Quatermass & The Pit (1967)

[Sam@Cult Labs]

Digitally restored and on blu-ray for the first time.

Out on Double play: 10.10.11





PRE-ORDER CLICK HERE

Directed by Roy Ward Baker. Written by Nigel Kneale. Starring Andrew Keir, Julian Glover, Barbara Shelley

The third in the trilogy of films based on Nigel Kneale’s seminal Quatermass series, Quatermass & the Pit was made by Hammer Studios in 1967, directed by stalwart Roy Ward Baker and starring Andrew Keir as the titular scientist, battling evil alien forces that threaten to take over the world, and also stars James Donald, Barbara Shelley and Julian Glover. Nigel Kneale’s Quatermass series has been said to have influenced everyone from John Carpenter to Dr Who.

During excavations in London a large unidentified object is unearthed. It defies definition although the area has always been associated with diabolical evil. Within its walls Professor Quatermass (Keir) discovers the remains of intelligent alien creatures that attempted to conquer the Earth in prehistoric times and, through their experiments on early man, altered human evolution to its present state. Though dormant for many centuries, the excavations threaten to unleash the terrifying force of the aliens upon mankind once again…

Blu-ray only extras: New UK exclusive interviews with Julian Glover, Mark Gatiss, Judith Kerr, Kim Newman, Joe Dante and Marcus Hearne / Audio commentary with Nigel Kneale and Roy Ward Baker / World of Hammer – Sci-Fi Episode / UK and US trailers

DVD tech specs: Region 2 / Total Running Time: 94 mins approx / Colour PAL / Feature Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1 / Feature Audio: Stereo 2.0 / English Language

Blu-ray tech specs: Region B / Total Running Time: 98 mins approx / Colour PAL / Feature Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1 / Video: BD50 / AVC / 24p / Feature Audio: Stereo PCM 2.0 / Audio Codec: DTS HD / English Language

2010 saw the return to UK cinema screens of three iconic titles, following extensive digital restoration: The Railway Children, Breathless and Peeping Tom. We have also committed to restoring the following classics from the UK catalogue for potential cinema and blu-ray release in 2011: Don’t Look Now, The Man Who Fell to Earth, Ice Cold in Alex, The Cruel Sea, Whiskey Galore!, The Lavender Hill Mob, Quatermass & The Pit and Kind Hearts & Coronets. These releases herald an increased commitment from Optimum to preserving and restoring the vast library of classic titles that we manage on behalf of Studio Canal at a new state-of-the-art cold storage facility at Pinewood studios.

[pedromonkey]

this is seriously one of my most anticipated releases of the year.

[Pete]

Saw some BD grabs over at DVD Times, sorry, Home Cinema @ The Digital Fix and it looks amazing. Not seen it since I was a kid so I'll definitely be picking it up when I get some spare cash.

[Slippery Jack]

Cool - I haven't seen any of the Quatermass films, only the original BBC series and the live remake shown on BBC4 a few years ago . . .

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Put this in the advertising space at the top of the forum instead of bloody Danger Mouse.

[pedromonkey]

Originally Posted by Pete

Saw some BD grabs over at DVD Times, sorry, Home Cinema @ The Digital Fix and it looks amazing. Not seen it since I was a kid so I'll definitely be picking it up when I get some spare cash.

yeah it does look top notch, i also still call it DVDtimes pete.

[Slippery Jack]

Originally Posted by Pete

Saw some BD grabs over at DVD Times, sorry, Home Cinema @ The Digital Fix

It's still bookmarked as DVD Times in my favourites, screw the rebrand . . .

[pedromonkey]

i found the 70s Tv version on dvd a few week back, the series that had John Mills as Quatermass, it was £14 but decided against it at the time, went back two weeks later and the price had gone up to £40. i was so pissed off.

[the blob]

Originally Posted by pedromonkey

i found the 70s Tv version on dvd a few week back, the series that had John Mills as Quatermass, it was £14 but decided against it at the time, went back two weeks later and the price had gone up to £40. i was so pissed off.

I was hunting for a reasonably decent priced version of that a while back and gave up. Haven't seen it since it's original airing!

[keirarts]

got the joh mills quatermass from america on amazon for a tenner and some nice chap sold me all his DD quatermass releases for a similar price.

Pre-ordered this blu-ray ages ago, was expecting it last monday but it got delayed still, looking forward to this one, hopefully it'll be good. Just got rid of my anchor bay quatermass and the pit, looks to have the same commentary track.

I'm a total nut for quatermass, and if anyone hasn't seen them, then this is as good a place to start as any!