where they meet Chin Yang. Jessica enters the house through the cellar, where she finds Jane chained to a wall; she is revealed to be a vampire. The ensuing commotion awakens other female vampires who are likewise imprisoned, but they attempt to feed on Jessica. The agents hear Jessica's screams and come to her rescue. Murray kills Jane with a stake, and he escapes the grounds with Jessica and Torrence. Van Helsing visits his scientist friend, Julian Keeley (Freddie Jones), whom he recognized among the four conspirators. The mentally unstable Keeley is involved in bacteriological research designed to create a virulent strain of the bubonic plague. Van Helsing is shot by a guard and passes out. When he revives, Keeley's dead body hangs from the ceiling, and the plague bacillus is gone. Keeley referred to the 23rd of the month, which Van Helsing discovers is the "Sabbath of the Undead". Keeley's research notes lead Van Helsing to the reclusive property developer D. D. Denham, who funded Keeley's research. Van Helsing speculates that the fifth photo of an empty doorway may actually have been of Dracula, whose image cannot be captured; he suggests that Dracula wants to exact revenge on humanity. Van Helsing visits Denham in his headquarters (built on the church yard where Dracula died in the previous film) and discovers that he is actually Count Dracula. He tries to shoot Dracula with a silver bullet, but is beaten by the Count's conspirators. Dracula decides that killing Van Helsing would be too simple and has him moved to the country house. Jessica, Murray, Mathews and Torrence, while observing the country house, are attacked by snipers. Torrence and Mathews are killed, and Murray and Jessica are captured. Murray awakes in the cellar and escapes the clutches of Chin Yang, revealed to be a vampire herself. After staking her through the heart with a mallet, he destroys the other female vampires with clear running water from the fire sprinkler system. Denouement Dracula arrives at the house with Van Helsing. He announces to his henchmen that Jessica will be his consort, uncorrupted by the plague that his "four horsemen" – including Van Helsing – will carry out into the world. The conspirators, who had considered the plague a threat not to be used, begin to question their master. Dracula's hypnotic command brings them back into his control. He commands John Porter (Richard Mathews) to break the vial, releasing the bacteria and immediately infecting the minister. Murray overpowers a guard in the computer room. The guard's metal baton smashes a computer panel causing an explosion that starts a fire and unlocks the ritual room. Two uninfected conspirators escape, Murray rescues Jessica, and the infected minister and the plague bacteria burn in the fire. Dracula attacks Van Helsing, but his prey escapes through a window into the woods. Van Helsing lures Dracula into a hawthorn bush where he is entangled. Van Helsing grabs a fence post and drives it through his heart. Dracula disintegrates into ashes. Van Helsing retrieves Dracula's ring from the ashes. Cast Christopher Lee as Count Dracula Peter Cushing as Lorrimer Van Helsing Michael Coles as Inspector Murray William Franklyn as Peter Torrence Joanna Lumley as Jessica Van Helsing Richard Vernon as Colonel Mathews Barbara Yu Ling as Chin Yang Freddie Jones as Dr. Julian Keeley Maurice O'Connell as Agent Hanson Richard Mathews as John Porter, MP Patrick Barr as Lord Carradine Lockwood West as General Sir Arthur Freeborne Peter Adair as doctor Valerie Van Ost as Jane John Harvey as the Commissionaire Maggie Fitzgerald, Pauline Peart, Finnuala O'Shannon and Mia Martin as vampire girls Marc Zuber, Paul Weston, Ian Dewar and Graham Rees as guards Production The film included much of the original cast and characters of Dracula A. D. 1972, the main change being Joanna Lumley playing a more mature version of Jessica Van Helsing, as compared to Stephanie Beacham. Work began on what was tentatively titled Dracula is Dead...and Well and Living in London in November 1972. The title was a parody of the stage and film musical revue Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris, but Lee was not amused. Speaking at a press conference in 1973 to announce the film, Lee said: I'm doing it under protest... [...] I think it is fatuous. I can think of twenty adjectives – fatuous, pointless, absurd. It's not a comedy, but it's got a comic title. I don't see the point. The film was eventually retitled The Satanic Rites of Dracula. The French title, Dracula vit toujours à Londres, remains closer to what was initially planned, as it can be translated by Dracula is Still Living in London. In the United States, the film was distributed in 1979 by Dynamite Films in a heavily edited version titled Count Dracula and His Vampire Bride. The film itself is a mixture of horror, science fiction and a spy thriller, with a screenplay by Don Houghton, a veteran of BBC's Doctor Who. The original score was composed by television composer John Cacavas. It wrapped on 3 January 1973 – 15 years to the day since the original Hammer Dracula. This was the final Hammer film that Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing would make together. Lee was offered the role of Dracula opposite Cushing in The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires, but declined it. The two stars would eventually reunite one more time in House of the Long Shadows, 10 years later. Critical reception AllMovie called it the "least interesting" film in the Hammer Dracula series. Time Out wrote, "a lot of weak action scenes and weaker lines, but still a vast improvement on Dracula A.D." She is a 1965 British Metrocolor film made by Hammer Film Productions in CinemaScope, based on the novel by H. Rider Haggard. It was directed by Robert Day and stars Ursula Andress, Peter Cushing, Bernard Cribbins, John Richardson, Rosenda Monteros and Christopher Lee. The film was an international success and led to a 1968 sequel, The Vengeance of She, with Olinka Berova in the title role. Plot After receiving honourable discharges from the British Army in Palestine in 1918, Professor Holly (Peter Cushing), young Leo Vincey (John Richardson) and their orderly Job (Bernard Cribbins) embark on an expedition into a previously unexplored region of north-east Africa. They discover the lost city of Kuma after Leo receives a mysterious map revealing the city's whereabouts. This lost realm is ruled by Ayesha (Ursula Andress), who is also known as "She-Who-Waits" and "She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed." Ayesha is an immortal queen and high priestess who believes Leo is the reincarnation of her former lover, the priest Kallikrates (whom she killed when she found him in an intimate embrace with another woman about two thousand years before). Ayesha tries to convince Leo to walk into a ceremonial fire after it has turned blue, which happens once certain astronomical conditions have occurred. It will only remain in this condition for a short period and only happens on certain rare occasions. By entering the fire, Leo himself will become immortal. As this is occurring, Ayesha's army is attacked by her enslaved tribesmen, the Amahagger. Although Ayesha had oppressed the Amahagger for 2,000 years, the uprising was triggered by the queen in a fit of jealousy, executing Ustane (Rosenda Monteros), an Amahagger woman who had developed a relationship with Leo. Ustane's father Haumeid (André Morell), who like his daughter had befriended Leo, Holly and Job, is outraged at his daughter's execution and incites the Amahagger into the uprising. Ayesha's army is overwhelmed during the fierce battle against the poorly equipped yet numerous Amahagger. Whilst the uprising is occurring, Leo battles Billali (Christopher Lee), Ayesha's fanatical priest, who wants immortality for himself, believing it is his due after his years of selfless service. After duelling with Leo and finally gaining the upper hand, Billali, giving Leo up for dead, attempts to enter the blue flames himself and become immortal but is killed by Ayesha before he can enter the fire. Ayesha takes Leo's hand and leads him into the fire. Upon entering, Leo becomes immortal, but Ayesha's second exposure to the fire destroys her immortality and she dies almost instantly as the centuries catch up with her and she ages millennia in a few seconds. The film ends with a despondent Leo stating that he doesn't care when the fire will next burn blue but it will find him waiting for it. Cast Ursula Andress as Ayesha Peter Cushing as Holly Bernard Cribbins as Job John Richardson as Leo Vincey Rosenda Monteros as Ustane Christopher Lee as Billali André Morell as Haumeid Princess Soraya as Soraya Production The re-filming of the H. Rider Haggard novel – which had been filmed previously in 1908, 1911, 1916, 1917, 1925 and 1935 – was the idea of Kenneth Hyman of Seven Arts Productions, who had a long-running relationship with Hammer Film Productions. Anthony Hinds commissioned a script from John Temple-Smith, and the lead role was assigned to Ursula Andress – known at that time for her role in the James Bond film Dr. No – who signed a two-picture deal with Seven Arts as a guarantee for her husband John Derek. She would thus become the first Hammer film to be built around a female star. Hammer pitched the project to Universal, who turned it down. Hinds then arranged for Berkley Mather to write a script, but the project was turned down again by Universal, and then by Joseph E. Levine and American International Pictures. Hinds passed it over to Michael Carreras who got David T. Chantler to rewrite the script. Carreras succeeded in getting the film financed through MGM, with triple the usual budget for a Hammer film. The film was announced in May 1964. Although Seven Arts had helped finance several Hammer films, this was the first one they had produced together. John Richardson was cast after being spotted by Ray Stark of Seven Arts. Principal photography commenced in southern Israel's Negev Desert on 24 August 1964, with scenes also shot at MGM's Elstree Studios in London when Hammer's Bray Studios proved to be too small for the project. It was the most expensive film Hammer had made up until that time, but on release it was a hit both in North America and in Europe. Although the studio was pleased with the look of Ursula Andress in the film – as lit by Harry Waxman and costumed by Carl Toms and Roy Ashton – they found her Swiss German accent to be offputting, and had her entire part re-dubbed by actress Nikki van der Zyl, who had dubbed her in Dr. No. Critical reception The New York Times wrote of the film "It lacks style, sophistication, humor, sense, and above all, a reason for being, since it isn't even as good (excepting that it is in color) as the last remake of "She" done with Helen Gahagan in 1935"; while more recently, the Radio Times gave the film three out of a possible five stars, writing that Ursula Andress "acquits herself better than you might expect," and concluding that "The African backdrops are easily matched by Swiss-born Andress's own brand of exotic beauty and, while there's plenty to criticise, there's also much to enjoy." The Hound of the Baskervilles is a 1959 British gothic horror mystery film directed by Terence Fisher and produced by Hammer Film Productions. It is based on the novel of the same title by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. It stars Peter Cushing as Sherlock Holmes, Sir Christopher Lee as Sir Henry Baskerville and André Morell as Doctor Watson. It is the first film adaptation of the novel to be filmed in colour. Plot Dr. Richard Mortimer (Francis de Wolff) asks Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson to investigate the death of