Quatermass 2

 

(1957)
Directed by Val Guest
Written by Nigel Kneale, Val Guest
Starring Brian Donlevy, John Longden, Synden James, Bryan Forbes, Tom Chatto, William Franklyn
IMDB Entry

Since I highlighted Quatermass and the Pic last week, I decided to check out the other films in the series.  Quatermass and the Pit was the third in the series, so my next step backwards was to see and talk about Quatermass 2.

Bernard Quatermass (Brian Donlevy) is head of an attempted project to set up a base on the moon. One night, his assistants discover signs of thousands of meteorites falling from the sky in the area of Winnerden Flats. Curious, he brings one of his staff, Marsh (Bryan Forbes) to investigate. They find a secret military base that looks suspiciously like the base Quatermass was designing for his moonbase.  As they observer, an object falls and lands on Marsh's feet.  When he examines it, it explodes, putting a v-shaped scar on his face.  Guards arrive and order Quatermass off the property, and takes Marsh, ostensibly to the infirmary.

Quatermass is curious about the installation and he finds Vincent Broadhead (Tom Chatto), a member of Parliament who is also curious about it. He is told it is a government facility making a type of artificual food.  They manage an inspection tour, which is clearing being carefully managed to keep them away from discovering what's behind it. Quatermass finds things that aren't covered in the tour, and Broadhead gets inside one of the domes, only to die, covered by a corrosive black slime. Quatermass thinks this is the beginning of an alien invasion. When a colleague of his tries to warn authorities, he discovers that the commissioner of police has the V-shaped mark and that the aliens have taken over the government.  Quatermass has to act to prevent the alien takeover.

The film is an effective SF monster movie thriller, with a credible alien threat and a fair solution (though it differed from that in the TV series). 

This film features the Bernard Quatermass actor from the first of the series, Brian Donlevy. Nigel Kneale, the writer of the TV series, did not like Donlevy as an actor, mostly because he had a drinking problem. It was one reason why he didn't come back for Quatermass and the Pit. Also of interest in the cast is Byron Forbes, who switched over from acting to writing and directing, with such films as King Rat, The Wrong Box, The Stepford Wives, and Chaplin (writing only).

Another effective piece of SF horror from the time.