Cult Sci-Fi Movies: Discover the 10 Best Intergalactic, Astonishing, Far-Out, and Epic Cinema Classics by Danny Peary

Author:Danny Peary [Peary, Danny]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Workman Publishing Company
Published: 2014-09-23T07:00:00+00:00

Colonel Breen and his men examine the “missile” found at the underground station excavation site.

If we failed to make the Roney/Christ analogy until the end, it’s because Kneale failed to sufficiently develop the character earlier. We were never made aware of Roney’s goodness and purity (though I assume this is hinted when he’s the only person who attempts to use the unconscious-vision device whose brain rejects thoughts of tainted ancient apes). In fact, it’s easy to take Roney for granted, since he’s so mild-mannered that the blustery, imposing Quatermass dwarfs him, and because the bearded Keir has more screen presence than Donald. But if you pay strict attention, you’ll realize that Roney is much more important than Quatermass all along. Quatermass does some sleuthing, philosophizes, makes fascinating hypotheses, and argues with establishment figures, but he never gets anything he wants accomplished. Actually, the Quatermass character is superfluous. He could be eliminated because even his more significant lines and actions could easily be given to Roney and Barbara, whom, unfortunately, we know nothing about. Two strong characters are preferable to three skimpy characters, especially when it’s so important to know what motivates these people. Of course, getting rid of Quatermass isn’t the solution to improving a Quatermass picture . . . obviously Kneale should have provided more substance for him (including more telling lines like “I never had a career—only work”), the pivotal Roney, and Barbara, a character so underwritten that it could have been played by a 60-year-old actress without modification. The weak characters—covered up at times by fine acting—are Kneale’s one failing and the only major problem with the film.

Five Million Years to Earth was directed by Roy Ward Baker, who is best known for directing episodes of The Avengers (including one in which Julian Glover played a colonel). He did an excellent job of overcoming a small budget that confined him to only a few sets (he compensated by cutting back and forth between characters in different locations) and limited him to only a few special effects. Baker’s hardest test was to keep his audience interested and excited although nothing scary or catastrophic happens for most of the picture—remember, there are no live aliens for us to worry about. He manages to build suspense by using creepy music even when what’s onscreen doesn’t call for it (i.e., the opening shot of a policeman walking by Hobb’s End Station); keeping background and secondary characters active, either working in the pit, where they might discover something at any moment, or gathering outside for information about what is happening in the pit; having Quatermass appear anxious at all times; and emphasizing the mystery elements of the story. There are few shocks, but the atmosphere is intense, as in a Jacques Tourneur horror film. In fact, the night scene in which the possessed Sladden runs through the empty streets and deserted cemetery while much psychic activity takes place recalls haunting nocturnal sequences in Tourneur’s British horror film, Night of the Demon/Curse of the Demon (1957).

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