his friend Sir Charles Baskerville, in Dartmoor. The man has been found dead by heart failure, lying in the moor surrounding his estate, Baskerville Hall. Mortimer believes that his good friend has been scared to death by the vision of a ghost hound, the same that centuries before killed his ancestor, the devilish Sir Hugo (David Oxley). Mortimer also fears for the life of Sir Henry, who's just come from South Africa to take possession of his inheritance and of Baskerville Hall. Although skeptical, Holmes and Watson accept to meet Sir Henry, who's apparently young and bold, but in truth suffers from a congenital heart problem. A series of peculiar incidents soon convince Holmes that Sir Henry's life is indeed in danger and, busy with a prior commitment, he chooses to despatch his trustworthy friend Watson to Dartmoor, with Mortimer and Sir Henry. Before parting, Holmes reminds Watson not to let Sir Henry go out onto the nearby moor after dark. On their way to Baskerville Hall, the trio is warned by the coach driver Perkins (Sam Kydd) that a convict named Selden (Michael Mulcaster) has escaped from nearby Dartmoor Prison and his hiding in the moor; Selden was convicted of murdering prostitutes and sentenced life-imprisonment after declared insane. Eventually arrived to Baskerville Hall, Sir Henry gets aquainted with his new house, helped by the butler Mr. Barrymore (John Le Mesurier) and his wife (Helen Goss). On the walls stand the portraits of the previous masters of the house, among them there is also one of the infamous Sir Hugo, but another one of the same character is missing because it was stolen and oddly the Barrymores cannot offer any explanation for that. Barrymore confirms that he was the first to discover Sir Charles dead. The next day Sir Henry and Watson walk around to see the neighborhood. At the nearby village they meet the friendly local pastor, Bishop Frankland (Miles Malleson), who is also a keen entomologist. While crossing the moor they get lost in a wetland called Grimpen Mire and Watson gets trapped in a patch of quicksand. Two people come to help, a man named Stapleton (Ewen Solon) and his daughter Cecille (Marla Landi), a beautiful and wild girl that immediately bewitches Sir Henry. One night Watson sees a light in the moor. He and Sir Henry go out to investigate, but first a strange man rushes by in the shadows, then a distant hound howls, upsetting Sir Henry so much that he faints. A figure is silhouetted on a hill in the distance, while Watson helps Sir Henry back to Baskerville Hall. Soon the doctor discovers that the silhouetted figure was Holmes, who has concealed his own arrival to investigate more freely. Together Holmes and Watson find out the corpse of the convict Selden, slaughtered in the moor by an unknown beast, while wearing clothes belonging to Sir Henry. This clue exposes the Barrymores, who confess to have helped the escapee, who was their relative, by supplying food and stuff each time he signalled with a light from his hide in the moor. Anyway Holmes has evidence that neither the Barrymores nor Selden are connected to the death of Sir Charles, so he keeps on searching clues to the existence of the mysterious hound and to the identity of its masters. Facing personal danger in an abandoned copper mine and thanks to the stolen portrait of Sir Hugo, Holmes is able to guess who unleashed the hound in pursue of Sir Charles and why they did it. The detective and his assistant decide to set a trap for the murderers in the same place where, according to the legend, the ghost hound had killed Sir Hugo. Unfortunately to make the trap work they will need to put Sir Henry's life at great risk... Cast Peter Cushing as Sherlock Holmes André Morell as Doctor Watson Christopher Lee as Sir Henry Baskerville Marla Landi as Cecile Stapleton David Oxley as Sir Hugo Baskerville Francis de Wolff as Doctor Richard Mortimer Miles Malleson as Bishop Frankland Ewen Solon as Stapleton John Le Mesurier as Barrymore Helen Goss as Mrs. Barrymore Sam Kydd as Perkins Michael Hawkins as Lord Caphill Judi Moyens as Servant Girl Michael Mulcaster as Selden David Birks as Servant Production Writing There are several significant changes in plot details. Among them: Sir Henry arrives from Toronto in the novel, while he arrives from Johannesburg in the film. Sir Henry does not suffer a minor heart condition in the novel, as he does in the film. There is nothing involving a ritual sacrifice, a tarantula or a mine shaft in the novel, nor is Holmes thought to have been accidentally trapped in a cave-in. Rather than being Stapleton's daughter, Miss Stapleton is Stapleton's wife in the novel and is playing the part of his sister. In the novel, Holmes, Watson and Lestrade eventually find her bound, gagged and badly bruised after being mistreated by Stapleton. She does not hate Sir Henry, as she does in the film, and is a far more sympathetic character in both the novel and in nearly all the other film versions of the story. (In the 1939 film version she is Stapleton's stepsister, but she is completely unaware of his criminal actions until Holmes reveals the truth. Miss Stapleton falls in love with and presumably marries Sir Henry in the 1939 film.) Miss Stapleton survives in the novel, whereas in the film she drowns in the Grimpen Mire. In the novel, the hound is made to look "demonic" through the use of phosphorus paint, but in the film the same effect is accomplished with a mask. The hound was played by a brindled Great Dane. There is no attempt on the life of Sir Henry at the hotel in the novel, as in this film. The painting next to the staircase does not go missing in the novel, as Stapleton's webbed hand is a creation of the filmmakers. In the novel, Frankland is neither a bishop nor an entomologist. It is Stapleton, rather than Frankland, who is an acknowledged expert in entomology in the novel. Stapleton does not get mauled to death after being shot by Watson in the novel; he simply disappears and is presumed to have drowned in the Grimpen Mire. Dr. Mortimer is never put in charge of watching over Sir Henry in the novel; therefore he is not considered negligent by Watson when Sir Henry ventures out onto the moor alone. Casting Cushing would later reprise the role in the BBC Sherlock Holmes television series nine years later, filming sixteen episodes, two of which were a new interpretation of The Hound of the Baskervilles, this time with Nigel Stock as Watson. Cushing was an aficionado of Sherlock Holmes and brought his knowledge to the project. It was Cushing's suggestion that the mantlepiece feature Holmes' correspondence transfixed to it with a jackknife as per the original stories. Locations Filming took place on location at Chobham Common and Frensham Ponds, both in Surrey. Critical reception The Hound of the Baskervilles has been very well received by critics. The film currently holds a 94% approval rating on movie review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes based on eleven reviews. Time Out called it "the best Sherlock Holmes film ever made, and one of Hammer's finest movies". One of the few negative reviews was from the Monthly Film Bulletin, who stated that "any freshly entertaining possibilities in this much-filmed story have here been lost in a welter of blood, love interest and mood music". The review also noted unimaginative staging and direction and "dull performances". Peter Cushing's Holmes received good reviews at the time, with Films and Filming calling him an "impish, waspish, Wilde-ian Holmes", while The New York Herald Tribune stated "Peter Cushing is a forceful and eager Sherlock Holmes". André Morell's Watson has been praised for his far more accurate rendition of the character as envisioned by Arthur Conan Doyle, as opposed to the comical buffoon created by Nigel Bruce. One Million Years B.C. is a 1966 British adventure fantasy film directed by Don Chaffey. The film was produced by Hammer Film Productions and Seven Arts, and is a remake of the 1940 American fantasy film One Million B.C.. The film stars Raquel Welch and John Richardson, set in a fictional age of caveman and dinosaurs. Location scenes were filmed on the Canary Islands in the middle of winter, in late 1965. The British release prints of this film were printed in dye transfer Technicolor. The US version was cut by 9 minutes, printed in DeLuxe Color, and released in 1967. Like the original film, this remake is largely ahistorical. It portrays dinosaurs and humans living at the same point in time; according to the geologic time scale, the last non-avian dinosaurs became extinct 66 million years ago, and modern humans, Homo sapiens, did not exist until about 200,000 years BC. Ray Harryhausen, who animated all of the dinosaur attacks using stop motion techniques, commented on the US King Kong DVD that he did not make One Million Years B.C. for "professors... who probably don't go to see these kinds of movies anyway." Plot Opening narration: This is a story of long, long ago, when the world was just beginning... A young world, a world early in the morning of time. A hard, unfriendly world. Creatures who sit and wait. Creatures who must kill to live. And man, superior to the creatures only in his cunning. There are not many men yet. Just a few tribes scattered across the wilderness. Never venturing far, unaware that other tribes exist even. Too busy with their own lives to be curious. Too frightened of the unknown to wander. Their laws are simple: the strong take everything. Akoba (Robert Brown) leads a hunting party into the hills to search for prey. One member of the tribe traps a warthog in a pit, and then Akoba's son Tumak (John Richardson) kills it. The tribe brings it home for dinner and Tumak is later banished to the harsh desert because of a fight over a piece of meat with Akoba. After surviving many dangers such as a giant iguana, ape men, Brontosaurus and a giant spider, he collapses on a remote beach, where he is spotted by "Loana the Fair One" (Raquel Welch) and her fellow fisher-women of the blond Shell tribe. They are about to help him when an Archelon (which is three times the size of the actual prehistoric Archelon) makes its way to the beach. Men of the Shell tribe arrive and drive it back into the sea. Tumak is taken to their village, where Loana tends to him. Scenes follow emphasising that the Shell tribe is more advanced and more civilized than the brunette Rock tribe. They have cave paintings, music, delicate jewelry made from shells, agriculture, and a rudimentary language–all things Tumak seems to have never before encountered. When the tribe women are fishing, a young Allosaurus attacks. The tribe flees to their cave, but in the panic, a small girl is left trapped up a tree. Tumak seizes a spear from Ahot (Jean Wladon), a man of the Shell tribe, and rushes forward to defend her. Emboldened by this example, Loana runs out to snatch the child to safety, and Ahot and other men come to Tumak's aid, one of the men being killed before Tumak is finally able to kill the dinosaur. In the aftermath, a funeral is held for the dead men – a custom which Tumak disdains. Leaving the funeral early, he re-enters the cave, and attempts to steal the spear with which he had killed the young Allosaurus. Ahot, who had taken back the spear, enters and is angered by the attempted theft, and a fight ensues. The resulting commotion attracts the rest of the tribe, who unite to cast Tumak out. Loana leaves with him, and Ahot, in a gesture of friendship, gives him the spear over which they had fought. Meanwhile, Akoba leads a hunting party into the hills to search for prey but loses his footing while trying to take down a ram. Tumak's brother Sakana (Percy Herbert) tries to kill their father to take power. Akoba survives, but