Quatermass 2 review – Hammer turns up the heat in enjoyable alien invader sequel
Once again, Quatermass finds himself at the centre of a deadly alien attempt to take over Planet Earth. While debating whether or not to fire a nuclear powered rocket up into space, Quatermass comes into contact with a woman whose boyfriend has been injured by what appear to be football-sized meteorites, which his white-coated assistants have been already tracking on their radar scopes. It appears that these sinister rocks are marking the skin of those humans unlucky enough to come into contact with them, the victims becoming brainwashed by the aliens.
These aliens have already infiltrated humanity so extensively that there is a top-secret conspiracy at the heart of the government to develop a vast secure facility in the remote English countryside, supposedly to develop synthetic food but really to nurture the invaders. The Shell Haven oil refinery in the Thames estuary doubles as this eerily vast domed complex – some audacious action sequences result – while director Val Guest has at his disposal some classic British character acting talent, with William Franklyn and Bryan Forbes as Quatermass's assistants.
The extended shootout at the end accounts for this sequel's bigger budget, although overall it drags a bit. It's good to see Sidney James as the chucklingly inebriated journalist who Quatermass thinks might come in useful to print the truth; sadly, we never find out if his paper ever actually published the sensational story he was dictating down the phone.
Quatermass 2 is in UK cinemas from 6 July, and is on 4K UHD and Blu-ray from 14 July.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Black Sabbath farewell show hit with controversy
Marilyn Manson 's video message during the Black Sabbath farewell show livestream caused controversy among viewers. In his message, Manson congratulated Ozzy Osbourne and expressed his honour to be part of the tribute. The appearance followed the cancellation of Manson's Brighton concert two weeks prior, due to pressure from campaign groups and an MP. Manson has faced allegations of rape, sexual assault, and bodily harm from multiple women, though a case against him was dropped in January. Many fans expressed outrage on social media regarding Manson's inclusion in the Black Sabbath event.
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Transfer news has lost its sense of wonder and surprise in era of ‘my sources tell me …'
Which transfer fee blew your mind? It was probably Spurs signing Gazza for £2m in the summer of 1988. TWO MILLION. No one is worth that kind of money. The following year, I distinctly remember running into the living room – Spurs had just signed Gary Lineker. I was preparing for the season ahead, invisible football at my feet, commentating to myself: 'Gascoigne, to Waddle, in for LINEKERRRR.' The next moment I switched on the TV and someone (let's say Ray Stubbs) was telling me that Spurs had sold Waddle to Marseille. I was bereft. There was no warning. For me, or for Lineker it turns out. I heard the striker talking about the transfer recently on the excellent What Did You Do Yesterday? podcast hosted by David O'Doherty and generic broadcaster Max Rushden (perhaps the second-best podcast he hosts). I asked Lineker whether he was as sad as I was when Waddle left. 'I imagine I was considerably sadder. I signed for Spurs and then I went on holiday and I got the news; my agent called me and said: 'They've sold Chris Waddle to Marseille.' Honestly it was like someone stealing 15 goals from my back pocket. He was so good, so good …' This may be the most self-indulgent way to illustrate the blind beauty of transfers back then – for fans and teammates. They just appeared out of nowhere like the Dungeon Master (press the red button for other more youth-friendly references). Patrick Bernal, Hugo Lambert and I playing Championship Manager 93 on the Amiga, flicking on the radio to hear Tottenham had signed Jürgen Klinsmann. No warning. No rumours. Just bang. Klinsmann. For Cambridge United signings you had to wait for the Cambridge Evening News to see Steve Claridge's beaming face holding a scarf aloft. I was not allowed, and too square, to ring ClubCall, an 0898 number, 90p a minute, to find out whether we were selling Alan Kimble to Wimbledon. That guy recording messages from a shed on an answerphone must be sitting somewhere now thinking if only he'd been born 30 years later, he'd be earning a fortune writing 'Here We Go' on X to announce Everton's purchase of Thierno Barry. At the lower reaches of the EFL, transfers do still pop up nostalgically from nowhere. A picture of a man's face, straight to Wikipedia to find out who Ben Purrington is, and then finding a mate who supports Charlton to ask whether he's any good. Elis James still hasn't got back to me about whether the former Swansea under-21 keeper Ben Hughes can do a job between the sticks in the Vertu Trophy. At the top of the Premier League, though, with TV and radio shows hosted by professional transfer influencers, and with flight tracking of private jets, almost nothing is unknown. Either that or you just keep linking a player with every possible destination so that eventually you say the right thing. 'My understanding is …' 'I've just exchanged a message from someone close to the club.' 