QUATERMASS 2—“That black slime. It’s deadly. To every living thing on Earth!”  This 1957 British sf/horror outing follows on the heels (or goo) of 1955s The Quatermass Xperiment, reuniting director Val Guest and star Brian Donlevy to continue writer Nigel Kneale’s envision of a space invasion.  Kneale once again railed about the American lead’s performance (and condition). Guest, co-writing with Kneale, once again defended his actor. As before, the title was changed for marketing in the States, where it was released as the more prosaic Enemy From Space. *

“That pipe has been blocked with HUMAN PULP! ”

His project to colonize the Moon on hold, pushy American ‘Professor Bernard Quatermass’ (Donlevy), investigating a sudden gout of meteorites, discovers that there is a vast ‘industrial’ complex under construction. It not only apes his project’s design, it’s operating under a blanket of militant secrecy that goes beyond intimidation. Probing further reveals something so sinister it threatens mankind’s very existence.

The idea of alien infiltration recalls the preceding year’s Invasion Of The Body Snatchers but the script was adapted from Kneale’s original TV series which predated that film. When the decidedly unfriendly visitors are ultimately revealed they are gelatinous, oozy things, presaging the devouring goopy likes of The Blob and Caltiki, The Immortal Monster. Only ‘they’ are much bigger and more numerous, not just a single gruesome pest wrecking a theater full of teenagers or spoiling a spelunking trip but an entire species (or is it race?) bound to enslave or just destroy us.

James Bernard’s tension-driven music score underlines the fast-moving narrative, and there’s ample eeriness afoot as one cast member after another is infected, maimed, riddled with bullets or just plain squished. The £92,000 budget (roughly $257,000 at the time) translates to around £2,780,000 in 2024, a slim amount, but director Guest’s skill-set and that of his crew made the most of it. The US release earned $1,400,000, jostling for position among 1957s bulging crop of monster manna.

We side with Guest (and our favorite reviewer Glenn Erickson) complimenting old pro Donlevy; his vigorous performance was his last good work; soon after in Never So Few he was noticeably shaky, and it was pretty much downhill thereafter. This movie is a favorite of Glenn’s: we direct you to his incisive review forthwith—https://trailersfromhell.com/quatermass-2/

If we’re gonna get picky with this flick, we’ll take issue with a couple of sudden editing choices that jump actions ahead in a way that undercuts logical physical practicality and there is a pesky issue of people evading multiple streams of machine gun fire. Not the first time that’s happened in movie history, so take the carp in perspective.

With John Longdon, Sid James (reporter fond of booze yet true to the news), Bryan Forbes, Vera Day (blonde dish silly enough to get too close to one of the alien rocks–whoops!) and Percy Herbert (excitable villager bent on vengeance). 85 minutes.

* Kneale didn’t like Donlevy at all (the feeling likely mutual): “He was so full of whiskey he could hardly stand up. He staggered over to the set and looked dazedly around. They held up an idiot board with his lines on and he said, “What’s this movie called?” and they said, “Well, it’s called Quatermass 2“. He said, “I’ve got to say all that? There’s too much talk. Cut down some of the talk”.

Guest says different: “So many stories have been concocted since, about how he was a paralytic. It’s absolute balls, because he was not paralytic. He wasn’t stone cold sober either, but he was a pro and he knew his lines”….”By after lunch he would come to me and say “Give me a breakdown of the story so far. Where have I just been before this scene?” We used to feed him black coffee all morning but then we discovered he was lacing it. But he was a very professional actor and very easy to work with”.

So, he had a drinking problem. BFD. Having read a ton of reviews, from critics and those self-styled as such, we often find that some, if they bear personal aversion to the performer, get a cowardly kick out of kicking ’em when they’re down—and even easier & cheesier—when they’re no longer around to fight back. If these same keyboard champions of art v. sobriety like an actor or actress they’ll cut them slack no matter if the individual drank or snorted enough to fill Crater Lake.

We started groking Brian Donlevy (1901-1972) after seeing him defend Wake Island, late one TV night way back in the early 1960s. Hats off to the dude—who among other things had been a pilot in the Lafayette Escadrille for cryin’ out loud!—for Beau Geste, In Old Chicago, Jesse James, The Great McGinty, Destry Rides Again, The Glass Key, Hangmen Also Die!, Canyon Passage, Kiss Of Death, Command Decision, Cowboy. And Quatermass 2.  This round’s on me.