is a broken man. Sakana is the new leader. While this is happening, Tumak and Loana run into a battle between a Ceratosaurus (as with the Archelon, the Ceratosaurus is twice the size as the actual creature) and a Triceratops; the Triceratops eventually wins, charging its opponent and leaving it stunned. The outcasts wander back into the Rock tribe's territory and Loana meets the tribe, but again there are altercations. The most dramatic one is a fight between Tumak's current love interest Loana and his former lover "Nupondi the Wild One" (Martine Beswick). Loana wins the fight but refuses to strike the killing blow, despite the encouragement of the other members of the tribe. Meanwhile, Sakana resents Tumak and Loana's attempts at incorporating Shell tribe ways into their culture. While the cave people are swimming – seemingly for the first time, and inspired by Loana's example – they are attacked by a female Pteranodon. In the confusion, Loana is snatched into the air by the creature, and dropped bleeding into the sea, when a giant thieving Rhamphorhynchus intervenes. Loana manages to stagger ashore while the two pterosaurs battle and then falls down. Tumak arrives but is only greeted by the sounds of the victorious Rhamphorhynchus eating the Pteranodon's young, actually believing it is eating Loana. Tumak initially believes her dead. Sakana then leads a group of like-minded fellow hunters in an armed revolt against Akoba. Tumak, Ahot and Loana (who had staggered back to her tribe after the Pteranodon dropped her into the sea), and other members of the Shell tribe arrive in time to join the fight against Sakana. In the midst of a savage hand-to-hand battle, a volcano suddenly erupts: the entire area is stricken by earthquakes and landslides that overwhelm both tribes. As the film ends, Tumak, Loana, and the surviving members of both tribes emerge from cover to find themselves in a ruined, near-lunar landscape. They all set off – now united – to find a new home. Cast Raquel Welch as Loana John Richardson as Tumak Percy Herbert as Sakana Robert Brown as Akhoba Martine Beswick as Nupondi Jean Wladon as Ahot Production The exterior scenes were filmed on Lanzarote and Tenerife in the Canary Islands in the middle of winter. The film features the Echium wildpretii plant, as a homage to Tenerife's unique endemic flora. However, the plants are set in scenes filmed on the Lanzarote beach. In actuality, this plant only flowers from May to June. It is found in Tenerife mountain zones higher than 1,600 m (5,200 ft). As there were no active volcanoes in the Canary Islands, the studio had to construct a 6–7 ft (2 meter) high volcano on the Associated British Picture Corporation's studio back lot. The eruption, lava explosions and lava flows were composed of a mixture of wallpaper paste, oatmeal, dry ice and red dye. Harryhausen filmed the dinosaur visuals in his personal studio in London. As the Shell people are attacked by a giant turtle, the women call it Archelon which is the real scientific name for the animal. The film uses three live creatures: a green iguana, a warthog and a tarantula (a cricket can be seen at the tarantula's side). Ray Harryhausen was asked repeatedly about these unanimated creatures, and he confessed they were his idea. At the time, he felt the use of real creatures would convince the audience that all of what they were about to see was indeed real. Shortly after, Tumak encounters a dinosaur skeleton, which helped build audience anticipation for further dinosaur encounters. This supposedly massive skeleton was actually only about 12 inches in length, made of plaster and shot against a blue backing and matted into the foreground. The scene where the young Allosaurus attacks the village is similar to one in the original film. Shortly after the creature appears it plucks a man out of the water. They used an actor suspended on wires and Harryhausen positioned an animated model man over the actor, on the rear projection plate; thus it seemed as if the live actor was being eaten. Another technically complex scene in this part of the film was when a man fighting the young Allosaurus is trapped under a shelter: the dinosaur grabs a support and collapses it. The team used a full-size shelter rigged to collapse at that point during the action. Harryhausen then placed a miniature part in the creature's mouth which, when all lined up on the rear projection plate, blended in perfectly. The final significant scene in this sequence is when Tumak impales the creature on a spear from below. John Richardson, the actor who played Tumak, held nothing in the long shots and pretended to have a pole in his hands, but he did hold a pole in the close-up shots. A miniature pole was built and used for the long shots. It was placed in the studio in front of Richardson's hands, and then Ray animated the young Allosaurus suspended on wires in front of John, on top of the miniature pole. The Pteranodon sequence took much time to create, primarily because of how hard it would be to make a model pterosaur pick up a real woman. However the solution was simple: Instead of using a large crane on location, the crew had Raquel Welch fall behind a rock, and then the model Pteranodon swoops down and flies off with a model of Welch, which was substituted during the single second in which she is behind the rock and not visible. Later, when the creature takes her to its nest, the nest was matted into the scene atop a real rock face by double printing the film. For the Pteranodon and Rhamphorhynchus fight scene, when she is dropped into the water, Harryhausen and the crew released her from two dummy rubber Pteranodon claws and while the real Welch fell onto a mattress, the film cut to a long shot of the Welch model suspended on wires. Robert Brown (Akhoba) wears makeup similar to that worn by Lon Chaney, Jr. in the same role in the 1940 version, One Million B.C. Originally Hammer offered the role of Loana to Ursula Andress. When Andress passed on the project due to commitments and salary demands, a search for a replacement resulted in the selection of Welch. Welch, who had finished doing Fantastic Voyage for Fox, was under contract to the studio (who held US distribution rights for the film) and was told by studio President Richard Zanuck that she would be loaned out to Hammer for the production. Although reluctant, Welch said that the selling point was the chance to spend six to eight weeks of filming in London (while shooting interiors) during the height of its "swinging" period. Fur bikini Main article: Fur bikini of Raquel Welch Welch wore a bikini made of fur and hide in the film. She was described as "wearing mankind's first bikini" and the bikini was described as a "definitive look of the 1960s". The publicity photograph of Welch from the film became a best-selling pinup poster, and something of a cultural phenomenon. The iconic image was copied by the artist Tom Chantrell to create the film poster promoting the theatrical release of One Million Years BC. Welch's depiction is accompanied by the film's title in bold red lettering across a landscape populated with dinosaurs. Welch stated in a 2012 interview that three form-fitting bikinis were made for her, including two for a wet scene and a fight scene, by costume designer Carl Toms: "Carl just draped me in doe-skin, and I stood there while he worked on it with scissors." Many noted photographers had been flown to Tenerife by 20th Century Fox on a publicity junket,[citation needed] but the iconic pose of Welch was taken by the unit still photographer. The poster was a story element in the film The Shawshank Redemption. Music Composer Mario Nascimbene was in charge of the films music and score. The soundtrack was released in Italy as a 7-track limited edition vinyl LP on the Intermezzo label in 1985. It was re-released in Italy on compact disc in 1994 and now out of print, as a soundtrack compilation with two other Hammer films included. Release On 17 October 1966, the British Board of Film Classification announced that the film would receive an A certificate rating. It is currently a PG certificate applied on video in March 1989 distributed by Warner Home Video Ltd. Home media The film was originally available on VHS and laserdisc.In 2002 Warner Bros. released a UK DVD, including a featurette with Welch and interview with Harryhausen. In October 2016, a special 2-disc 50th anniversary edition DVD and Blu-ray was released in the UK by Studio Canal, with new interviews with Welch and Beswick, new Ray Harryhausen storyboard stills, and other promotional imagery. In the United States a Blu-ray was released on February 14, 2017 by Kino Lorber Studio Classic and includes the international (Disc 1) and U.S. cut (Disc 2) of the film. This issue has more bonus material than the anniversary edition with audio commentary by film historian Tim Lucas. Reception Box office It was released in the United Kingdom on 30 December 1966 by Warner-Pathé and the United States in February 27, 1967 by 20th Century Fox. The US cut was censored for a broader audience, losing around nine minutes. Deleted scenes included a provocative dance from Martine Beswick, a gruesome end to one of the ape men in the cave and some footage of the young Allosaurus' attack on the Shell tribe. Nonetheless, the film was still popular and made $2.5 million in US rentals during its first year of release. According to Fox records, the film needed to earn $2,250,000 in rentals to break even and made $4,425,000, meaning it made a solid profit. In 1968 it was re-released in the UK on a double bill alongside She (1965), an earlier Hammer film. The pairing became the ninth most popular theatrical release of the year. Critical response Among contemporary reviews, Variety wrote "the whole thing is good humored full-of-action commercial nonsense, but the moppets will love it and older male moppets will probably love Miss Welch"; and The Monthly Film Bulletin noted "Very easy to dismiss the film as a silly spectacle; but Hammer production finesse is much in evidence and Don Chaffey has done a competent job of direction. And it is all hugely enjoyable"; while more recently, The Times wrote that "seen nowadays it is a kitschy, retro scream. Yet as dinosaurs and giant sea-turtles roam the volcanic earth in One Million Years BC, this is also a chance to appreciate the early work of the great special effects pioneer Ray Harryhausen." and similarly, TV Guide concluded "While far from being one of Harryhausen's best films (the quality of which had little to do with his abilities), the movie has superb effects that are worth a look for his fans." Legacy All the dinosaur models from this film still exist, although the Ceratosaurus and Triceratops were re-purposed for The Valley of Gwangi (1969), as Gwangi the Allosaurus and the Styracosaurus. One Million Years B.C. was the first in an unconnected series of prehistoric films from Hammer. It was followed by Prehistoric Women (1968), When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth (1970) and Creatures the World Forgot (1971). Stock footage depicting the landslide was reused for Alex's daydream scene in Stanley Kubrick's 1971 film A Clockwork Orange. In other media The film was adapted into a 15-page comic strip for the May 1978 issue of the magazine House of Hammer (volume 2, # 14, published by Top Sellers Limited). It was drawn by John Bolton from a script by Steve Moore. The cover of the issue featured a painting by Brian Lewis of Raquel Welch in the famous fur bikini. Quatermass and the Pit (titled Five Million Years to Earth in the United States) is a 1967 British science fiction horror film from Hammer Film Productions, a sequel to the earlier Hammer films The Quatermass Xperiment and Quatermass 2. Like