[6]
Director Val Guest and star Brian Donlevy return for Hammer Films’ second of three Quatermass films. Professor Quatermass (Donlevy) happens upon a mysterious factory complex built on the ruins of a small town. When he investigates, a colleague finds a small meteorite that cracks open, releases gas, and incapacitates him. Quatermass is forced off the premises by masked guards, but keeps sleuthing. He rallies the locals into storming the facility, where they discover enormous alien creatures with sinister plans for humanity.
Quatermass 2 taps into Cold War paranoia and government conspiracy in a fun way — well before these ideas became more commonplace in movies. Quatermass learns the aliens take over people’s brains just like communist ideology, leaving a tell-tale scar somewhere on their exposed flesh. The human hosts then work at the factory to feed the giant blob-like aliens a pulp made of human beings. The political allegory gives the film a bit more depth and resonance that distinguishes it a bit from other low-budget sci-fi yarns. The gas-masked factory workers are successfully creepy and intimidating, and the climactic creature effects are pretty good for the era.
The film is paced better than its predecessor, at least until we arrive at the rushed, somewhat confusing ending. Brian Donlevy still feels miscast in the lead role. He’s not terrible. He’s just not especially charismatic or likeable. A more memorable actor could have made a big difference, but Quatermass 2 still unfolds nicely and gets more engrossing as it goes. It should satisfy anyone looking for a good old-fashioned ’50s sci-fi matinee that blends elements of Invasion of the Body Snatchers with War of the Worlds.
With John Longden, Sidney James, Bryan Forbes, and an effective dread-inducing score by Hammer regular James Bernard.