With the success of Quatermass, it would only make since to make a sequel, which Hammer did...but not just yet. Rushing another film with similar themes into theaters, could Hammer strike twice?
The British Army is on maneuvers in the Scottish Highlands. Major Cartwright (John Harvey) is instructing his men in finding radioactive material. Running around a muddy field with Geiger counters, the men get some strange readings far from where the test material is buried. Before they can wonder too long the earth is ripped open. The men standing closest to fissure are stricken with radiation burns. Dr. Royston (Dean Jagger), who's attached to the local atomic energy labs, is sent for.
Having the area roped off, the scientists try to figure what is going on, but while Royston and Dr. Elliot (Edward Chapman) are trying to explain why there would be radioactivity inside the mud, something is crawling loose and prowling around the countryside. Something large, dangerous, and hungry...
Hungry for radioactive materials it turns out, although if people are burned to death by it's theft that is just a bonus. These thefts and murders bring in military intelligence officer McGill (Leo McKern) who in a nice subversion of the trope actually believes Elliot when he suggests that a primeval mud creature is eating cobalt-60 and killing the locals. The catch though, is how can they stop it? Dr. Royston has been working on a device to render radioactive materials inert, but can he get it to work as the creature hungrily heads towards the only other source of radiation, i.e. them?
Very competent, which puts this over more than a few of its contemporaries. Great visuals and a wonderfully designed monster, Norman's approach gives the film a fantastic visuals.
The British Army is on maneuvers in the Scottish Highlands. Major Cartwright (John Harvey) is instructing his men in finding radioactive material. Running around a muddy field with Geiger counters, the men get some strange readings far from where the test material is buried. Before they can wonder too long the earth is ripped open. The men standing closest to fissure are stricken with radiation burns. Dr. Royston (Dean Jagger), who's attached to the local atomic energy labs, is sent for.
Having the area roped off, the scientists try to figure what is going on, but while Royston and Dr. Elliot (Edward Chapman) are trying to explain why there would be radioactivity inside the mud, something is crawling loose and prowling around the countryside. Something large, dangerous, and hungry...
Hungry for radioactive materials it turns out, although if people are burned to death by it's theft that is just a bonus. These thefts and murders bring in military intelligence officer McGill (Leo McKern) who in a nice subversion of the trope actually believes Elliot when he suggests that a primeval mud creature is eating cobalt-60 and killing the locals. The catch though, is how can they stop it? Dr. Royston has been working on a device to render radioactive materials inert, but can he get it to work as the creature hungrily heads towards the only other source of radiation, i.e. them?
Very competent, which puts this over more than a few of its contemporaries. Great visuals and a wonderfully designed monster, Norman's approach gives the film a fantastic visuals.
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