The film that ushered in the era of Hammer Horror is coming to 4K Ultra HD for the first time ever this June as Hammer Films releases its deluxe limited edition restoration of the 1955 classic The Quatermass Xperiment. The set is available to pre-order now ahead of a June 9th release; check out the cover artwork and details here…
Explore the chilling sci-fi classic that put Hammer on the map. Created by the legendary Nigel Kneale and directed by the great Val Guest, The Quatermass Xperiment is available for the first time ever in 4K UHD and Blu-ray.
In this tense, suspenseful tale of scientific ambition gone awry, a space expedition takes a nightmarish turn when an astronaut crash-lands on Earth—only to begin mutating into something horrifyingly inhuman. As his transformation accelerates, his struggle to contain violent urges proves increasingly futile. Scientists and authorities race to understand the catastrophe unfolding before them, in a desperate attempt to prevent a monstrous disaster.
Blending horror and science fiction in the way that only Hammer can, The Quatermass Xperiment delivers a haunting vision of the terrifying consequences of unchecked exploration. This definitive boxset comes packed with special features and additional material.
This limited collector’s edition comprises:
- Five discs in a stylish digipak, including two UHD and three Blu-ray, with the Hammer content duplicated across both formats. English, French, Italian, Spanish, German subtitles on all versions of the film.
- Included in the same set as the film for the first time, the existing episodes from the original BBC television series.
- Three iterations of The Quatermass Xperiment: the widescreen 1.66:1 UK Theatrical Version, the fullscreen 1.37:1 As-Filmed Version and the widescreen 1.85:1 US Theatrical Version re-titled The Creeping Unknown.
- Brand-new 5.1 mix for 1.37:1 and 1.66:1 versions alongside the original mono film soundtrack.
- Packaged in a high-end, leather-feel slipcase with debossed red and silver titling.
- A rigid inner box featuring new artwork by cult favourite artist Graham Humphreys.
- A double sided poster of original one-sheets
- Eight act cards featuring facsimiles of the original UK cinema lobby cards.
- 180 page booklet featuring new and reprint articles and reproductions of original publicity.
- 56-page comic featuring a reprint of the comic strip from legendary 1970s magazine The House of Hammer.
The discs feature:
- New commentary with actor and comedian Toby Hadoke, Nigel Kneale’s biographer Andy Murray and Wayne Kinsey, writer of numerous books on Hammer.
- New commentary with Stephen R. Bissette, artist and film historian.
- New commentary with filmmaker and Hammer expert Constantine Nasr and writer/producer Dr Steve Haberman.
- Archive 2003 commentary with director Val Guest and Hammer expert Marcus Hearn.
- The Legend of Nigel Kneale: The Creeping Unknown. Who was Nigel Kneale? Toby Hadoke investigates the man and his influence in part one of a brand-new two-part documentary.
- Unstoppable: Unleashing The Quatermass Xperiment. A close look at the making of The Quatermass Xperiment, with contributions from Jon Dear, Stephen Gallagher, Toby Hadoke, Wayne Kinsey, Andy Murray and Stephen Volk.
- The Quatermass Experiment: the remaining two episodes of the landmark 1953 BBC serial.
- Patient Zero. Award-winning actor and writer James Swanton, who played Carroon in the live, 70th anniversary production of The Quatermass Experiment, examines the life and career of Richard Wordsworth.
- Monstrous! Stephen R. Bissette talks briefly about Phil Leakey and the make-up effects used in the film, for a section trimmed from the audio commentary.
- The Eric Winstone Bandshow. A musical short from Hammer that played alongside The Quatermass Xperiment at the August 1955 UK premiere.
- The Kneale Tapes. A 2003 BBC documentary that explores the career of Nigel Kneale, arguably one of the most significant writers of the post-war generation.
- Cartier and Kneale in Conversation. From the 2005 BBC DVD.
- Writer Nigel Kneale and producer Rudolph Cartier reminisce about their work on the seminal Quatermass series.
- Making Demons. From the 2005 BBC DVD. An interview with Jack Kine and Bernard Wilkie, visual effects pioneers at the BBC.
- Val Guest 2000 interview from the Festival of Fantastic Films archive.
- Val Guest 2003 interview from original UK DVD release of The Quatermass Xperiment.
- Exhuming The Quatermass Xperiment. A look behind-the-scenes at how the new 4K restoration of The Quatermass Xperiment was made.
- Original trailers, foreign titles, Super 8 cut-down versions and the original BBFC censor cards for both The Quatermass Xperiment and The Eric Winstone Bandshow.
- Extensive image gallery of stills and publicity material, alongside tracks from James Bernard’s score.
- Quatermass and the Pit Omnibus Titles. From the 2005 BBC DVD. The bespoke titles used for the omnibus repeat edition of the third Quatermass TV series.
- TV Series Photo Gallery. From the 2005 BBC DVD. Rare photos of the original BBC productions.
