Quatermass 2 (1957)

Plot Outline: Professor Quatermass follows the trail of what he thinks are meteorites crashing down onto Earth. His search leads him to a destroyed village in rural England and a mysterious-looking factory which, officially, produces food. But Quatermass uncovers something far more sinister: it is being used as a landing point for aliens who start taking control of the human body and mind. However no one will believe him and he has to take action himself to see that they are stopped.

The Review: Does this sound familiar? Yes it does? That's because it is very similar to the original Invasion of the Body Snatchers, which was released a year earlier. But in fact this was a film version of a radio broadcast version on the BBC in 1955. So you tell me which is the copy. Anyway, the similarities between the two films are limited and this one goes in a completely different direction. It does it for the better as well because this film is great and for it's age, it's theories about conspiracies and cover-ups are well ahead their time. The film had me hooked all of the way through and was only let down by a below-par finale, which clearly showed off the low budget that this film had. The final uncovering of the aliens is pretty weak and just like it's predecessor, the make-up for the aliens are the elements that spoil the film. The giant blobs at the end look silly but this is 1957 after all. It is fascinating to watch as the plot uncovers though and the script writers deserve credit for working such a detailed, intelligent plot together. There are some great little touches such as the whizzing of the meteorites as they crash to Earth, especially when you hear one single meteorite fall at the beginning of the film in the background and then contrast it towards  the end of the film when hundreds of them are falling and whizzing past in the background. Just little things like that which happen and aren't the main focus of whatever the current scene is. Attention to detail is fantastic. The eerie atmosphere of the factory is amplified by the chilling sight of men in gas masks firing machine guns. That always freaks me out because you don't really know who...or what is underneath the mask, especially in this case. Brian Donlevy reprises his role as Professor Quatermass and again brings the same brash, abrasive qualities as he did before but I like those qualities, especially when he is supposed to be a rather arrogant scientist.

Final Verdict: If you think about the other science fiction films released around this time, they were mainly trashy giant insect/UFO films. This is an inspired, intelligent, and sometimes scary (you'll never forget the scene where the government inspector stumbles down the steps of the white dome, covered in black substance) film which is leaps and bounds ahead of its genre. It has lost little of its impact in over 40 years.

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