This moody image comes from THE CREEPING UNKNOWN, the first of two films to star Brian Donlevy as the driven scientist Professor Quatermass. In his first adventure, Quatermass must find out why his experimental rocket returned to Earth carrying only one of the three-man crew. While this mystery is dug into, the single survivor is going through constant mutation. Quatermass tries to keep a check on this, but the mutant astronaut is soon missing and horror quickly spreads. Based on a BBC teleserial by name of "The Quatermass Xperiment" and called by that name in England, THE CREEPING UNKNOWN was a colossal smash. ENEMY FROM SPACE followed shortly. Sadly (at least for a Donlevy fan like myself), the part of Quatermass was re-cast when the character returned almost a decade later for FIVE MILLION YEARS TO EARTH. Meanwhile, audiences could always enjoy X THE UNKNOWN as an unofficial Quatermass entry. Very recently, Joshua Kennedy paid tribute to THE CREEPING UNKNOWN via THE VESUVIOUS XPERIMENT. From a technical standpoint, that may've represented Mr. Kennedy's best work so far (though I must admit that I haven't seen the last few films, so he may've surpassed it already).
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