Quatermass and the Pit

"World in panic! Cities in flames!"

1967 1h 37m EN

👍

6.7

SOLID

★6.7TMDB · 285

Science FictionHorror

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A mysterious artifact unearthed below a London Underground station proves to have powerful psychic effects on the people around.

“World in panic! Cities in flames!”

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Cast

Andrew Keir
Prof. Bernard Quatermass
James Donald
Dr. Mathew Roney
Barbara Shelley
Barbara Judd
Julian Glover
Colonel Breen
Bryan Marshall
Captain Potter
Maurice Good
Sergeant Cleghorn
Duncan Lamont
Sladden
Peter Copley
Howell

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Roy Ward Baker
Writers: Nigel Kneale, Nigel Kneale
Languages: English
Countries: United Kingdom

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $0.4M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

59 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Quatermass (Hammer) Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Roy Ward Baker, shot by Arthur Grant. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Tristram Cary. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Spencer Reeve shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Andrew Keir and James Donald and Barbara Shelley carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "World in panic! Cities in flames!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Roy Ward Baker directs. Arthur Grant behind the camera. Tristram Cary scores. Spencer Reeve cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United Kingdom. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $0.4M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
259 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
3Part of the "Quatermass (Hammer) Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
4Directed by Roy Ward Baker, shot by Arthur Grant. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Tristram Cary. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Spencer Reeve shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Andrew Keir and James Donald and Barbara Shelley carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "World in panic! Cities in flames!".
9IMDB entry: tt0062168 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 11 themes, including "spacecraft", "london, england", "professor", "paleontology".
11Released under 10 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Arthur Grant
Original score: Tristram Cary
Editing: Spencer Reeve
Makeup / hair: Pearl Tipaldi
Runtime: 97 min · 1h 37m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $367,085
Box office: $750,000
Return: 204% of budget
Original language: EN
IMDB: Quatermass and the Pit (1967)

Part of

Quatermass (Hammer) Collection

A Hammer Film Productions science fiction horror film series based on the BBC television series The Quatermass Experiment.

Also by

Roy Ward Baker

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Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2014-09-25
★ 9/10
Creepy, interesting, above all else...intelligent. Whilst excavating at the site of a new underground tube station, workers unearth a mysterious object. On to the case comes Professor Quatermass who deduces that the object is Martian in origin. Initially viewed with scorn and disbelief, it becomes apparent that the Martian race have been involved in the human race before, and now they have been awoken again. This was the third Hammer film adaptation of Nigel Kneale's BBC-TV Quatermass serial, with previous entries being The Quatermass Experiment & Quatermass 2. This to me, tho, is undoubtedly the shining light of the bunch. Chiefly what works the best in this one is the wonderful fusion of mystery and intelligence, the eerie sense of dread only off set by a yearning to find out just what has happened? And more crucially, what will happen? Building up perfectly, courtesy of Roy Ward Baker's astutely paced direction, Quatermass And The Pit is a film that just begs you to pay attention to every little detail, each conversation is fully fleshing out this most intriguing story. Then there is the finale that pays off handsomely, to hint at what is involved would result in a spoiler of sorts, and really it would be stupid of me to prepare you for the film's closure. See it because it's one of the best genre entries of the 60s, a must for sci-fi enthusiasts that like a bit of brains to go with their genre persuasion. 8.5/10

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