When the John Gore Organization announced in August 2023 that they had acquired the rights and name of British horror legend Hammer Films and Studios, this raised a few eyebrows. What would they do with all this? Hammer had been dead and bankrupt for decades already...
Well, one of the things John Gore is doing, is releasing kick-ass home release editions of some of Hammer's classics. Their release of Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter is awesome, and when I heard that The Quatermass Xperiment was going to be given the same treatment, I was very happy indeed.
The Quatermass Xperiment (mis-spelled on purpose because it was the first science fiction film rated 'X' in the United Kingdom) is better known West of the Atlantic as The Creeping Unknown, a slightly different cut. It was such a big success worldwide in 1955 that it basically pushed Hammer into producing more horror films. The studio was then primarily known for low-budget drama and comedy, but money doesn't lie and the studio started investing in their own versions of Frankenstein and Dracula, both starring Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. Both became wild successes, making the name Hammer synonymous with horror for decades to come. Heck, if Kate Bush dedicates a song to you... But that's another story.
Here we get a low-budget 1950's science fiction horror chiller in black and white, on five discs. Yes, five! WHOA! And it's quite the looker, so here is a gallery of shots. Click on the edge of the pictures to scroll through them, or at the center of each to see a bigger version.