Quatemass And The Pit

[Vulagr]

This is an old sci-fi/horror film from Hammer Films from 1967. It was adapted from an old British serial of the same name.

Here's the wiki on it, if you're interested:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quatermass_and_the_Pit_(film)

It has many of the overtones of the X-Files: science versus belief, and military versus science, and attempts to cover up what the government doesn't want to admit. And of course, despite the evidence to the contrary, people's inability to accept things that is right in front of their eyes. People will believe only what they want to believe, sometimes even going against what they see before their eyes.

And that is aliens from mars were buried in the clay millions of years ago.They landed on earth and genetically modified humans to be their slaves.

Of course, this is not a film to see if you want scientific accuracy because it plays really loose with science and evolution, but it is a fun romp and an enjoyable movie to see.

 

[Greg Cox]

Also known (in the USA) as Five Million Years to Earth.

A great movie, intelligent, literate, and full of mind-blowing concepts. Probably the best archaeological sf movie ever made.

 

[Deckerd]

I think it was one, if not the first sci fi/horror movie I ever saw. For that reason alone, it left an impression. Now I'm thinking about another film from that time about an artificial woman that was created from sci fi/mysterious/alien technology. The film was her name (I think) but I can't for the life of me remember it now.

 

[Greg Cox]

I think it was one, if not the first sci fi/horror movie I ever saw. For that reason alone, it left an impression. Now I'm thinking about another film from that time about an artificial woman that was created from sci fi/mysterious/alien technology. The film was her name (I think) but I can't for the life of me remember it now.

Sounds like A for Andromeda.

 

[Lonemagpie]

I think it was one, if not the first sci fi/horror movie I ever saw. For that reason alone, it left an impression. Now I'm thinking about another film from that time about an artificial woman that was created from sci fi/mysterious/alien technology. The film was her name (I think) but I can't for the life of me remember it now.

Sounds like A for Andromeda.

Yep, with Julie Christie - it was never made into a movie though, just a TV series and a remake miniseries.

Quatermass And the Pit is great - and, surprisingly for the era and budget, the TV version is actually better in a lot of ways, including the scenes with the aliens (Hammer having blown most of their movie budget on the optical printing for the hatch opening!)

 

[Miss Chicken]

This is one of my favourite sci-fi movies. I used to have it on video and it is on my wishlist of movies to get on DVD.

The choice i have to make is whether buy QATP on its own for £2.99 or to pay £11.99 for the BEst of Hammer Box Set and get the following movies

Quatermass and the Pit
The Nanny
Dracula - Prince of Darkness
Frankenstein Created Woman
The Devil Rides Out

I have seen the Dracula movie but I don 't recall seeing the other movies. Does anyone here think they are worth me paying the extra money for?

 

[Gojira]

I saw this in the movie theater when I was young too. I just bought it on DVD last year. Very good movie!

 

[Galileo7]

Excellent film, still holds up today.

 

[Forbin]

I can't tell you how often my friends and I quote "JUMPing! LEAPing!" at each other

 

[Greg Cox]

This is one of my favourite sci-fi movies. I used to have it on video and it is on my wishlist of movies to get on DVD.

The choice i have to make is whether buy QATP on its own for £2.99 or to pay £11.99 for the BEst of Hammer Box Set and get the following movies

Quatermass and the Pit
The Nanny
Dracula - Prince of Darkness
Frankenstein Created Woman
The Devil Rides Out

I have seen the Dracula movie but I don 't recall seeing the other movies. Does anyone here think they are worth me paying the extra money for?

The Nanny (with Bette Davis) is a genuinely scary thriller, and The Devil Rides Out (scripted by Richard Matheson) is one of Hammer's better films, too, with Christopher Lee actually getting a chance to play the hero for once. (And he has a lot more dialogue than in most of his Dracula movies.)

Frankenstein Created Woman is flawed but interesting. An intriguing premise that kind of falls apart at the end.

 

[Deckerd]

Thanks for the Andromeda memory booster everyone.

Re the Devil Rides Out. I remember reading a lot of Dennis Wheatley as a callow youth and thinking he was terrific. I wonder what I'd think now?

 

[Zero Kelvin]

I agree with Lonemagpie about the earlier B&W TV version of Quatermass and the Pit being somewhat superior to the movie. Back in the 50's pub landlords used to complain vociferously about the Quatermass serials affecting their income because so many people would stay at home to watch them - the viewing figures must have been enormous.

