Special Feature: Quatermass and the Pit (1967)

On paper, this looks like a dud. It's the third film in a series and when has that ever spelled quality? It's also based upon episodes of a British science fiction TV show and they couldn't manage well even with "Dr. Who" and Peter Cushing, so using a lesser show and star looks hopeless. On top of that, the original star, original director and original screenwriter weren't available and it had been almost a decade since the second film. It had to be re-titled for American release ("Five Million Years to Earth") and didn't make it to VHS until 1997, so it's relatively unknown in the U.S.

All of this turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Nigel Kneale, the writer of the episodes for television, was hired to adapt his own screenplay. He had hated Brian Donleavy as Quatermass in the first two films, so changing that aided as well. Roy Ward Baker, who had directed "A Night to Remember," was hired as director and this became the first of a series of terrific genre films he directed all the way to 1981's "The Monster Club."

Science fiction is a genre of ideas and this has enough grand ideas for half a dozen films. After airing on TV, it was released as a book in 1960.

Cover illustration by the author's brother.

This is partly because it's made from six episodes of a show, each with its own big idea. Kneale didn't want to cut any of it, so it just tightens the pace of the film and there's no assuming the audience isn't smart enough to get it all. Without giving away the plot, it suggests that the reason we don't encounter species from other planets is that the ability for space travel comes with the ability for self-annihilation. The film also covers religion, particularly our images of the Devil... and history... and evolution... and mythologies. All that in 97 minutes.

I decided I needed to watch the film again before I wrote this post and, when I did, I noticed a name in the credits that's the same as that of an uncle of mine. I shrugged it off as coincidence, but the next name was that uncle's neighbor. Then I saw another name of a distant relative. That uncle had passed away, but I called my aunt to see if he'd been involved in making the film. She told me that the copy I was watching must mistakenly have the credits from the first film, with which he had indeed been involved. "You mean the TV episodes, right?" I asked.

"No. The first filming. The one with Donleavy."
"You mean one of the first two films."
"No, dear. David was never in England. They filmed a cheap version of 'The Pit' in northern Minnesota in 1959."
"Wait. You're telling me that I feel a connection to this film because it's in my blood? It's in my DNA?!"
"He kept a copy of it in the barn, if you want to look for it... Hello? Hello?"

I was already in the car and on my way.

Half an hour out of Biwabik, I pulled into the family farm and headed straight for the barn. Aunt Judy was already trying to clear some items.

Uncle Dave had a huge inventory of odds and ends, most in disrepair. The mannequin with his old uniform, for example, was rotting and moldy.

There were piles of papers and tons of scraps of every description. I didn't know how I'd ever find the film. "It'll take 5 million years to unearth!" I exclaimed, looking to see if anyone got the joke.

"Oh c'mon. It wasn't that bad of a joke."
Finding the film took more digging than I expected.

The noise from excavation was loud. It was like being hit on the head with an ax by a giant. I started picturing it.

I finally found the film canister, which had a strong smell of vinegar to it, a sign that the acetate may have completely dissolved. When I opened it, there was nothing left but a few insects scavenging the remains.

I guess I'm stuck reviewing the film everyone else has seen. Coming out just before "2001: A Space Odyssey," it covers some of the same ground and may have been green-lighted for that reason and rushed into production to compete with it. If it hadn't had such a limited budget, it would be considered a classic, but the alien grasshoppers look a bit too much like papier mâché and the dream sequence has hand puppets that are so poor they take you out of the film for a second. There is a point when the embodiment of evil is supposedly shown, something that could easily have been laughable, but it turns out to be okay:

Most surprisingly, the film has some real jolts. The scary bits are actually scary, which is a rarity in any film.

Well maybe not THAT scary.

This film screams for a remake; with a decent budget, I think it would be a hit.

So, not having discussed the plot at all - unless you've seen the film, in which you can see I actually have, but hid it in my own story - I have to conclude the post. Aunt Judy had us all in for sweetbreads.

I asked Judy what she recalled of the lost film. "It was much like the one you know, except Wally..." - Walter was a carpenter who lived nearby - "couldn't make grasshoppers, so they went with giant fish, which he did quite well." I wasn't sure if giant fish would be believable or frightening. Then I drove home and I noticed something on the way...

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This post is part of the Hammer/Amicus Blogathon. Please check out the others. Links can be found at the blogs of Barry and Gill:
Cinema Catharsis
Realweegiemidget Reviews