In the countryside of London, a rocket crashes on a farm and Professor Bernard Quatermass (Brian Donlevy) and Scotland Yard Inspector Lomax (Jack Warner) arrive in the spot. The rocket was launched by Prof. Quatermass with the astronauts Victor Carroon (Richard Wordsworth), Greene and Reichebheim; however only Carroon is found very sick in the cabin. He is transported to a private clinic to stay under observation despite the protests of his wife Mrs. Judith Carroon (Margia Dean). She bribes a nurse to bring Carroon to her and she finds that he is transforming into a monster. Carroon escapes killing people and animals during his metamorphosis while the Scotland Yard is hunting him down and Dr. Quatermass discovers that his process is an alien invasion.

"The Quatermass Xperiment" is an early sci-fi from Hammer with a creepy alien invasion. Despite the low-budget, the screenplay is very well written and the film entertains, specially fans of sci-fi from the 50's. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Terror que Mata" ("Terror that Kills")

Note: On 12 Dec 2019, I saw this film again.

I remember once when back in the day there was some consideration of making an incarnation of Doctor Who an American. The British protested and rightly so. The show is so quintessentially British that the idea was quickly dropped and it would have been a disaster.

The Quatermass Experiment isn't a disaster, but I'm not certain getting an American actor, even as good a one as Brian Donlevy to play Doctor Quatermass was a good thing. Donlevy doesn't even attempt to imitate an English accent, probably because he knew he'd be laughed at.

At this point in the unnamed future, the British are experimenting in space and a rocket sent up with three astronauts is lost in space and then reappears and crashes on the English countryside. Only one man out of the three is still there and he's in a catatonic state.

Some really dumb decisions are made by Quatermass and the man's wife and he's on the loose. It turns out that Richard Wordsworth is a carrier for an alien energy creature who absorbs the life it comes in contact with.

The Quatermass Xperiment uses some script ideas borrowed from Frankenstein and from Godzilla which was out in Japan, but not yet released in America.

Seen today it's an earnest effort, but the only other Quatermass I've seen is Andrew Keir and he's far more suited to the role than Donlevy.

A British spaceship returns to Earth but instead of celebrating this first space shot, there is a lot of confusion, as two of the three crew members are missing. Additionally, the one who DID return just doesn't look or act right and he's kept under supervision and monitored as his body seems to be undergoing some sort of metamorphosis.

This isn't exactly your standard 1950s sci-fi/monster film, as the story itself is more tightly written and seems more credible than the typical "bug-eyed monster" film. Instead of the over the top acting and silly special effects, this is a more cerebral style film and the "monster" doesn't even make an appearance until near the very end. Instead, the story slowly unfolds and at the same time, simple makeup does the trick--no ping pong ball eyes, giant killer lobsters or any of the sort of tripe seen in the sillier examples of the genre. About the only negative was the whole subplot of the wife trying to kidnap her husband away from the hospital--this didn't make a lot of sense. Still, overall it's a dandy sci-fi film and worth a look.