Quatermass 2 (1957) Dir: Val Guest

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After some of the extremely interesting sci-fi horror on display in the first film, it seemed only natural that I should want to watch Val Guest's 1957 sequel. I have been falling in love with the world of Hammer horrors, ever since I began my foray into the famous old production company's extensive filmography with 1958's 'Dracula' adaptation, so I was very hopeful that I'd enjoy this classic sci-fi horror too.

The film may not have had the wonderfully striking opening scene that the first one had, but it, in my mind, kept a better and more consistent classic science fiction aesthetic. Sure, some of the costumes look a little goofy, but that's all part of the fun of watching an old sci-fi film - it's a representation of what people in the past expected the future to look like, that the modern viewer can enjoy retroactively. In this case, it's an interesting, yet rather silly, idea of how the space race would look.

I much preferred the narrative that this film provided, in comparison to that of the first film. I thought the conspiracy aspect of it was really intriguing, and the way the reveal was executed was very cool. The story built off of its predecessor, without either repeating it or playing it too safe. I loved how weird it got - it kept me invested and on my toes. The film left room for a third film, whilst still providing a satisfying conclusion to its own story, which is always good to see.

Brian Donlevy returned as his familiarly domineering protagonist, albeit this time his character was far more endearing. I liked the shift his character made from film to film a lot - it made it a lot easier to invest in the events of the story. There were a few other interesting characters who made appearances in the film, with the most noteworthy of these being played by John Longden, William Franklyn, and Bryan Forbes, albeit the last of the names to a much lesser extent.

Overall, I thought this was a far superior film to its predecessor, and a really fun science fiction horror in its own right. It was a superb second part to a classic pair of sci-fi films, and one that built on, but did not fall back on, the original. There is a third film, which came out significantly later, and had a different director, but I would still like to watch it. However, even if that third film doesn't prove to be as good, I still think this pair of science fiction classics - some of the UK's earliest - are well worth watching.