Quatermass and the Pit (1967)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Quatermass and the Pit (1967) – R. W. Baker

Heady blend of science fiction and horror from Nigel Kneale (screenwriter) courtesy of Hammer films (after a run as a BBC TV series).   A treasured VHS tape now replaced by blu-ray looks a lot better but art direction and top notch special effects were never the focus of this flick.  Instead, the superb plot links a possible spaceship dug up at a tube station being renovated with tales of Satan and malevolent ghosts across the centuries, suggesting a possible influence on human mob behaviour, suggestibility, and even evil itself. Prof. Quatermass conflicts with the military who think the spaceship is an unexploded bomb and won’t listen to the possibility of genetic experimentation (prophetic for 1967). Lots of echoes of these themes in other later films and in culture itself.