When I was just a wee girl I used to check the TV listings for the local stations that played movies all night long. If I found an intriguing title (anything with ‘damned’ or ‘blood’ in it was a surefire winner) or a cool old horror story or space opera that would be playing on the late late movie, I’d set my alarm and creep downstairs to watch it–usually sitting about two feet from the TV with the sound low so I wouldn’t wake my parents. The Movies That Made Me Weird(er) is a look back at the films that populated my childhood dreamscape.
When this movie was released in the UK (under its original title, Quatermass and the Pit) it received an X-certificate because of all the hardcore anal penetration due to scenes of violence and rioting, and an image of the Devil. There was also concern that the sound of the alien ship might have a deleterious effect on the viewer.
Oh, 1967, how quaint you were.
Anyway, by today’s standards, the violence is tame and bloodless–and the big scary Devil apparition is, quite frankly, hilarious. But Five Million Years To Earth is an arresting, intelligent SF story that’s full of big, interesting ideas and solid performances that eventually overshadow some pretty cheesy visual FX.
tone deaf joke 