ETA: The recent remake of A for Andromeda failed to capture the magic of the '61 original, which sadly is one of many serials lost by the BBC.

 

[Miss Chicken]

This is one of my favourite sci-fi movies. I used to have it on video and it is on my wishlist of movies to get on DVD.

The choice i have to make is whether buy QATP on its own for £2.99 or to pay £11.99 for the BEst of Hammer Box Set and get the following movies

Quatermass and the Pit
The Nanny
Dracula - Prince of Darkness
Frankenstein Created Woman
The Devil Rides Out

I have seen the Dracula movie but I don 't recall seeing the other
movies. Does anyone here think they are worth me paying the extra money for?

The Nanny (with Bette Davis) is a genuinely scary thriller, and The Devil Rides Out (scripted by Richard Matheson) is one of Hammer's better films, too, with Christopher Lee actually getting a chance to play the hero for once. (And he has a lot more dialogue than in most of his Dracula movies.)

Frankenstein Created Woman is flawed but interesting. An intriguing premise that kind of falls apart at the end.

Thanks for the info. I think I will be buying the box set.

 

[RAMA]

Also known (in the USA) as Five Million Years to Earth.

A great movie, intelligent, literate, and full of mind-blowing concepts. Probably the best archaeological sf movie ever made.

One of the best SF movies of the 60s. It had a believable tone and an unusual spacecraft design. Enjoyed the evolutionary/cultural elements of an alien civilization that was unlike our own. It was a rare movie in that respect.

Just a quibble. It wasn't really like X-Files because this movie explains everything in a self-consistent scientific manner, and doesn't ask it's audience to simply have faith.

 

[Base_Delta_Zero]

Cool, something sci-fi horror that looks good and I haven't seen it before. Just ordered the BBC 6-parter on DVD. Can't wait to watch it.

 

[Zero Kelvin]

The Quatermass serial starring John Mills from 1979 is the poorest of the TV incarnations. The 1950's serials are the best, even though a different actor plays Quatermass in each one.

 

[Lonemagpie]

This is one of my favourite sci-fi movies. I used to have it on video and it is on my wishlist of movies to get on DVD.

The choice i have to make is whether buy QATP on its own for £2.99 or to pay £11.99 for the BEst of Hammer Box Set and get the following movies

Quatermass and the Pit
The Nanny
Dracula - Prince of Darkness
Frankenstein Created Woman
The Devil Rides Out

I have seen the Dracula movie but I don 't recall seeing the other movies. Does anyone here think they are worth me paying the extra money for?

The Nanny's crap, Frankenstein Created Woman has one of Peter Cushing's best performances, and The Devil Rides Out is very good with Chris Lee as the hero for a change - well worth it.

Having said that, there a 20-disc set you can get for around £30, that's got even more good ones...

 

[Lonemagpie]

Thanks for the Andromeda memory booster everyone.

Re the Devil Rides Out. I remember reading a lot of Dennis Wheatley as a callow youth and thinking he was terrific. I wonder what I'd think now?

Having reread that book last Halloween- Let the memories of goodness sustain you.

Cos I remember loving it first time round, reread it and found it to be unreadable crap - very slow going with lots of people sitting round telling each other what they think they know about black magic, most of which knowledge is ripped off from William Hope Hodgson's stories...

And the Macguffin is the dumbest thing I've ever heard of.

Spoiler: the thing everybody wants in the novel

Jesus's foreskin! WTF!?

 

[Zero Kelvin]

From a recent QI, I now know that is what Saturn's rings are made from (joking).

 

[Vulagr]

Thanks for the Andromeda memory booster everyone.

Re the Devil Rides Out. I remember reading a lot of Dennis Wheatley as a callow youth and thinking he was terrific. I wonder what I'd think now?

Having reread that book last Halloween- Let the memories of goodness sustain you.

Cos I remember loving it first time round, reread it and found it to be unreadable crap - very slow going with lots of people sitting round telling each other what they think they know about black magic, most of which knowledge is ripped off from William Hope Hodgson's stories...

And the Macguffin is the dumbest thing I've ever heard of.

Spoiler: the thing everybody wants in the novel

Jesus's foreskin! WTF!?

In religion, a relic is a body part of a Saint or other venerated person, and is not a new idea. The word relic comes from the Latin word reliquiae, meaning "remains" or "something left behind" (the same root as relinquish). A reliquary is a shrine that houses one or more religious relics.

Its use is primarily to legitimize religious belief, as in this person actually existed so what is said is true.