The Quatermass Xperiment (1955), Quatermass 2 (1957), Quatermass and the Pit (1967)
Everyone knows the name Hammer Films (at least, we hope they do!) but most people associate it with gothic horror, particularly their reimagining of the Universal classic Frankenstein in The Curse of Frankenstein (1957). Yet Hammer had been around long before Peter Cushing breathed life into that first stitched-together corpse. Founded in the 1930s as a distribution company, the studio gradually moved into producing films, often adapted from popular TV and radio series.
In 1953, the BBC aired a six-part serial, The Quatermass Experiment. Hammer quickly recognized its potential, adapted it into a feature film, and in doing so set itself firmly on the path toward becoming “the studio that dripped blood.” In this episode, we cover all three Quatermass films. While they lean more toward science fiction than Hammer’s later gothic output, they are steeped in horror… and we think they’re well worth your time.
Films mentioned in this episode:
And Now the Screaming Starts (1973), Asylum (1972), Brides of Dracula (1960), The Curse of Frankenstein (1957), Curse of the Werewolf (1961), Dracula Prince of Darkness (1966), Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde (1971), The Gorgon (1964), Horror of Dracula (1958), I Married a Monster from Outer Space (1958), The Incredible Melting Man (1977), Inhumanwich! (2016), Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), It Came from Beneath the Sea (1953), It Conquered the World (1956), Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959), Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires (1974), Masque of the Red Death (1964), Monster Club (1981), Nineteen Eighty-Four (1954), Pit Stop (1969), Quatermass Xperiment (1955), Quatermass 2 (1957), Quatermass and the Pit (1967), Rasputin the Mad Monk (1966), Revenge of Frankenstein (1958), Scars of Dracula (1970), The Stone Tape (1972), The Vampire Lovers (1970), Vault of Horror (1973), X – The Unknown (1956)
kitleyskrypt.com 
It’s great that you are going to do a deep dive into the Hammer stuff. It’s what I grew up on as a kid in the UK, and the films are like old friends to me.
It was also great to hear that you are familiar with Nigel Kneale’s “Beasts” series. It’s pretty patchy to say the least, but the “Baby” episode alone is worth the price of admission. I don’t know how you watched it, but the UK DVD also has Kneale’s 1975 TV play called “Murrain” included in the set, which I would say is classic British folk horror, alongside other TV movies like “Penda’s Fen” and “Robin Redbreast” that were included in the Severin folk horror box. It’s probably on YouTube too. Just a heads-up in the unlikely event that you haven’t seen it.
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Thanks for the great comment! And yes, the more I learned about Quatermass, you have to learn about Kneale and the rest of his work. I also have seen the two you mentioned in Severin’s box set. Good stuff.
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