Quatermass and the Pit (1967)

I first heard of Quatermass and the Pit by looking up "Best Horror Movie" lists on the Internet in preparation for this very marathon. It seemed slightly interesting, but it was only until I was reading up on In the Mouth of Madness, the title resurfaced as a factoid about John Carpenter's film in that the fictional town in that film, Hobb's End, was a sort of call back to this film. My curiosity was piqued again because of this, so I decided to watch it as today's "Halloween Movie Marathon" entry. This is an odd horror movie, in that it combines the idea of classic ghosts and demons with a sci-fi twist. If you want to know what I mean, you'll find that and more after the jump.


Prof. Bernard Quatermass (Andrew Keir) is a scientist and a local solver of mysteries. Apparently in the 50s and 60s, the Quatermass character was a sort of a combination of Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Who, but before Doctor Who was ever invented. Anyways, for hundreds of years a certain area in Britain has had rumours flying around that it is haunted. Then one day, while a nearby subway station is being expanded, the workers start finding strange skulls and fossilized remains of what seem to be an early version of an ape-man, but with a much larger brain capacity. If that weren't enough, they then uncover a UFO. Could there be a connection between the ghouls and poltergeists and hauntings and the strange remains found underground?

Prof. Quatermass and Colonel Breen worry about the unearthed discovery

What I found most interesting about this story is that it merges the ideas of ghosts, ghouls, poltergeists, witchcraft, and all other manner of old world beliefs into a science fiction story about aliens! It seems the ship can tap into the human mind and kind of resonate through it. The ghosts and things that have haunted the area for so long turn out to be the subconscious being tapped into by the ship far below. It seems the ship has also been there for millions of years, back to when humanity was no more than simple apes, and yet the ship still functions! Then when they finally trigger it to open, they discover the actual aliens, long dead and preserved inside. Its horned appearance then confirms that the apparitions caused by this ship, and possibly others around the world, may have shaped the traditional view of what a demon, or the Devil is supposed to look like.

One of the insectoid aliens revealed, but long dead

It was a fun movie to watch, but as is usually the case with an older film, not very scary. In fact I've seen Doctor Who episodes that were more frightening than this horror movie. The aliens even look like something straight out of an old Doctor Who TV show. While the effects for most of the movie were pretty poor and just silly, the big effect at the end did look pretty good to me. Or maybe it was because it was better than the other effects, that it just seemed really good.

Now, the connection that I hinted at to In the Mouth of Madness turned out to be a small one, but cool nonetheless. If you recall, the town in that movie was called Hobb's End. The subway station that the UFO is unearthed in, is Hobbs End Station on Hobbs Lane. It's also mentioned in this film, that the word "Hob" used to be a word to describe the Devil. I also found this interesting because I've heard the term "Hobbe" used for enemies in some games. I just love finding out things like that.

The characters seemed real enough, but the acting wasn't fantastic. It was simply competent, and got the job done. No one seemed bad, but no one really stood out either. Andrew Keir does do a pretty good job of making this Quatermass character likable. I just wish I had some previous knowledge of who this supposedly famous character was, because I may have enjoyed the film a little more if I did. As it was, I had no idea why these high ranking military officials were allowing this old guy to freely enter, and even wander around restricted sites like the Hobbs End site.

The ship comes to life and it's as if Hell has opened up

I don't know if I would outright recommend someone seek out Quatermass and the Pit. It just didn't seem to offer all the much in the way of horror. It works alright as an old Sci-fi film, but as a horror, it's been left quite far behind. The mashing up of the two genres works in a kind of neat way, but again, while this may have come out first, Doctor Who still got to me first, explaining witches and ghosts in their own sci-fi ways. Then again, if you like Doctor Who, maybe that's a reason to watch this, as I could totally see this whole movie as a plot in a Doctor Who episode. Whatever you do, it's your call in the end. Personally, I thought it was alright as a fun old movie, but not worth the fuss and place on some of those "best horror movies" lists.