The Quatermass Xperiment (1955)

(On Cable TV, July 2020) The Quatermass brand is, unusually enough for a series of the 1950s, about cerebral science fiction as applied to familiar premises, and The Quatermass Xperiment, the first film of the series (adapted from a TV show broadcast two years earlier), certainly leaves a good first impression. Sure, England is invaded by an alien life-form, but the focus here is on slightly-gruff scientist Bernard Quatermass in understanding, then fighting the extraterrestrial threat. American Brian Donlevy plays the lead in this very British film in interesting ways, all brash and unrepentant and arrogant (and yet somehow likable). The horror undertones of the story grow louder and louder as the story advances. While this film adaptation is reportedly more action-packed than the TV show, it’s also significantly less action-filled than comparable alien-menace movies from the United States. It’s quite watchable, though, and its influence is undeniable: 1986’s Lifeforce seems to take a lot from this film, for instance.