its predecessors, it is based on a BBC Television serial Quatermass and the Pit, written by Nigel Kneale. It was directed by Roy Ward Baker and stars Andrew Keir in the title role as Professor Bernard Quatermass, replacing Brian Donlevy who played the role in the two earlier films. James Donald, Barbara Shelley and Julian Glover appear in co-starring roles. The storyline, which is largely faithful to the original television production, centres on the discovery of a mysterious object buried at the site of an extension to the London Underground. Also uncovered nearby are the remains of early human ancestors more than five million years old. Realising that the object is in fact an ancient Martian spacecraft, Quatermass deduces that the aliens have influenced human evolution and the development of human intelligence. The spacecraft has an intelligence of its own, and once uncovered begins to exert a malign influence, resurrecting Martian memories and instincts buried deep within the human psyche. Nigel Kneale wrote the first draft of the screenplay in 1961, but difficulties in attracting interest from American co-financiers meant the film did not go into production until 1967. The director, Roy Ward Baker, was chosen because of his experience with technically demanding productions such as A Night to Remember; this was the first of six films that he directed for Hammer. Andrew Keir, playing Quatermass, found making the film an unhappy experience, believing Baker had wanted Kenneth More to play the role. Owing to a lack of space, the film was shot at the MGM studios in Elstree, Borehamwood rather than Hammer's usual home at the time, which was the Associated British Studios, also in Elstree. The film opened in November 1967 to favourable reviews and remains generally well regarded. Plot Workers building an extension to the London Underground at Hobbs End dig up skeletal remains. Palaeontologist Dr Matthew Roney (James Donald) is called in and deduces that they are the remnants of a group of five-million-year-old apemen, more ancient than any previous finds. One of Roney's assistants uncovers part of a metallic object nearby . Believing it to be an unexploded bomb, they call in an army bomb disposal team. Meanwhile, Professor Bernard Quatermass (Andrew Keir) is dismayed to learn that his plans for the colonisation of the Moon are to be taken over by the military. He gives a cold reception to Colonel Breen (Julian Glover), who has been assigned to join Quatermass's British Experimental Rocket Group. When the bomb disposal team call for Breen's assistance, Quatermass accompanies him to the site. Breen quickly concludes the buried object is a V-weapon, but Quatermass disagrees. When another skeleton is found within a chamber of the "bomb", Quatermass and Roney realise that the object must also be five million years old. Noting the object's imperviousness to heat, Quatermass suspects it is of alien origin, but Roney is certain the apemen are terrestrial. Roney's assistant Barbara Judd (Barbara Shelley) becomes intrigued by the name of the area, recalling that "Hob" is an old name for the Devil. Though Quatermass at first dismisses her curiosity of local superstition, he becomes more intrigued after a member of the bomb disposal team witnesses a spectral apparition of Roney's apeman appearing through the wall of the buried object. Working with Barbara, Quatermass finds historical accounts of hauntings and other spectral appearances going back many centuries. They deduce that these events coincided with disturbances of the ground around Hobbs End. An attempt to open a sealed chamber using a Borazon drill fails to make progress. However, a few moments after the drill is stopped a small hole is seen, though the drill operator, Sladden (Duncan Lamont), is certain it was not created by his machine. The hole widens to reveal the corpses of three-legged, insectoid creatures with horned heads. Roney and Judd work to preserve the bodies before they decay. An examination of the creatures' physiology suggests they came from the planet Mars. Quatermass and Roney note the similarity between the appearance of the creatures and images of the Devil, while Quatermass speculates on the ship itself, believing it to be the source of the spectral images and disturbances. Quatermass and Roney reveal their findings to the press, attracting the ire of a government minister (Edwin Richfield). Quatermass theorizes the occupants of the spacecraft came from a dying Mars. Unable to survive on Earth, they chose instead to preserve some part of their race through creating a colony by proxy, by significantly enhancing the intelligence and imparting Martian faculties on the indigenous primitive hominids. The descendants of these apemen evolved into modern humans, retaining the vestiges of Martian influence buried in their subconscious. A disbelieving Breen offers an alternative: the 'alien craft' is a Nazi propaganda exercise designed to sow fear of an alien invasion among the London populace. The minister rejects Quatermass's theory in favour of Breen's and decides to unveil the missile at a public press conference in order to put Quatermass's controversial ideas to rest. While dismantling his drill, Sladden is overcome by a powerful telekinetic force emanating from the alien craft and flees to the sanctuary of a church. Sladden tells Quatermass he saw a vision of hordes of the insect creatures under an alien sky. Quatermass believes this is a race memory. Seeking proof, he returns to Hobbs End, bringing a machine Roney has been working on which taps into the primeval psyche. While trying to replicate the circumstances under which Sladden was affected, he notices that Judd has fallen under the craft's influence. Using Roney's machine, he is able to record her thoughts. Quatermass presents the recording to the minister and other assembled officials as evidence of his theory: it shows hordes of Martians engaged in what he interprets as a racial purge, cleansing Martian hives of genetic mutations within their race. The minister and Breen dismiss the recording as a fantasy and move forward with their planned press event, ignoring Quatermass's admonishments that the ship and its influence are dangerous. Disaster strikes the event when a power line is dropped within the craft. The charge to the hull increases the effect and range of the craft's influence on those Londoners affected by it. The streets of London erupt into violence as they go on a rampage reminiscent of the Martian purge, destroying those who are different. Breen becomes drawn towards the craft and is killed by the intense energy emanating from it. Quatermass falls under the alien control as well, but is snapped out of it by Roney, who is unaffected. The two men realise that a small portion of the population are immune. The psychic energy becomes stronger and begins to manifest into psychokinesis, ripping up streets and buildings and bringing down overflying aircraft, while the alien ship itself morphs into a spectral image of a Martian towering above the city, centered on Hobbs End. Recalling stories about how the Devil could be defeated with iron and water, Roney theorises the Martian energy could be discharged into the earth. Roney climbs to the top of a building crane and swings it into the spectre. The crane bursts into flames as it discharges the energy, killing Roney. The image and its effect on London disappear, leaving Quatermass and Barbara grieving in the ruins. Production Origins See also: The Quatermass Xperiment, Quatermass 2, and Quatermass and the Pit Professor Bernard Quatermass was first introduced to audiences in two BBC television serials, The Quatermass Experiment (1953) and Quatermass II (1955), written by Nigel Kneale. The rights to both these serials were acquired by Hammer Film Productions, and the film adaptations – The Quatermass Xperiment and Quatermass 2, both directed by Val Guest and starring Brian Donlevy as Quatermass – were released in 1955 and 1957 respectively. Kneale went on to write a third Quatermass serial – Quatermass and the Pit – for the BBC, which was broadcast in December 1958 and January 1959. Hammer were once again interested in making a film adaptation, and Kneale, who had by then left the BBC and was working as a freelance screenwriter, completed a script in 1961. It was intended that Val Guest would once again direct and Brian Donlevy would reprise the role of Quatermass, with production to commence in 1963. Securing finance for the new Quatermass film proved difficult. In 1957 Hammer had struck a deal with Columbia Pictures to distribute their pictures and the companies collaborated on thirty films between 1957 and 1964. Columbia, who were not interested in Quatermass, passed on the script and production went into limbo for several years. In 1964 Kneale and Anthony Hinds submitted a revised, lower-budget script to Columbia but the relationship between Hammer and Columbia had begun to sour and the script was again rejected. In 1966, Hammer entered into a new distribution deal with Seven Arts, ABPC and Twentieth Century Fox; Quatermass and the Pit finally entered production. Writing The script of Quatermass and the Pit is largely faithful to the television original. The plot was condensed to fit the shorter running time of the film, with the main casualty being the removal of a subplot involving the journalist James Fullalove. The climax was altered slightly to make it more cinematic, with Roney using a crane to short out the Martian influence, whereas in the television version he throws a metal chain into the pit. The setting for the pit was changed from a building site to the London Underground. The closing scene of the television version, in which Quatermass pleads with humanity to prevent Earth becoming the "second dead planet", was also dropped, in favour of a shot of Quatermass and Judd sitting alone amid the devastation wrought by the Martian spacecraft. The script was sent to John Trevelyan of the British Board of Film Censors in December 1966. Trevelyan replied that the film would require an X-Certificate and complained about the sound of the vibrations from the alien ship, the scenes of the Martian massacre, scenes of destruction and panic as the Martian influence takes hold and the image of the Devil. Casting James Donald as Doctor Roney: Donald first came to prominence playing Theo van Gogh in Lust for Life (1956) before going on to play a string of roles in the World War II prisoner of war films The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), The Great Escape (1963) and King Rat (1965). Although not playing the title role, Donald was accorded top-billing status. Andrew Keir as Professor Bernard Quatermass: Nigel Kneale had long been highly critical of Brian Donlevy's interpretation of Quatermass and lobbied for the role to be recast, arguing that enough time had passed that audiences would not resist a change of actor. A number of actors were considered for the part including André Morell who had played Quatermass in the television version of Quatermass and the Pit. However, Morell was not interested in revisiting a role he had already played. The producers eventually settled on Scottish actor Andrew Keir who had appeared in supporting roles in a number of Hammer productions including The Pirates of Blood River (1962), The Devil-Ship Pirates (1964) and Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966). Keir found the shoot an unhappy experience: he later recalled, “The director – Roy Ward Baker – didn't want me for the role. He wanted Kenneth More... and it was a very unhappy shoot. [...] Normally I enjoy going to work every day. But for seven and a half weeks it was sheer hell.” Roy Ward Baker denied he had wanted Kenneth More, who