'All my sources tell me the player is determined to push this through.' Maybe some people with more self-control manage to ignore this stuff and watch Chris Woakes moving it perfectly off a length for hours at Edgbaston without reaching for the second screen and typing 'Eze Spurs'. New transfers are fun and exciting. But the hype machine ignores a few basic realities. There is no guarantee of it working out, even if you spend more than anyone's spent before. In fact, a cursory look at the most expensive transfers of all time suggests they are more likely to fail. Sign up to Football Daily Kick off your evenings with the Guardian's take on the world of football after newsletter promotion In purely football terms – I'm not checking the shirt sales numbers – Neymar to Paris Saint-Germain for just under £200m (that's a hundred 1988 Gazzas!) didn't deliver the Champions League. Ditto Kylian Mbappé (for about £160m). The rest of the top 10: João Félix to Atleti, Enzo Fernández to Chelsea, Philippe Coutinho to Barça, Antoine Griezmann to Barça, Florian Wirtz to Liverpool, Moisés Caicedo to Chelsea, Declan Rice to Arsenal, Jack Grealish to Manchester City. Perhaps it's a little early to judge Wirtz. But with all the caveats of how you define success, how many of them have been worth the money? Or even taking the money out of it, how many have delivered consistently on the pitch? Maybe Rice is the only one? OK, Mbappé's 256 goals in 308 games seems pretty good, but … look at PSG now, look at Real Madrid now. Taking inflation into account, of course money is sometimes well spent: £80m for Ronaldo in 2009 feels like good business for Real Madrid – a few million less than United spent on Antony 13 years later . Poor Antony, always getting mentioned in these articles; he's taken a lot of the heat off Nicolas Pépé. Is it just the pressure of such a high fee? Or the fact we judge someone who cost a hundred million in a different way to someone who commands half that? Fifty million pounds still seems quite a lot for, say, Richarlison. Out of the most expensive 100 transfers of all time, if generous you could make a case that about 40 have worked out. What a terrible hit rate. Why are so many of us blind to the possibility that a new face won't work out? You've seen a seven-minute heavily edited YouTube video to early 2000s Europop. There's no way they've made Ricky van Wolfswinkel look like Kaká. He simply is just that good. There is actually a chance that someone already at your club will get better at football. Most of them train every day. It remains baffling how often a manager is praised for being able to improve players. Feels like a prerequisite. Of course relentless 24-hour coverage of existing squad players would be even less interesting than the rumour mill. 'My understanding is that Joelinton was good last year and might be good again this year.' Official club accounts making big reveal videos for a centre mid you signed three years ago may not get the numbers. But there's every chance they'll be more important this season than the guy you just signed for £30m from Strasbourg. Nevertheless, in a month or so someone will have won the transfer window. It would be great to have a life option to switch off rumour notifications, reject those cookies and select the 1988 discovery option.
BBC News
2 hours ago
- BBC News
Bristol in Pictures: Olly Murs brings Bristol Sounds to a close
As the sultry weather continued this week, events have been taking place across Bristol, many alfresco, with crowds enjoying music, theatrical performances and general kicks, glamour and intrigue graced the stage at the Bristol Hippodrome and the public found themselves rubbing noses with Jurassic-era creatures in Victoria Park. Schoolchildren have been enjoying hot air balloons, a young dancer became a double world champion and canoeists have been on a 25-hour relay challenge for charity. Best location: Olly Murs brought Bristol Sounds to a close on Sunday night - the series of open air concerts at the Lloyds Amphitheatre saw thousands enjoy five days of live entertainment. Front row seat: Children at Flax Bourton Primary School enjoyed their very own show of balloons ahead of this year's International Balloon Fiesta. The bulldog, Buster, was part of the inaugural Schools Tether Roadshow which aims to "bring the magic of Bristol's ballooning heritage to children across the city. A job well done: India's Shree Charani celebrates after taking the wicket of England's Amy Jones in the Women's Twenty20 International at the Seat Unique Stadium in Bristol. Double crown: Isla, 12, who trains with Dynamics School of Dance, said it was "mind-blowing" to walk away from the World Freestyle Championship at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool as a double champion. She danced in freestyle solo and slow dance against 60 competitors from countries across the globe, including South Africa, Iceland and Norway. Up close and personal: Visitors to Victoria Park in Bristol were able to meet life-size dinosaur animatronics ahead of the opening of Avon Valley Adventure & Wildlife Park's Summertopia season, which starts on 12 July. The Jurassic-themed spectacle coincides with the latest Jurassic World film release. Duck to water: Triple Olympic gold medal-winning swimmer, Tom Dean, is campaigning for children to have better access to swimming lessons. Dean wants government funding to reverse statistics which claim more than one in four children leave school without knowing how to swim. Epic fundraising: Young Bristol is celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Poole Wharf Activity Centre, which provides outdoor experiences to thousands of young people across the city's iconic harbour. Fundraisers paddled their canoes back and forth for 25 hours along the River Avon and Bristol Docks to mark the milestone. Rave of the Decade: Bristol's popular party crew, Alfresco Disco, is celebrating 20 years and tickets have gone on sale for this summer's event which is taking over another mystery location on 19 July. Co-founder Tom Hodgson said: "It's the dream city centre space and we cannot wait to open the gates to you." Putting on the Ritz: The cast of Moulin Rouge The Musical have been performing at the Bristol Hippodrome this week, where audiences have been treated to "a world of splendour, eye-popping excess, glitz, grandeur and glory". The show runs until 9 August.
