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DVD: Quatermass
2-Disc set (A&E Home Video)
Reviewed by DJ Johnson
The time is the near future, and the place is England. Or what's left of it. Society as we know it no longer exists. In its place is a dark, miserable world filled with murderous, roving gangs, desperate people just trying to survive, mercenary cops who aren't much better than the criminals -- I know it sounds just like current day South Central Los Angeles so far, but trust me, the plot will thicken -- and a lot of tripped out young people wandering around the landscape chanting "Lay! Lay! Lay! Lay!" I don't think it means the same thing the kids meant when they chanted that in the 60s. These are "Planet People," young folks who look very much like those hippies of the 60s, with painted faces, headbands and glassy eyes. But there's no peace and love, at least not with the Mansonesque leader of the group we follow through this four-part mini-series. No, this one kills for fun as he leads the Planet People from Ringstone Round to Stonehenge and elsewhere. What are they looking for? Transportation. It seems there's a powerful beam of some sort aimed at Earth from far, far out in space, and it's either transporting large numbers of the Planet People to the mysterious, nameless planet, or overcooking them en mass and turning Stonehenge into a disgusting ashtray, complete with stray limbs. What is this thing? Can it be stopped? Who or what is at the other end? This is a job for a young, powerful, good looking super hero.
But since all the young people on the planet are currently out of their flippin' minds, perhaps we should see if we can get an elderly scientist guy on the phone.
Enter Bernard Quatermass (played by the late Sir John Mills), an antique and a first class scientific mind, though hampered by a broken heart. It seems his beloved sixteen year old granddaughter has painted her face and wandered off with the Planet People. Quatermass, now retired, searches for her full time. Circumstances -- and powerful beams from outer space -- conspire to drag Quatermass out of retirement, however, and the adventure begins. Over the course of four episodes Professor Quatermass meets a bevy of interesting characters, survives some nasty situations and, ultimately, comes to a most chilling conclusion about what's really happening. His solution is even more chilling, and the final scene is absolutely shocking.
Two related messages are entrenched in the script of Quatermass, the first being that all that protesting the kids did in the 60s was what really doomed our society. It was anger and hatred, you see. BAD hippies! The other message, the one that actually has some merit, is that old people can save the day, too. They may not look as smart in the super hero spandex, but they have something to offer society. In the case of the Quatermass series, the heroes are all elderly, including the Professor's entire team of scientists who work the problem in search of the ultimate solution in the final chapter. How often do you see television shows promoting such a concept?
Filmed in 1978 on the cheap (as was always the case with any science fiction program on the BBC), Quatermass was a triumph of ideas over limitations. There is never a single moment when an effect or a performance is so cheesy that it pulls you out of the moment and breaks the spell, and that's saying something for 70s sci-fi. The four episodes are all tucked nice and neat on disc one, and the rare theatrical version, The Quatermass Conclusion, shares disc two with "Enduring Mystery of Stonehenge," an episode of the History Channel's In Search of History. Nice. Very nice.
© 2005 - DJ Johnson