he felt would be "too nice" for the role, saying, “I had no idea he [Keir] was unhappy while we were shooting. His performance was absolutely right in every detail and I was presenting him as the star of the picture. Perhaps I should have interfered more.” Keir went on to appear for Hammer in The Viking Queen (1967) and Blood from the Mummy's Tomb (1971). He reprised the role of Quatermass for BBC Radio 3 in The Quatermass Memoirs (1996), making him the only actor other than Donlevy to play the role more than once. Barbara Shelley as Barbara Judd: Shelley was a regular leading lady for Hammer, having appeared in The Camp on Blood Island (1958), Shadow of the Cat (1961), The Gorgon (1964), The Secret of Blood Island (1964), Dracula: Prince of Darkness and Rasputin, the Mad Monk (1966) for them. Quatermass and the Pit was her last film for the company and she subsequently worked in television and the theatre. Roy Ward Baker was particularly taken with his leading lady, telling Bizarre Magazine in 1974 he was “mad about her in the sense of love. We used to waltz about the set together, a great love affair.” Julian Glover as (Lieutenant) Colonel Breen: Roy Ward Baker first met Glover when he directed him in an episode of The Avengers ("Two's a Crowd", 1965). Baker said of Glover's performance, “He turned in a tremendous character, forceful, autocratic but never over the top.” Glover recalled of the role, “I think I was too young for it. [...] I think I played it all right. It was very straightforward. Bit of a stereotype. [...] The obligatory asshole!” Other actors appearing in the film include Bryan Marshall, Peter Copley, Edwin Richfield (who previously appeared in Quatermass 2), Grant Taylor, and Robert Morris. Duncan Lamont, playing Sladden, had appeared in the original BBC production of The Quatermass Experiment in the key role of the hapless astronaut Victor Carroon. Quatermass and the Pit also features an early film role for Sheila Steafel who makes a brief appearance as a journalist near the start of the movie. Filming By the time Quatermass and the Pit finally entered production Val Guest was occupied on Casino Royale (1967), so directing duties went instead to Roy Ward Baker. Baker's first film had been The October Man (1947) and he was best known for The One That Got Away (1957) and A Night to Remember (1958). Following the failure of Two Left Feet (1963), he moved into television, directing episodes of The Human Jungle (1963–64), The Saint (1962–69) and The Avengers. Producer Anthony Nelson Keys chose Baker as director because he felt his experience on such films as A Night to Remember gave him the technical expertise to handle the film's significant special effects requirements. Baker, for his part, felt that his background on fact-based dramas such as A Night to Remember and The One That Got Away enabled him to give Quatermass and the Pit the air of realism it needed to be convincing to audiences. He was impressed by Nigel Kneale's screenplay, feeling the script was "taut, exciting and an intriguing story with excellent narrative drive. It needed no work at all. All one had to do was cast it and shoot it." He was also impressed with Hammer Films’ lean set-up: having been used to working for major studios with thousands of full-time employees, he was surprised to find that Hammer's core operation consisted of just five people and enjoyed how this made the decision making process fast and simple. Quatermass and the Pit was the first film the director was credited as “Roy Ward Baker”, having previously been credited as “Roy Baker”. The change was made to avoid confusion with another Roy Baker who was a sound editor. Baker later regretted making the change as many people assumed he was a new director. Filming took place between 27 February and 25 April 1967. The budget was £275,000. At this time, Hammer was operating out of the Associated British Studios in Elstree, Borehamwood. However, a lack of space meant that production was relocated to the nearby MGM Borehamwood studio. There were no other productions working at the MGM Studios at this time so the Quatermass crew had full access to all the facilities of the studio. Roy Ward Baker was particularly pleased to be able to use MGM's extensive backlot for the exteriors of the Underground station. The production team included many Hammer regulars, including production designer Bernard Robinson who, as an in-joke, incorporated a poster for Hammer's The Witches (1966) into the dressing of his set for the Hobbs End station. Another Hammer regular was special effects supervisor Les Bowie. Roy Ward Baker recalled he had a row with Bowie, who believed the film was entirely a special effects picture, when he tried to run the first pre-production conference. Bowie's contribution to the film included the Martian massacre scene, which was achieved with a mixture of puppets and live locusts, and model sequences of London's destruction, including the climactic scene of the crane swinging into the Martian apparition. Music Tristram Cary was chosen to provide the score for Quatermass and the Pit. He developed an interest in electronic music while serving in the Royal Navy as an electronics expert working on radar during the Second World War. He became a professional composer in 1954, working in film, theatre, radio and television, with credits including The Ladykillers (1955). He said of his assignment, "I was not mad about doing the film because Hammer wanted masses of electronic material and a great deal of orchestral music. But I had three kids, all of which were at fee-paying schools, so I needed every penny I could get!". Cary also recalled that, "The main use of electronics in Quatermass, I think, was the violent shaking, vibrating sound that the "thing in the tunnel" gave off ... It was not a terribly challenging sound to do, though I never played it very loud because I didn't want to destroy my speakers – I did have hopes of destroying a few cinema loudspeaker systems, though it never happened". Carey went on to write the score for another Hammer film, Blood from the Mummy's Tomb, in 1971. Several orchestral and electronic cues from the film were released by GDI Records on a compilation titled The Quatermass Film Music Collection.. The soundtrack was released on yellow vinyl in the UK for Record Store Day 2017. Title sequence The title sequence of Quatermass and the Pit/Five Million Years to Earth was devised to be evocative. Kim Newman, in his British Film Institute (BFI) monograph about the movie, states: "The words 'Hammer Film Production' appear on a black background. Successive jigsaw-piece cutaways reveal a slightly psychedelic skull. Swirling, infernal images are superimposed on bone – perhaps maps or landscapes – evoking both the red planet Mars and the fires of Hell. Beside this, the title appears in jagged red letters: Quatermass and the Pit [Five Million Years to Earth in the American version]." Reception Critical Quatermass and the Pit premiered on 9 November 1967 and went on general release in a double bill with Circus of Fear on 19 November 1967. It was released under the title Five Million Years to Earth in the US in March 1968. The critical reception was generally positive. Writing in The Times, John Russell Taylor found that, “After a slowish beginning, which shows up the deficiencies of acting and direction, things really start hopping when a mysterious missile-like object discovered in a London excavation proves to be a relic of a prehistoric Martian attempt (successful, it would seem) to colonize Earth [...] The development of this situation is scrupulously worked out and the film is genuinely gripping even when (a real test this) the Power of Evil is finally shown personified in hazy glowing outline, a spectacle as a rule more likely to provoke titters than gasps of horror.” Paul Errol of the Evening Standard described the film as a “well-made, but wordy, blob of hokum”, a view echoed by William Hall of the Evening News who described the film as "entertaining hokum" with an "imaginative ending". A slightly more critical view was espoused by Penelope Mortimer in The Observer who said, “This nonsense makes quite a good film, well put together, competently photographed, on the whole sturdily performed. What it totally lacks is imagination.” Box office According to Fox records, the film required $1,200,000 in rentals to break even and made only $881,000. Legacy The film was a success for Hammer and they quickly announced that Nigel Kneale was writing a new Quatermass story for them but the script never went further than a few prelimininary discussions. Kneale did eventually write a fourth Quatermass story, broadcast as a four-part serial, titled Quatermass, by ITV television in 1979, an edited version of which was also given a limited cinema release under the title The Quatermass Conclusion. Quatermass and the Pit marked the return to directing for the cinema for Roy Ward Baker and he went on to direct such films as The Anniversary (1968), Moon Zero Two (1969), The Vampire Lovers (1970), Scars of Dracula (1970), Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde (1971) and The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires (1974) for Hammer. He also directed Asylum (1972), And Now the Screaming Starts! (1973) and The Vault of Horror (1973) for Hammer's rival, Amicus Productions. Quatermass and the Pit continues to be generally well regarded among critics. John Baxter notes in Science Fiction in the Cinema that “Baker's unravelling of this crisp thriller is tough and interesting. […] The film has moments of pure terror, perhaps the most effective that in which the drill operator, driven off the spaceship by the mysterious power within is caught up in a whirlwind that fills the excavation with a mass of flying papers.” John Brosnan, writing in The Primal Scream, found that, “As a condensed version of the serial, the film is fine but the old black-and-white version, though understandably creaky in places and with inferior effects, still works surprisingly well, having more time to build up a disturbing atmosphere. Bill Warren in Keep Watching the Skies! said, “The ambition of the storyline is contained in a well-constructed mystery that unfolds carefully and clearly”. Nigel Kneale had mixed feelings about the end result: he said, “I was very happy with Andrew Keir, who they eventually chose, and very happy with the film. There are, however, a few things that bother me... The special effects in Hammer films were always diabolical.” It has been suggested that Tobe Hooper's 1985 Lifeforce is largely a remake of Hammer's Quatermass and the Pit. In an interview, director Tobe Hooper discussed how Cannon Films gave him $25 million, free rein, and Colin Wilson's book The Space Vampires. Hooper then shares how giddy he was: "I thought I'd go back to my roots and make a 70 mm Hammer film." Home media release The region 1 release of Quatermass and the Pit from Anchor Bay includes a commentary from Nigel Kneale and Roy Ward Baker as well as trailers and an instalment of a documentary called The Worlds of Hammer devoted to Hammer's forays into science fiction. A UK Blu-ray release of the film, was released in Oct 10, 2011 and was followed by releases in Germany, Australia and Italy. The Quatermass Xperiment (a.k.a. The Creeping Unknown in the United States) is a 1955 British science fiction horror film drama from Hammer Film Productions, based on the 1953 BBC Television serial The Quatermass Experiment written by Nigel Kneale. The film was produced by Anthony Hinds, directed by Val Guest, and stars Brian Donlevy as the eponymous Professor Bernard Quatermass. Jack Warner, Richard Wordsworth, and Margia Dean appear in supporting roles. The film's US release was