"The Pit" is Shit

Wow. I truly did not like Quatermass and the Pit. What made it so bad was that it started out so promising. I was truly intrigued for the first half of the movie. When it didn’t pan out how I wanted, it left me betrayed and depressed. And it wasn’t solely the fact that it had a different ending than I expected; it was the fact that it could have been about something that it completely was not. I foresaw a cutting edge theory about the origin of species through spermatozoa and instead got some half-assed conspiracy about cricket aliens and the Devil.

The movie started out with the discovery of primitive primate skulls. Obviously, the movie would explore the origin of humans. Science versus military, progressive theories, and mysteries of the universe were paths down which I was about to embark. Then, they discovered a space ship! Sweet!, I thought, They’re going to bring up the idea of spermatozoa! Would this old film suggest, way before it was accepted as a plausible theory, the idea that human beings were a extraterrestrial species that found its way to Earth? It seemed so. The primate skulls found in the same underground resting place as a spaceship could mean either that human being were once aliens finding refuge on Earth or that we were brought here by some alien species. As the movie slowly developed, it took a slow turn away from a better ending. It turned into a spooky mystery film about a town plagued by weird alien ghosts. Odd, but still promising. Then, the scientists found giant crickets in the crystals and the whole thing went to hell. Sometime between the unnecessarily long underground windstorms and the poorly constructed cricket alien army dream, I lost interest in and hope for the film. The film even seemed to give up on itself, replacing intriguing scenarios and dialogue with goofy effects and poor editing. By the time the giant devil cricket cloud was destroyed by a crane, I was far past the state of apathy, itching to bolt the theater. Not only did I dislike the film, I was mad at it for starting out like it was going to be something better. It had potential and did not succeed. I felt like a football coach watching his talented group of athletes lose game after game to turnovers and inconsistency. I felt like a father watching his son become a high school drop out instead of a hard-working student. I was very disappointed in this film.