Doomtomylo a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

PiraBit if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

Yash Wade Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

Abegail Noëlle While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

SnoopyStyle A construction crew at a London subway dig discovers strange skeletons. Later, a suspected bomb is found but it's unlike anything seen before. Professor Bernard Quatermass s Colonel Breen to investigate. Soon, it's obvious that there is nothing earthly about the finds. Quatermass has a theory on the origins of the spacecraft and humanity itself.Hammer Film is more known for its B-horrors. They stretched out to make B-sci-fi. The first half is relatively pedestrian until they dig up the slightly-comical creepy insects. They are some creepy rubber insectoids. When the movie finally gets to the action, it's obviously missing an insect invasion. It becomes a convoluted sci-fi theory of an insect invasion of another kind. This is good drive-in fodder.

tomgillespie2002 Hammer Films have a lot to thank writer Nigel Kneale and his most popular character Bernard Quatermass for. When the BBC originally broadcast The Quatermass Experiment to a terrified audience, Hammer producer Anthony Hinds saw the potential for a movie adaptation and quickly snapped up the rights. At the time, Hammer were enjoying modest success making low-budget second features, but 1955's The Quatermass Xperiment (named so to highlight the X rating dished out by the BBFC), known as The Creeping Unknown in the U.S., became a hit and put the company's name on the cinematic map. Quatermass 2 (a.k.a. Enemy From Space) followed shortly after, and the rest is history.It seems like they were saving the best for last, and waited a whopping 10 years to deliver it. When skeletal remains are dug up during an extension to the London Underground, Palaeontologist Dr. Mathew Roney (James Donald) is called in, who concludes that the remains are that of an ancient race of 'apemen', possibly from 5 million years ago. Bernard Quatermass (Andrew Keir) disagrees however, and when further digging reveals a large metallic object, he believes it may be of alien origin. Colonel Breen (Game of Thrones' Julian Glover) insists that it is an unexploded bomb from World War II, and refutes Quatermass' claims. As the mystery unfolds, the discovery may lead to shocking revelations regarding man's evolution, and one that we are not ready to face.Quatermass and the Pit may feature some incredibly dated effects, but this is sci-fi as complex and intellectual as 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968); a film it is often compared to. Based on the six- part series, Pit's main issue is the difficulty in condensing hours' worth of material into a 98-minute movie, hitting the audience with one theory and revelation after another. But great sci-fi is primarily built on a singular great idea, and this is up there with the best. While the twists and turns are often a struggle to keep up with, the frantic pace created by the lack of running time means that we're kept on the edge of our seats for the duration. Keir is also an improvement on American Brian Donlevy (who played the professor in the previous two films), infusing Quatermass with warmth and a distinct Britishness.

Prichards12345 For me Quatermass and The Pit is the best of Nigel Kneale's Quatermass stories. The concept behind it, which literally gives us an explanation for all recorded supernatural phenomena in human history, is a staggering conceit of cosmic imagination and thought. Like H.P. Lovecraft, Kneale views the human race as nowhere near as important as we think we are in the scale of things; yet succeeds in instilling his story with a humanising warmth.The central idea - that the human race is just a Martian colony by proxy, has been borrowed by everything and everybody from Star Trek to Stephen King to Prometheus. But the idea is never more convincing (and alarming) than when it is on display here.Though I think it's a shame that Andre Morell never got to reprise his role as Quatermass from the original t.v. series, we are more than compensated with the presence of Andrew Keir, who has the warmth and humanism totally lacking in Brian Donlevy's earlier showings as Quatermass. He doesn't even get top billing - that goes to James Donald, another fine actor probably best known today for his appearances in Bridge on The River Kwai and The Great Escape.The story has been recounted many times in the review pages here, with it's labyrinthine plot development, growing sense of wonder and dread as the "thing in the pit" is gradually uncovered, and its skillful handling by Director Roy Ward Baker all helping to make this one of Hammer's best efforts. The final effects filled half-hour of course, has dated somewhat; and the film's one misstep is the ludicrously silly looking Martian Purge, which was done much better on the t.v. show. But this is a small quibble when set against Pit's many merits.I really can't recommend this film highly enough for first time viewers. A treat for the intellect with a true sense of cosmic fear.

JasparLamarCrabb An extreme amount of explication goes into this Roy Ward Baker classic at the cost of any real thrills or scares. During the expansion of a tube station, diggers uncover a rocket-ship. Soon professor Andrew Keir and scientist James Donald are on the scene and come to the conclusion that it's the remnants of a martian aircraft that landed millions of years ago. Much of their other theorizing involves martians mating with monkeys and other such horrors. Although this is likely the most cerebral Hammer film, it's also one of the most overrated and while there are plenty of solid ideas thrown around, much of the film is simply boring. Keir is terrific as is most of the cast. Barbara Shelley is great as a fellow scientist and Julian Glover steals the film as the high strung Colonel Breen, one of those by-the-book British military types who turns out to be a bumbling nincompoop. The special effects are fine though sparsely used until the explosive ending. Tristram Cary did the creepy music.