as a double feature with The Black Sleep . Three astronauts are launched into space aboard a rocket designed by Professor Quatermass, but the spacecraft returns to Earth with only one occupant, Victor Carroon (Richard Wordsworth). Something has infected him during the spaceflight, and he begins mutating into an alien organism which, if it spawns, will engulf the Earth and destroy humanity. When the Carroon-creature escapes from custody, Quatermass and Scotland Yard's Inspector Lomax (Jack Warner), have just hours to track it down and prevent a catastrophe. Plot The British Rocket Group, headed by the taciturn Professor Bernard Quatermass, launches its first manned rocket into space. Shortly thereafter, all contact is lost with the rocket and its three person crew: Carroon, Reichenheim, and Green. The large rocket later returns to Earth, crashing into an English country field. Quatermass and his assistant Marsh arrive at the scene, along with the local emergency services, Carroon's wife Judith, Rocket Group physician Dr. Briscoe, and Blake, a Ministry official who chides him repeatedly for launching the rocket on impulse and without official permission. The rocket's hatch is finally opened, and the space-suited Carroon stumbles out; inside, there is no sign of the other two crew members. Carroon is in shock, only able to say the words "Help me". Inside the rocket, Quatermass and Marsh can find only the completely-fastened spacesuits of the other two crewmen. Carroon is taken to Briscoe's office for care, on the grounds that conventional hospitals and doctors would have no idea how to evaluate or treat the world's first returned astronaut suffering from some sort of adverse event while in space. But even with Briscoe's care, Carroon remains mute, generally immobile, but alert with his eyes which now have a feral and cunning aspect. Briscoe also discovers a strangely disfigured place on his shoulder, and notices changes in his face which suggest some sort of mutation of the underlying bone structure. Meanwhile, Scotland Yard Inspector Lomax has undertaken investigation of the other two men's disappearance and, having surreptitiously fingerprinted Carroon as a suspect, alerts Quatermass that the prints are nothing like a human's. At Judith's insistence that Briscoe is not helping her husband, Quatermass agrees to have Carroon transferred to a regular hospital, under guard. Meanwhile, Marsh has developed film from a camera that was aboard the rocket, and Quatermass, Lomax and Briscoe watch it. The crew are seen for a time pleasantly at their duties; then suddenly, something seems to jar the ship. After that, there is a nightmarish wavering in the air inside the rocket, and the men react as if something frightening, yet not manifestly visible, is there in the cabin with them. One by one they fall, Carroon the last to go. Quatermass and Briscoe determine from the evidence at hand that something living in outer space has entered the ship, dissolved Reichenheim and Green in their sealed spacesuits, and evidently entered Carroon's body, which is now in the process of being changed by this unknown entity. Not knowing any of this, Carroon's wife, Judith, hires a private investigator, Christie, to break her husband out of the secured hospital. The escape is successful, but not before Carroon smashes a potted cactus in his hospital room, fuses it into his flesh, then kills the private investigator and absorbs all the forces of life in his body, leaving just a shrivelled husk. It does not take long for Judith to discover what is happening to her husband; Carroon flees and disappears into the London night, leaving her screaming outside the hospital, alive, unharmed, but entirely mad from fright. Inspector Lomax then initiates a manhunt for the missing Carroon, who goes to a nearby pharmacy and kills the chemist, using his now-swollen, crusty, cactus-thorn-riddled hand and arm as a cudgel and leaving a twisted empty husk of the man to be found by police. Quatermass theorizes that Carroon has used select chemicals taken from the shelves to "speed up a change going on inside of him." After hiding out on a river barge, Carroon encounters a little girl the next morning, leaving her also unharmed through sheer force of willpower. That night finds Carroon at a zoo, barely visible amongst some shadowed bushes with far less of his human form remaining. In the morning, twisted corpses of zoo animals are found, their life forces having all been absorbed, and a trail of slime leading back out into the community. Among the bushes, Quatermass and Briscoe also find a small but living remnant of what was once Victor Carroon, and take it back to their laboratory. From his examination of this remnant, Quatermass concludes that some kind of alien life has completely taken over and will eventually release reproduction spores, endangering the entire planet. The remnant eventually dies of starvation, locked in a glass cage. On a tip to police from Rosie Wrigley, a vagrant tippler, Lomax and his men track the main mutation to Westminster Abbey, where it has crawled high up on a metal work scaffolding inside. It now is a gigantic shapeless mass of combined animal and plant tissue with eyes, distended nodules, and tentacle-like fronds filled with spores. Quatermass arrives, arranges for electric cables being used by a BBC company broadcasting from within the Abbey, to be attached to the scaffolding. By having all the power in London diverted through the cables and into the scaffolding, Quatermass succeeds in cremating the Carroon-creature by electrocution, just as it has entered the final phase before release of its spores. The threat eliminated, Quatermass quickly walks out of the Abbey, preoccupied by his thoughts. He ignores all who ask questions. Marsh, his assistant, approaches and asks "What are we going to do?" Never breaking stride, Quatermass offhandedly replies, "We're going to start again." He leaves Marsh behind, walking into the London night, and sometime later a second manned rocket roars into space. Cast Brian Donlevy as Prof. Bernard Quatermass Richard Wordsworth as Victor Carroon Jack Warner as Inspector Lomax David King-Wood as Dr. Gordon Briscoe Margia Dean as Mrs. Judith Carroon Maurice Kaufmann as Marsh Harold Lang as Christie Lionel Jeffries as Mr. Blake John Wynn as Det. Sgt. Best Sam Kydd as Police Station Sergeant Thora Hird as Rosemary 'Rosie' Elizabeth Wrigley Gordon Jackson as BBC TV Producer Jane Asher as Little Girl (uncredited) Basil Dignam as Sir Lionel Dean (uncredited) Bartlett Mullins as Zookeeper (uncredited) Marianne Stone as Central Clinic Nurse (uncredited) Toke Townley as The Chemist (uncredited) Production The screenplay, written by the American B-film scenarist, Richard Landau, and heavily revised by Val Guest, presents a reworked version of the events of the original television serial. Among the plot changes are the elimination of the gangster episode. The most significant plot change, however, occurs at the climax of the film. In the television version, Quatermass appeals to the last vestiges of the creature's humanity and convinces it to commit suicide to save the world. In the film Quatermass kills the creature by massive electrocution. Nigel Kneale was critical of the changes made for the film adaptation, and also of the casting of Brian Donlevy, whose brusque interpretation of Quatermass was not to his liking. To make the film's plot convincing to audiences, Guest employed a high degree of realism, directing the film in a style akin to a newsreel. The film was shot on location in London, Windsor, Bray, and at Hammer's Bray Studios. Carroon's transformation was effected by makeup artist Phil Leakey, who worked in conjunction with cinematographer Walter J. Harvey to accentuate Wordsworth's naturally gaunt features to give him an increasingly menacing, yet tragically in-pain, appearance. Special effects, including a model of the fully mutated creature seen at the climax, were provided by Les Bowie. The music was composed by James Bernard, the first of many scores he wrote for Hammer.[citation needed] Hammer marketed the film in the United Kingdom by dropping the "E" from "Experiment" in the title to emphasise the adults-only 'X' Certificate given to the film by the British Board of Film Censors. Upon general release in 1955, the film formed one half of the highest grossing double bill in the UK. It was the first Hammer production to attract the attention of a major US distributor, in this case United Artists, who distributed the film under the title The Creeping Unknown. Its success led to Hammer producing an increasing number of horror films, including two sequels Quatermass 2 (1957) and Quatermass and the Pit (1967), making them synonymous with the genre. The Quatermass Xperiment is regarded as the first of these "Hammer Horrors". Development The Quatermass Experiment was originally a six-part TV serial broadcast by BBC Television in 1953. Written by Nigel Kneale, it was an enormous success with critics and audiences alike, later described by film historian Robert Simpson as "event television, emptying the streets and pubs". Among its viewers was Hammer Films producer Anthony Hinds, who was immediately keen to buy the rights for a film version. Incorporated in 1934, Hammer had developed a niche for itself making second features, many of which were adaptations of successful BBC Radio productions. Hammer contacted the BBC on 24 August 1953, two days after the transmission of the final episode, to inquire about the film rights. Nigel Kneale also saw the potential for a film adaptation and, at his urging, the BBC touted the scripts around a number of producers, including the Boulting Brothers and Frank Launder and Sidney Gilliat. Kneale met with Sidney Gilliat to discuss the scripts but Gilliat was reluctant to buy the rights as he felt any film adaptation would inevitably receive an ‘X’ Certificate from the British Board of Film Censors (BBFC), restricting admission to persons over the age of sixteen. Hammer was not so reticent, deciding from the outset that they would deliberately pursue an ‘X’ Certificate. Hammer's offer met some resistance within the BBC, with one executive expressing reservations that The Quatermass Experiment was not suitable material for the company, but the rights were nevertheless sold for an advance of £500. Nigel Kneale was a BBC employee at the time, which meant that his scripts were owned entirely by the BBC. He received no extra payment for the sale of the film rights. This became a matter of some resentment on Kneale's part, and when his BBC contract came up for renewal he demanded and secured control over any future film rights for his work. Despite this, Kneale remained bitter over the affair until the BBC made an ex-gratia payment of £3,000 to him in 1967, in recognition of his creation of Quatermass. The film was co-produced by Robert L. Lippert, an American film producer and distributor. Hammer had entered into an arrangement with Lippert in 1951 under which Lippert provided finance and supplied American stars for Hammer's films and distributed them in the United States. In return Hammer's distribution arm, Exclusive Films, distributed Lippert's films in the United Kingdom. Quota laws in the UK meant that US films had to have a British supporting feature, so it was in the American studios' interests to fund these features to recover a greater proportion of the box office receipts. Writing The first draft of the screenplay was written by Richard Landau, an American who had worked on six previous Hammer productions, including Spaceways (1953), one of the company's first forays into science fiction. Landau made significant changes in condensing the action to less than half the length of the