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Quatermass II DVD Anchor
Bay Entertainment
After the Professor's Moon Base colonization project is scrapped by the British government, a freak meteorite shower leads him to discover that his plans have been stolen, and a life-sized replica of his Moon Base is being used as the military-run headquarters of a Top Secret synthetic food plant. The plant is actually harboring an alien race of gaseous creatures (arriving on Earth housed in football-shaped meteorites), capable of taking over humans and turning them into mind-controlled zombies (yes, just like Regis Philbin does). The script was adapted by Nigel Kneale and director Val Guest from Kneale's 1955 BBC teleplay, and invites comparison to the same yearâs Invasion of the Body Snatchers , both warning of the dangers of blind conformity. Kneale and Guest had earlier collaborated on the classic The Abominable Snowman (also on DVD from Anchor Bay). Donlevy's Quatermass is a lot more hard-boiled (and ham-fisted) than the the character had been written (he starred in the noir classics Kiss of Death , Hangmen Also Die and The Big Combo). The sturdy British supporting cast includes Sid James (the Carry On ... series) and William Franklyn (The Satanic Rites of Dracula ). Anchor Bay's full-frame transfer is, mostly, quite good. Some serious print damage in a few spots (apologized for in the liner notes), is due to deterioration in the 35mm fine grain print borrowed from the British Film Institute. Even with the damage, the film looks better than ever. Gerald Gibbs' (X the Unknown) hazy black-and-white cinematography creates a perpetual-twilight atmosphere of dread and impending doom. The sound is Dolby Digital Mono, and is excellent. A single audio commentary track with Guest and Kneale has been culled from two separate tracks on the Roan Group laserdisc issued last year. Their recollections often conflict (it has been over 40 years, to be fair), and Kneale provides the more colorful commentary, often at the expense of the late Donlevy's hairpiece and considerable drinking prowess. A U.S. Enemy from Space trailer is included, along with a 30-minute episode of the Hammer TV series, "World of Hammer" titled "SCI-FI," narrated by the late Oliver Reed (one episode is included on each of Anchor Bayâs Hammer DVD titles). The Quatermass series continued with the BBC-TV produced "Quatermass and the Pit" in 1958 (with Plague of the Zombies' Andre Morell as Quatermass), and a feature film version in 1967 (with Andrew Keir of Dracula, Prince of Darkness as the good Professor). The effects may be a little low-tech by today's standards (or even 1957 standards), but Quatermass II stands as one of the finest examples of 50's paranoid science fiction, and Anchor Bay's DVD release belongs on the shelf of every paranoid science fiction fan. (...and yes, I'm talking about you.) Official website: http://www.anchorbayentertainment.com
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