The Quatermass Xperiment

The Quatermass Xperiment (US title: The Creeping Unknown) is a 1955 British science fiction horror film. Made by Hammer Film Productions, it is based on the 1953 BBC Television serial The Quatermass Experiment written by Nigel Kneale. Produced by Anthony Hinds and directed by Val Guest, it stars Brian Donlevy as the eponymous Professor Bernard Quatermass. Jack Warner, Richard Wordsworth and Margia Dean appear in supporting roles. The plot concerns three astronauts launched into space in a rocket designed by Quatermass. The spacecraft returns to Earth with only one occupant, Victor Carroon (Wordsworth). Something has infected Carroon during the flight and he begins mutating into an alien organism which, if it spores, will engulf and destroy humanity. When Carroon escapes from Quatermass's custody, the professor and his associates, including Inspector Lomax (Warner) of Scotland Yard, have just a few hours to track the creature down and prevent a catastrophe.

The screenplay, written by Richard Landau and Val Guest, presents a heavily compressed version of the events of the original television serial. The most significant plot change 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 in order to save the world. In the film, Quatermass kills the creature by electrocution. Nigel Kneale was critical of the changes made for the film adaptation and 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 and 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 alien 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.

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, the film formed one half of the highest grossing double bill release of 1955 in the UK. It was the first Hammer production to attract the attention of a major distributor in the United States, 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".