original teleplay. The opening thirty minutes of the television version are covered in just two minutes in the Hammer film. In the process Landau played up the horror elements of Kneale's original teleplay. Aware that the film would be co-funded by American backers, Landau added a transatlantic dimension to the script: Quatermass's "British Rocket Group" became the "British-American Rocket Group" and the character of his assistant, Briscoe, was rewritten as a US Air Force flight surgeon. Quatermass himself was demoted to a doctor and written much more as an action hero than the thoughtful scientist created by Nigel Kneale. Some characters from the television version, such as the journalist James Fullalove, are omitted altogether. Judith Carroon's role in the film version is reduced to little more than that of the stricken astronaut's anxious wife, whereas in the television version she is also a prominent member of Quatermass's Rocket Group. A subplot involving an extramarital affair between her and Briscoe is also left out of the film version. Kneale was particularly aggravated by the dropping from his original teleplay the notion that Carroon has absorbed not only the bodies but also the memories and the personalities of his two fellow astronauts. This change leads to the most significant difference between the two versions: in the television version, Quatermass makes a personal appeal to the last vestiges that remain of the three absorbed astronauts to make the creature commit suicide before it can spore, whereas in the film version Quatermass kills the creature by electrocution. Director Val Guest defended this change believing it was "filmically a better end to the story". He also felt it unlikely that Brian Donlevy's gruff interpretation of Quatermass would lend itself to talking the creature into submission. Having fallen foul of the censors with some of their earlier films, Hammer had an informal agreement to submit scripts in advance of shooting for comment by the BBFC. When the draft script for The Quatermass Xperiment was submitted, Board Secretary Arthur Watkins replied, "I must warn you at this stage that, while we accept this story in principle for the ‘X’ category, we could not certificate, even in that category, a film treatment in which the horrific element was so exaggerated as to be nauseating and revolting to adult audiences”. The BBFC were particularly concerned with the violence in the scenes where Carroon escapes from hospital and with how graphic the depiction would be of Caroon's transformation into the alien creature. The script was refined further by director Val Guest, who cut 30 pages from Landau's script. One of Guest's key script contributions was to tailor the dialogue to suit the brusque style of star Brian Donlevy. With an American actor cast as Quatermass, Guest reverted Briscoe to a British character and reinstated Quatermass's title of professor. Guest also adapted some sections of the script in response to the concerns of the BBFC. Further stylistic changes were sought by the BBC, who retained a script approval option after the sale of the rights and asked Nigel Kneale to work on their suggested changes, much to his indignation, . Kneale was tasked with rewriting any scenes featuring BBC announcers to match the BBC's news reporting style. Casting Irish-American actor Brian Donlevy was brought in by Robert L. Lippert to play the title role of Quatermass to provide an interest for American audiences. Donlevy, in his own words, specialised in "he-men roles – rough, tough and realistic". Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for Beau Geste (1939), he was also known for his appearances in The Great McGinty (1940) and The Glass Key (1942). At the time he appeared as Quatermass, his career was in decline, however. Donlevy's no-nonsense portrayal of Quatermass is very different from that of Reginald Tate in the television version. It was not to Nigel Kneale's liking, who said, "I may have picked Quatermass's surname out of a phone book, but his first name was carefully chosen: Bernard, after Bernard Lovell, the creator of Jodrell Bank. Pioneer, ultimate questing man. Donlevy played him as a mechanic, a creature with a completely closed mind”. Responding to Kneale's criticisms, Val Guest said, "Nigel Kneale was expecting to find Quatermass like he was on television, a sensitive British scientist, not some American stomping around, but to me Donlevy gave it absolute reality". By this stage in his career, Donlevy was suffering from alcoholism; it was some weeks into the shoot before Guest became aware that the flask of coffee he always carried on set was laced with brandy. Guest found, however, that "Brian was all right, no problem at all once you kept him sober". He reprised the role of Quatermass in Quatermass 2 (1957) but was replaced by Andrew Keir in the third film, Quatermass and the Pit (1967). Inspector Lomax was played by Jack Warner, who appeared by arrangement with the J. Arthur Rank Organisation, with whom he was contracted. At the time, he was best known as the star of Here Come the Huggetts (1948) and its sequels. Shortly after finishing The Quatermass Xperiment, he made his first appearance on television in the role he is most associated with: the title character in Dixon of Dock Green (1955–76). Warner plays Lomax in a lighthearted fashion and there is a running joke in the film involving Lomax's futile attempts to find the time to have a shave with his electric razor. Richard Wordsworth was cast by Val Guest as the hapless Victor Carroon because "he had the right sort of face for the part". He was best known at the time for his work in the theatre. His performance in The Quatermass Xperiment is frequently compared with that of Boris Karloff in Frankenstein (1931). Guest, aware of the risk of an actor going over the top with the part, directed Wordsworth to "hold back just a mite of what you're feeling". Summing up Wordsworth's performance, film critic Bill Warren said, "All Carroon's anguish and torment are conveyed in one of the best mime performances in horror and science fiction films... A sequence in which he is riding in a car with his wife is uncanny: only the alien is visible for a long moment". Wordsworth went on to appear in three more Hammer films: The Camp on Blood Island (1958), The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958), and The Curse of the Werewolf (1961). He remained known predominantly as a stage actor, among other things devising and starring in a one-person show dedicated to his great-great grandfather, the poet William Wordsworth. Another American star provided by Robert L. Lippert was Margia Dean, who played Judith Carroon. A former beauty queen, Dean was allegedly cast on account of her association with the 20th Century Fox president, Spyros Skouras. According to executive producer Michael Carreras, "Skouras had a girlfriend who was an actress and he wanted her in pictures, but he didn't want her in pictures in America, because of the tittle-tattle or whatever, so he set it up through his friend Bob Lippert". Val Guest recalled of her, "She was a sweet girl, but she couldn't act". Her American accent was considered out of place in the film, and so her lines were dubbed in post production. Among the other actors that appear in the film are Thora Hird, Gordon Jackson, David King-Wood, Harold Lang, Lionel Jeffries, and Sam Kydd, many of whom appeared regularly in films directed by Val Guest. The Quatermass Xperiment also saw an early role for Jane Asher, who plays the little girl whom Carroon encounters when he is on the run. Critical response The Times newspaper gave the film a generally favourable assessment: its critic wrote, "Mr. Val Guest, the director, certainly knows his business when it comes to providing the more horrid brand of thrills... The first part of this particular film is well up to standard. Mr. Brian Donlevy, as the American scientist responsible for the experiment, is a little brusque in his treatment of British institutions but he is clearly a man who knows what he is doing. Mr. Jack Warner, representing Scotland Yard, is indeed a comfort to have at hand when Things are on the rampage." Positive reviews also came from Peter Burnup in the News of the World, who found that "with the added benefit of bluff, boisterous Brian Donlevy… all earnest addicts of science fiction will undoubtedly love every minute of it" while the reviewer in The Manchester Guardian praised "a narrative style that quite neatly combines the horrific and the factual" and Today's Cinema called it "one of the best essays in science fiction to date" Film historian Bruce G. Hallenbeck notes a degree of national pride in some of the positive reviews. For instance, Paul Dehn in the News Chronicle said, "This is the best and nastiest horror film I have seen since the War. How jolly that it is also British!". Similarly, William Whitebait in the New Statesman, who found the film to be "better than either War of the Worlds or Them!", also called for "a couple of cheers for the reassurance that British films can still, once in a while, come quick". On a less positive note, Frank Jackson of Reynolds News quipped "That TV pseudo-science shocker The Quatermass Xperiment has been filmed and quitermess they've made of it too", before slating the film as "82 minutes of sick-making twaddle". The horror content of the film was mentioned in several reviews: Patrick Gibbs of the Daily Telegraph said the film "gives the impression that it originated in the strip of some horror comic. It remains very horrid and not quite coherent" while the reviewer in the Daily Mirror found the film to be "a real chiller thriller but not for the kids" and Dilys Powell of The Sunday Times found the film "exciting but distinctly nauseating". Another unimpressed critic was François Truffaut, who wrote in Cahiers du cinéma that "This one is very, very bad, far from the small pleasure we get, for example, from the innocent science fiction films signed by the American Jack Arnold... The subject could have been turned into a good film, not lacking in spice; with a bit of imagination... None of this is in this sadly English film”. Upon its release in the United States Variety praised the film as an "extravagant piece of science fiction. Despite its obvious horror angles, production is crammed with incident and suspense". According to Hallenbeck, many US critics found Brian Donlevy's gruff Quatermass a breath of fresh air from the earnest hero scientists of American science fiction films, such as Gene Barry's character in War of the Worlds. Other US trade reviews were mixed. Harrison's Reports felt, "the story is, of course, quite fantastic but it has enough horrific ingredients to go over with those who enjoy scary doings." Film Bulletin was not impressed. "Its strong point is an eerie atmosphere . . . but fails to build the suspense essential in this kind of film . . . Val Guest's direction is heavy with cliches." Among the critics and film historians who have reviewed The Quatermass Xperiment in the years since its release have been John Baxter who said, in Science Fiction in the Cinema (1970), "In its time, The Quatermass Experiment was a pioneering sf film... Brian Donlevy was stiff but convincing... Much of the film is saved, however, by Richard Wordsworth... one of the finest such performances since Karloff's triumphs of the Thirties.” This view was echoed by John Brosnan in The Primal Screen (1991): "One of the best of all alien possession movies", he wrote, "Not since Boris Karloff as Frankenstein's monster has an actor managed to create such a memorable, and sympathetic, monster out of mime alone". Bill Warren in Keep Watching The Skies! (1982) found that "the buildup is slightly