QUATERMASS
2
Director:
Val Guest
Starring:
Brian Donlevy, John Langdon, Sidney James
X
THE UNKNOWN
Director:
Leslie Norman
Starring:
Dean Jagger, Edward Chapman, Leo McKern
Most
critics favour Hammer’s confident 1967 remake of
Quatermass
and the Pit, but their chilling adaptation of Quatermass 2 comes
a pretty close second. It’s a very effective condensation of the BBC
serial, more tightly focussed, and better paced, (it completely discards
the final act of the TV version, which had Quatermass pursuing the alien
menace into space, for example). The film finds Quatermass (Brian
Donlevy, reprising his role from The Quatermass Experiment)
investigating a mysterious meteorite shower near a recently built
food-processing factory. The film has numerous flaws, not least of which
is Donlevy’s leaden performance, but also contains some very
compelling set pieces.
ANCHOR BAY'S REGION 0 (NTSC) QUATERMASS 2 DVD
Anchor Bay’s full-screen presentation is a
little dark, (the day-for-night scene at the beginning is very grim, and
extremely grainy), and the film looks quite worn throughout. Compression
artefacts are evident, but the disc remains very serviceable. The disc
comes with an invaluable commentary track by Guest and Kneale, a
breathless trailer (under the film's American title Enemy From Space)
and the Sci-Fi episode of The World of Horror.
DD VIDEO'S REGION 0
(PAL) QUATERMASS 2 DVD
Unsurprisingly,
picture quality is better on DD Video's more recent, PAL version of
Quatermass 2, which offers better contrast and detail. Apart from
that, the two transfers aren’t much different, with both exhibiting
similar problems inherent in the source materials.
The UK disc offers
the same bonus features as the Anchor Bay version, as well as an extra,
eight-minute video interview with director Val Guest. The DD Video disc
comes with a lavish booklet featuring production notes).
ANCHOR BAY'S REGION 0
(NTSC) X THE UNKNOWN DVD
X
The Unknown was released shortly after Hammer’s enormous success
with the first film in their Quatermass trilogy (The Quatermass
Experiment), and has lived in their shadow ever since. The 1956
science fiction movie concerns an apparent radiation leak on a moor near
a Scottish research establishment, and the persistent investigation of a
dogged atomic scientist (Hammer’s ticket to American distribution,
waning star Dean Jagger). It’s tone falls somewhere between the
B-movies that proliferated in the US during the 50s and the hardcore
chills offered a year later in Quatermass II. Their DVD offers
a generally fine, full-screen presentation that has solid areas of black, crisp
whites, and a full sweep of greys between. The disc also contains a
sombre theatrical trailer (“this is the rim of Hell”!) and an
episode of The World of Horror titled Sci-Fi, that also
covers the three Quatermass films, Spaceways, The Damned, Frankenstein
Created Woman and Dick Barton Strikes Back, but not,
curiously, Hammer's most obviously science fiction movie, Moon Zero
Two.
DD VIDEO'S REGION 0
(PAL) X - THE UNKNOWN DVD
DD Video's X
The Unknown offers improved picture quality, but this alone isn't
worth upgrading from the Anchor Bay DVD. Thankfully, in addition to the
bonus features inherited from the Anchor Bay disc, there's added
incentive from an exclusive video interview with the film’s writer and
production manager, Jimmy Sangster (20m) and an exclusive commentary
track, by Sangster and Hammer buff Marcus Hearn. Like most of DD's
Hammer horror discs, X - The Unknown comes with a wonderful
booklet, featuring stills and promotional artwork from the film in
question, and a comprehensive essay.