The Quatermass Xperiment (1955), Quatermass 2 (1957), Quatermass and the Pit (1967)

Everyone knows the name Hammer Films (at least, we hope they do!) but most people associate it with gothic horror, particularly their reimagining of the Universal classic Frankenstein in The Curse of Frankenstein (1957). Yet Hammer had been around long before Peter Cushing breathed life into that first stitched-together corpse. Founded in the 1930s as a distribution company, the studio gradually moved into producing films, often adapted from popular TV and radio series.

In 1953, the BBC aired a six-part serial, The Quatermass Experiment. Hammer quickly recognized its potential, adapted it into a feature film, and in doing so set itself firmly on the path toward becoming “the studio that dripped blood.” In this episode, we cover all three Quatermass films. While they lean more toward science fiction than Hammer’s later gothic output, they are steeped in horror… and we think they’re well worth your time.

Films mentioned in this episode:

And Now the Screaming Starts (1973), Asylum (1972), Brides of Dracula (1960), The Curse of Frankenstein (1957), Curse of the Werewolf (1961), Dracula Prince of Darkness (1966), Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde (1971), The Gorgon (1964), Horror of Dracula (1958), I Married a Monster from Outer Space (1958), The Incredible Melting Man (1977), Inhumanwich! (2016), Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), It Came from Beneath the Sea (1953), It Conquered the World (1956), Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959), Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires (1974), Masque of the Red Death (1964), Monster Club (1981), Nineteen Eighty-Four (1954), Pit Stop (1969), Quatermass Xperiment (1955), Quatermass 2 (1957), Quatermass and the Pit (1967), Rasputin the Mad Monk (1966), Revenge of Frankenstein (1958), Scars of Dracula (1970), The Stone Tape (1972), The Vampire Lovers (1970), Vault of Horror (1973), X – The Unknown (1956)