too long and too careful" but also said, "It's an intelligent, taut and well-directed thriller; it showcases Nigel Kneale's ideas well; it's scary and exciting. It was made by people who cared about what they were doing, who were making entertainment for adults. It is still one of the best alien invasion films". Steve Chibnall, writing for the British Film Institute's Screenonline, describes The Quatermass Xperiment as "one of the high points of British SF/horror cinema." The horror fiction writer Stephen King praised the film as one of his favourite horror movies from between 1950 and 1980 in his non-fiction book Danse Macabre (1991). The film director John Carpenter, who later collaborated with Nigel Kneale on the film Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982), has claimed that The Quatermass Xperiment "had an enormous, enormous impact on me – and it continues to be one of my all-time favourite science-fiction movies." Legacy The success of The Quatermass Xperiment came at an opportune time for Hammer. By 1955 the deal with Robert L. Lippert had expired and the company produced just one feature film that year, Women Without Men. Many of the independent cinemas that provided the market for Hammer's films in the UK were struggling in the face of competition from television and faced closure. The Quatermass Xperiment gave Hammer a much needed box office hit and was also the first film to bring the company to the attention of a major film distributor, in this case United Artists. From this point onward, Hammer was increasingly able to deal directly with the major distributors and no longer needed intermediaries like Lippert. This ultimately spelt the end for Exclusive Films, Hammer's own distribution company, which was wound down in the late 1950s. Hammer quickly sought to capitalise on its good fortune with a sequel. Staff member Jimmy Sangster pitched a story about a monster emerging from the Earth's core. However, when the company asked Nigel Kneale for permission to use the character of Quatermass, he refused, not wanting to lose control of his creation. Nevertheless, the film went ahead, as X the Unknown (1956), again capitalising on the 'X' Certificate in its title and featuring a newly created scientist character, very much in the Quatermass mould, played by Dean Jagger. Quatermass did eventually return to cinema screens in Quatermass 2 (1957) and Quatermass and the Pit (1967), both of which had screenplays written by Nigel Kneale and based on serials originally written by him and presented by BBC Television. Rival British film companies also tried to cash in with science fiction films of their own, including Satellite in the Sky, The Gamma People and Fire Maidens from Outer Space (all 1956). The Quatermass Xperiment was Hammer's first film to be adapted from a television drama. Market research carried out by the company showed that it was the horror aspect of the film, rather than the science fiction, that most appealed to audiences. Three of the four films Hammer made in 1956 were horror films: X the Unknown, Quatermass 2 and The Curse of Frankenstein. The enormous success of the latter of these cemented Hammer's reputation for horror and the company became synonymous with the genre. Michael Carreras later said, "The film that must take all the credit for the whole Hammer series of horror films was really The Quatermass Xperiment". Video releases The Quatermass Xperiment was released in 2003 by DD Video on Region 2 DVD. It contained a number of extra features including a commentary by director Val Guest and Hammer historian Marcus Hearn, as well as an interview with Val Guest, an original trailer, and a production booklet written by Marcus Hearn and Jonathan Rigby. A Region 1 made-on-demand DVD-R, sourced from a high-definition master, was released in 2011 by MGM. The film had been previously released on VHS cassette and LaserDisc. In other media The film was adapted into a 16-page comic strip published in two parts in the March–April 1977 and June 1977 issues of the magazine The House of Hammer (volume 1, issue #'s 8 and 9, published by General Book Distribution). It was drawn by Brian Lewis from a script by Les Lilley and Ben Aldrich. The cover of issue 9 featured a painting by Lewis of Professor Quatermass. The Mummy is a 1959 British horror film, directed by Terence Fisher and starring Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing. It was written by Jimmy Sangster and produced by Michael Carreras and Anthony Nelson Keys for Hammer Film Productions. The film was distributed in the U.S. in 1959 on a double bill with either the Vincent Price movie The Bat or the Universal film Curse of the Undead. Though the title suggests Universal Pictures' 1932 film of the same title, the film actually derives its plot and characters entirely from two 1940s Universal films, The Mummy's Hand and The Mummy's Tomb, with the climax borrowed directly from The Mummy's Ghost. The character name Joseph Whemple, the use of a sacred scroll, and a few minor plot elements are the only connections with the 1932 version. Plot In Egypt in 1895, archaeologists John Banning (Cushing), his father Stephen (Felix Aylmer) and his uncle Joseph Whemple (Raymond Huntley) are searching for the tomb of Princess Ananka, the high priestess of the god Karnak. John has a broken leg and cannot accompany his father and uncle when they open the tomb. Before they enter, an Egyptian named Mehemet Bey (George Pastell) warns them not to go in, lest they face the fatal curse against desecrators. Stephen and Joseph ignore him, and discover within the sarcophagus of Ananka. After Joseph leaves to tell John the good news, Stephen finds the Scroll of Life and reads from it. Outside, members of the archaeological team hear his screams and rush into the tomb to find Stephen in a catatonic state. Three years later, back in England, Stephen Banning comes out of his catatonia at the Engerfield Nursing Home for the Mentally Disordered, and sends for his son. He tells him that when he read from the Scroll of Life, he unintentionally brought back to life Kharis (Lee), the mummified high priest of Karnak. The high priest had been sentenced to be entombed alive to serve as the guardian of Princess Ananka's tomb: Kharis secretly loved the princess and attempted to restore her to life after she died; when he was discovered, eternal life and mummification were his punishment. Now, Stephen tells his disbelieving son that Kharis will hunt down and kill all those who desecrated Ananka's tomb. Meanwhile, Mehemet Bey, a devoted worshiper of Karnak, comes to Engerfield under the alias of Mehemet Atkil to wreak vengeance on the Bannings. He hires a pair of drunken carters, Pat and Mike, to bring the slumbering Kharis in a crate to his rented home, but the two men's drunken driving cause Kharis's crate to fall off and sink into a bog. Later, using the Scroll of Life, Mehemet exhorts Kharis to rise from the mud, then sends him to murder Stephen Banning. When Kharis kills Joseph Whemple the next night, John witnesses it. He shoots Kharis with a revolver at close range, but to no effect. Police Inspector Mulrooney is assigned to solve the murders but, because he is skeptical and deals only in "cold, hard facts", he does not believe John's incredible story about a killer mummy, even when John tells him that he is likely to be Kharis' third victim. While Mulrooney investigates, John notices that his wife Isobel bears an uncanny resemblance to Princess Ananka. Gathering testimonial evidence from other individuals in the community, Mulrooney slowly begins to wonder if the mummy is real. Mehemet Bey sends the mummy to the Bannings' home to slay his final victim. However, when Isobel rushes to her husband's aid, Kharis sees her, releases John, and leaves. Mehemet Bey mistakenly believes that Kharis has completed his task, and prepares to return to Egypt. John, suspecting Mehemet Bay of being the one controlling the mummy, pays him a visit, much to his surprise. After John leaves, Mehemet Bey leads Kharis in a second attempt on John's life. The mummy knocks Mulrooney unconscious, while Mehemet Bey deals with another policeman guarding the house. Kharis finds John in his study and starts to choke him. Alerted by John's shouts, Isobel runs to the house without Mulrooney; at first, the mummy does not recognise her, but John tells her to loosen her hair and the mummy releases John. When Mehemet orders Kharis to kill Isobel, he refuses; Mehemet tries to murder Isobel himself, but is killed by Kharis instead. The mummy carries the unconscious Isobel into the swamp, followed by John, Mulrooney and other policemen. John yells to Isobel; when she regains consciousness, she tells Kharis to put her down. The mummy reluctantly obeys. When Isobel has moved away from him, the policemen open fire, causing Kharis to sink into a quagmire, taking the Scroll of Life with him. Cast Peter Cushing as John Banning Christopher Lee as Kharis Yvonne Furneaux as Isobel Banning / Princess Ananka Eddie Byrne as Inspector Mulrooney Felix Aylmer as Stephen Banning Raymond Huntley as Joseph Whemple George Pastell as Mehemet Bey Michael Ripper as Poacher George Woodbridge as P. C. Blake Harold Goodwin as Pat Denis Shaw as Mike Gerald Lawson as Irish Customer Willoughby Gray as Dr. Reilly John Stuart as Coroner David Browning as Police Sergeant Frank Sieman as Bill Stanley Meadows as Attendant Frank Singuineau as Head Porter Critical reception The Monthly Film Bulletin of the UK wrote, "More glamorously photographed than ever, Hammer's latest excursion into nineteenth century macabre fantasy is weighed down by wordy historical exposition, flashbacks to ancient Egyptian burial ceremonies and a resultant slackening in pace." Howard Thompson of The New York Times thought that the film was "woodenly directed" and "should have been better." Variety wrote that the film was "excellently executed" in all technical departments, and while there was "little of actual newness" to the plot, the film "carries the type of action expected, and while chiller aspects aren't too pronounced they're sufficient to those who want to find them." Harrison's Reports called it "a fairly good picture of its kind, produced on a more lavish scale than its predecessors and enhanced by Technicolor photography." The Hammer Story: The Authorised History of Hammer Films wrote of the film: "Structurally little more than a string of picturesque and nice-lit killings, The Mummy's melancholic presentation and romantic undertow grants it a certain atmosphere which elevates this bandaged brute far beyond its cinematic predecessors." It currently holds a very positive 100% "Fresh" on film review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes with a rating average of 7.9/10 based on 8 reviews. In other media The film was adapted into a 12-page comic strip for the July 1978 issue of the magazine Hammer's Halls of Horror. It was drawn by David Jackson from a script by Steve Moore. The cover of the issue featured a painting by Brian Lewis of Christopher Lee as Kharis.

Price: 2.99 GBP

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Subject Type: TV & Movies

Card Size: Standard

Autographed: No

Set: Hammer Horror - Series Two

Character: Quatermass

Film: Quatermass And The Pit

Custom Bundle: No

Card Condition: Near Mint

Material: Card Stock

Year Manufactured: 1996

Original/Licensed Reprint: Original

Franchise: Hammer Horror

Modified Item: No

Vintage: Yes

Type: Non-Sport Trading Card

Language: English

Card Name: Quatermass And The Pit

Manufacturer: Cornerstone

Features: Individual Card from Base Set

Featured Person/Artist: Barbara Shelley

Card Number: 153

Genre: Horror, Hammer Horror

Country/Region of Manufacture: United States