Five Million Years to Earth (Quatermass and the Pit)

Five Million Years to Earth (Quatermass and the Pit)

1967

Director- Roy Ward Baker

Cast- James Donald, Andrew Keir, Barbara Shelley, Julian Glover

Forty years before Mulder and Scully would investigate the X-Files, Professor Quatermass was investigating strange phenomenon of extra-terrestrial origin is a series of British serials which were later the basis for a series of movies by Hammer Studios.  Quatermass and the Pit (known in America by the much more fun title, Five Million Years to Earth) Is the third movie adaptation of the series.

While working on a subway tunnel, a work crew uncovers a human skull which gets the attention of an anthropologist and his assistant (James Donald and Barbara Shelley) who begin an archeological dig. They find an artificial object which is initially thought to be an unexploded bomb dropped by the Germans in WW2. This brings in a British colonel (Julian Glover) and Professor Quatermass himself (Andrew Kier).

While investigating the area around subway (called Hob’s Lane, Hob being an old nickname for the devil) Quatermass finds the area has a long history of reported supernatural activity. Going back through recorded history were sightings of ghosts and goblins. When the strange object is uncovered it is obviously not a bomb. It is impervious to tampering but the object opens itself, revealing the mummified remains of three creatures that look like giant, horned, insects.

Through examination of the creatures and the human remains found at the site, Quatermass and the anthropologists come to a bizarre conclusion. The insects are the remnants of an extinct race of Martians who, millions of years ago, took our ape like ancestors to Mars and accelerated their development to turn them into colonizers for Earth. In the process, memories of the Martians (whose silhouette looks like the classical image of Satan) were stored in the unconscious of the apes that would eventually evolve into our caveman ancestors.

The opening of the ship triggers a storm of telekinetic activity as well activating the unconscious memories stored in the population, which results in riots and mass hysteria which Quatermass has to stop.

The movie has held up well as a unique mixture of sci-fi and horror and (I think) influenced other movies as well. While many sci-fi movies show aliens as antagonistic, few classify them as outright evil. As the riots and telekinetic activity rage through London, I was reminded of the movie Lifeforce and can’t help but wonder if Tobe Hooper had this movie in mind at some point. There is also a scene, where the Martian craft is activated by news crews that looks suspiciously like Raiders of the Lost Ark, complete with cameras and lights exploding and a soldier spontaneously combusting. Of course, this could just be the over active imagination of someone who has seen too many movies.

Besides it’s far out concept that our idea of Satan is really a race memory of Martians stored in our collective unconscious, this movie has a lot going for it. The director, Roy Ward Baker went on to direct many good horror films for Hammer including Scars of Dracula, the kung-fu horror Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires and the template for all future lesbian vampire films, The Vampire Lovers.

It also features an outstanding cast with Quatermass being played by Andrew Kier who starred in what many consider the best of the Christopher Lee Draculas, Dracula Prince of Darkness. It also featured James Donald (who starred in several excellent films including The Great Escape, Bridge over the River Kwai and The Vikings), Barbara Shelley who also starred in Dracula Prince of Darkness and Julian Glover (Empire Strikes Back, Game of Thrones, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade).