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Quatermass and the Pit is a 1967 British science fiction horror film from Hammer Film Productions, a sequel to the earlier Hammer films The Quatermass Xperiment and Quatermass 2. Like its predecessors it is based on a BBC Television serial, in this case Quatermass and the Pit, written by Nigel Kneale. It was directed by Roy Ward Baker and stars Andrew Keir in the title role as Professor Bernard Quatermass, replacing Brian Donlevy, who played the role in the two earlier films. James Donald, Barbara Shelley and Julian Glover appear in co-starring roles.
The storyline, which is largely faithful to the original television production, centers on the discovery of a mysterious object buried at the site of an extension to the London Underground. Also uncovered nearby are the remains of early human ancestors more than five million years old. Realizing that the object is in fact an ancient Martian spacecraft, Quatermass deduces that the aliens have influenced human evolution and the development of human intelligence. The spacecraft has an intelligence of its own, and once uncovered begins to exert a malign influence, resurrecting Martian memories and instincts buried deep within the human psyche.
Nigel Kneale wrote the first draft of the screenplay in 1961, but difficulties in attracting interest from American co-financiers meant the film did not go into production until 1967. The director, Roy Ward Baker, was chosen because of his experience with technically demanding productions such as A Night to Remember; this was the first of six films that he directed for Hammer. Andrew Keir, playing Quatermass, found making the film an unhappy experience, believing Baker had wanted Kenneth More to play the role. Owing to a lack of space, the film was shot at the MGM-British Studios in Elstree, Borehamwood, rather than Hammer's usual home at the time, which was the Associated British Studios, also in Elstree.
The film opened in November 1967 to favorable reviews, and remains generally well regarded.
Plot[]
Workers building an extension to the London Underground at Hobbs End dig up an odd-looking skull. Palaeontologist Dr Matthew Roney identifies the skull as a five-million-year-old apeman, more ancient than previous finds. One of Roney's assistants uncovers part of a metallic object nearby. Believing it to be an unexploded bomb from the London blitz, they call in an army bomb disposal team.
Meanwhile, Professor Bernard Quatermass learns that his plans for the colonization of the Moon are to be taken over by the military, with plans to establish ballistic missile bases in space. He gives a cold reception to Colonel Breen, who has been assigned to Quatermass's British Experimental Rocket Group. When the bomb disposal team call for Breen's assistance, Quatermass accompanies him to the site. Breen concludes the buried object is a V-weapon, but Quatermass disagrees. When another skull is found within a chamber of the "bomb", Quatermass and Roney realize that the object itself must also be five million years old. Noting the object's imperviousness to heat, Quatermass suspects it is of alien origin, but Roney is certain the apemen were terrestrial.
Roney's assistant, Barbara Judd, goes to the site with Quatermass. She becomes intrigued by the name of the area, recalling that "Hob" is an old name for the Devil. A local policeman tells them the legend that the bombed-out house opposite the station is haunted. All three go there to investigate. The policeman is so spooked that he has to leave. A member of the bomb disposal team witnesses a spectral apparition of Roney's apeman appearing through the wall of the object. Quatermass and Barbara find historical accounts of hauntings and other spectral appearances going back many centuries, coinciding with disturbances of the ground around Hobbs End.
An attempt to open a sealed chamber in the object using a Borazon drill fails. A few moments later, however, a small hole is seen, though the drill operator, Sladden, is certain he is not responsible for it. The hole widens to reveal the corpses of three-legged, insectoid creatures with horned heads. An examination of the creatures' physiology suggests they came from Mars. Quatermass and Roney note the similarity between their appearance and images of the Devil, while Quatermass believes the spaceship is the source of the spectral images and disturbances.
Quatermass and Roney reveal their findings to the press, attracting the ire of a government minister who has not sanctioned their statements. Quatermass theorizes that the occupants of the spaceship came from a dying Mars. Unable to survive on Earth, they sought to preserve some part of their race by creating a colony by proxy, by significantly enhancing the intelligence of and imparting Martian faculties to the indigenous primitive hominids. Quatermass theorizes the highly advanced alien insectoids used medical and surgical techniques that were far more advanced than even those on present-day Earth. The descendants of these apemen evolved into humans, retaining the vestiges of Martian influence buried in their subconscious. A disbelieving Breen thinks the "alien craft" is Nazi propaganda designed to sow fear among Londoners. The minister believes Breen and decides to unveil the spaceship at a press conference.
Whilst dismantling his drill, Sladden is overcome by a powerful psychic force, and haphazardly runs away. His mind unleashes powerful telekinetic energy displays, disrupting people and property. He finally comes to rest in a church, where Judd and Quatermass find him. Sladden tells Quatermass he saw a vision of hordes of insect creatures under an alien sky. He also relates that he saw himself as one of them and that he felt that he had to desperately run away in fear of his life. Quatermass returns to Hobbs End, bringing a machine Roney has been working on, which taps into the primeval psyche. While trying to replicate the circumstances under which Sladden was affected, he notices that Barbara has fallen under the spaceship's influence. Using Roney's machine, he records her thoughts. Quatermass presents the recording to the minister and other officials. It shows hordes of Martians engaged in what he interprets as a genocidal race purge, to cleanse the Martian hives of all mutations. The minister and Breen dismiss the recording.
Disaster strikes when a power line is dropped within the craft, giving it a massive jolt of electrical energy. The effect and range of the spaceship's influence on those Londoners susceptible to it increases; they go on a rampage, attacking all those perceived as different, with powerful, deadly telekinetic displays of energy. Breen is drawn towards the spaceship and killed by the intense, roasting energy emanating from it. Quatermass falls under the alien control as well, but is snapped out of it by Roney, who is unaffected. The two men realize that a small portion of the population are immune. The psychic energy intensifies, ripping up streets and buildings, while a spectral image of a Martian towers above the city, itself resembling the image of the Devil of legend. Recalling stories about how the Devil could be defeated with iron and water, Roney theorizes that the Martian energy can be discharged into the earth. While Quatermass prevents Barbara stopping him, Roney climbs a building crane and swings it into the spectral image. The crane bursts into flames as it discharges the energy, killing Roney. The image and its effects on London disappear. Quatermass and Judd stand amidst the devastation of London, slowly recovering from the personal upheaval the alien energy has wreaked on them.