Starring Brian Donlevy, John Longden, Sidney James, Bryan Forbes, William Franklyn
Directed by Val Guest
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)
Professor Quatermass stumbles upon a factory protected by armed guards which he discovers is connected to projectiles descending to Earth, and hiding a secret that could menace the world.
The second of Hammer's adaptations of Nigel Kneale's Quatermass serials brings back Brian Donlevy as the driven rocket scientist. Although Donlevy's been criticized for turning Quatermass into a more forceful bully than his portrayers on television, in my opinion, he provides the dramatic thrust the film needs, enlivening the tale, particularly with most of the filming taking place in routine settings, such as an oil refinery. James Bernard's eerie music helps as well. Kneale and director Guest collaborated on the script, and it's a great story, with special effects that hold up pretty well in the terror-fraught climax. With most of the film involving largely faceless villains, I don't think it fares quite as well as the earlier The Quatermass Xperiment, with Richard Wordsworth's transforming menace, but it's certainly another work of quality, thanks to Donlevy, Kneale, Guest, and the Hammer cast and crew.
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