Shock (1955)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | shock |
| Original title | The Quatermass Xperiment |
| Country of production | Great Britain |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1955 |
| length | 85 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 (formerly 18) |
| Rod | |
| Director | Val Guest |
| script | Val Guest Richard Landau |
| production | Anthony Hinds |
| music | James Bernard |
| camera |
Jimmy Harvey Leonhard Harris |
| cut | James Needs |
| occupation | |
| |
Shock (Alternate title: The Quatermass Experiment , Original title: The Quatermass Xperiment ) is in black and white twisted British science fiction - horror film from the year 1955 . Directed the production of the film company Hammer led Val Guest . Schock is based on the television series Quatermass and is the first part of a film trilogy, followed by Enemies from Nowhere (1957) and The Green Blood of Demons (1967).
Prof. Bernard Quatermass works for the British space agency. When the spaceship he constructed returns to Earth, only one of the original three astronauts is on board. Soon a strange change is taking place in the survivor.
action
A British spaceship has to make an emergency landing in Berkshire . Professor Quatermass and his colleagues from the British space agency find the astronaut Carroon in a state of shock, but only the empty spacesuits of his colleagues. There are remains of a gelatinous mass in the suits.
In the laboratory, it turns out that the substance in the suits is human tissue. The evaluation of the films from the surveillance camera on board leads to the conclusion that an extraterrestrial life form got on board the ship and is responsible for the disappearance of the two crew members.
Meanwhile, Carroon, who was also brought to Quatermass' laboratory for examination, changes. His skin is crumbling and his arm is monstrously swelling. After his admission to a hospital, his wife, who believes Quatermass is using her husband as a guinea pig, has him rescued by a hired helper. The helper is killed because Carroon has started to absorb plant and human life around him. When his wife sees that his arm has taken the form of a cactus that he previously absorbed, she goes into shock; Carroon escapes. On his escape, he kills a shopkeeper and dozens of animals in a zoo.
The police start a feverish search for Carroon, because the scientists have found out that the creature that has taken possession of him will soon be ready to reproduce by means of spores . Finally, Carroon or the extraterrestrial life form is discovered in Westminster Abbey , from which a live broadcast is being broadcast. The octopus-like creature can be destroyed with a high- voltage shock . Despite this setback, Quatermass wants to push ahead with its space project.
background
Shock is based on the six-part BBC television series The Quatermass Experiment (1953) by Nigel Kneale . The first part of the series, The Quatermass Experiment , has only been partially recorded. Large parts were played live. The result was then filmed on a television monitor during the live broadcast. The television series was a street sweeper in England in the 1950s and also the first British SF television series at all.
Schock opened in British cinemas on September 28, 1955 and in German cinemas on May 11, 1956 .
In the German cinema dubbing, Quatermass has been given the name Brown. A television version from the 1980s was re-dubbed.
In 2005 the remake The Quatermass Experiment was broadcast live and recorded with modern technology.
Reviews
While the film watcher said shortly after the German theatrical release, “only the emergence of an inhuman fantasy can put together so many disgusting things”, the lexicon of international films later judged : “Excitingly trivial science fiction adventure; While the film was initially rejected as "barbaric absurdity", it is now - like the whole series - considered imaginative entertainment with excellent camera work. "
Publications
Schock is available internationally on DVD , as is James Bernard's score , which has been repeatedly released on compilations .
Web links
- Shock in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Articles for the restoration of the television series on Doctor Who Restoration Team (English)
- Sound carrier with the film music
- Hans Schmid: We are the Martians , article on Heise.de
Individual evidence
- ↑ Andrew Pixley in "The Quatermass Collection", BBC DVD 2005.
- ↑ Shock in the Internet Movie Database .
- ↑ a b shock in the lexicon of international films .
- ↑ MONSTRULA.de - SHOCK (THE QUATERMASS EXPERIMENT). In: monstrula.de. Retrieved September 3, 2016 .
- ↑ Quoted from: Ronald M. Hahn, Volker Jansen: Lexikon des Science Fiction Films, 5th edition, Wilhelm Heyne Verlag, Munich 1992.