Product description

Quatermass And The Pit [1958]

Price: £3.98
RRP: £9.99
Average customer rating: 4.5

Binding : VHS Tape
EAN : 5013037366815
Label : Meridian Entertainment
Manufacturer : Meridian Entertainment
Publisher : Meridian Entertainment
Title : Quatermass And The Pit [1958]
Actor : Array
Audience rating : Parental Guidance
Format : Array
Languages : Array
Number of items : 1
Original release date : 1958-12-22
Running time : 178
Studio : Meridian Entertainment
Theatrical releaseDate : 1958-12-22
Number of discs : 1

Customer reviews

review by: date: 2005-03-03 rating:

The Pit
Classic 50's British TV; I was 8 years old at the time and my parents let me stay up to see it. It is still as watchable today despite the obvious deficiencies of picture quality. This is far superior to the later Hammer film production.

review by: date: 2003-03-23 rating:

A nervous disposition
I first saw this live on television when I was 14yrs old. In those days viewers were warned that 'the following programme is not suitable for children or persons of a nervous disposition'.
How right they were, I was terrified!
By to-days standards this is a little slow, but the tension builds up nicely and there are some good scenes. What impressed me was the man being attacked by cups and plates from an all-night coffee stall, and the ground rippling under his fingers as he seeks sanctuary in a church. The grainy B&W film stock that was used by the BBC gives a documentary quality to the film which last about three hours. The only thing that prevents me from giving this 5-stars is that Andre Morell plays Quatermass in a very unsympathetic way.
This is a very good film, the mechanical/opical FX are convincing and best of all it has a strong story-line.
BUY, WATCH, ENJOY!

review by: date: 2001-09-10 rating:

Vintage BBC -worth a look 44 years on
I remember rushing home from work on Monday night's in the mid fifties to keep up with Quatermass and the Pit. Such was the impact of this series that it provoked much discussion in the workplace the next day, Forty-four years on and it has lost little of its suspense, with first class B and W camerawork and excellent sound effects which still send a chill down the spine. Nigel Kneale created some great science fiction and semi-horror productions for TV but this was one of the best, A great privilege to get hands on this video which is definitely a collectors item

review by: date: 2001-07-17 rating:

A SciFi triumph - has to be experienced to be believed!
In short, one of the best SciFi productions EVER. That it was produced in the 1950s, and recorded LIVE, makes it all the more impressive. Compulsory viewing for anyone with a SciFi/Cult/Horror/Classic TV interest. Chilling, atmospheric, intelligent, scary, horrific, compulsive - I could go on but won't. A top quality drama, very British, very black-and-white (if you don't understand what that means now, you will once you have seen it) - well worth watching!

review by: arca20 date: 2000-08-20 rating:

Some things are best not known
Quatermass was before my time, but I had heard about the series and how good it was meant to be. I spotted this tape in a bargain bin, bought it and then sat down to watch something which I knew very little about. I had seen the film version a few years previously but how would a TV show made in the late 50s bear up to viewing in the early 90s?

This is excellent stuff, the story develops at a great pace, the atmosphere is excellent and at times quite chilling. Quatermass and the Pit is far superior in story structure, characterisation, and atmosphere than anything on TV today. Beginning with a discovery at a building site, the archaelogical ramifications of which stir the imaginations of the general public the story follows the unearthing of an object which is soon revealed as an alien ship. It is not long before other forces are also unearthed and humanity faces a threat which could decimate the world.

My only complaint is that the original video release is in edited form, cutting the story from a six-part story to a three hour film, the cuts are obvious as a result of the way shows were recorded in those days. Aside from this, the tape is excellent and memorable.

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