QUATERMASS II / TERRE CONTRE SATELLITE (1967) POSTER, FRENCH

Science Fiction Poster Art, Aurum Press Limited 2003, page 39 (actual poster)

This 1957 black-and-white British science fiction horror film was directed by Val Guest, and stars Brian Donlevy, John Longden, Sid James, Bryan Forbes, Vera Day and William Franklyn. It was the sequel to Hammer Film's 1955 film The Quatermass Xperiment. Both these films were based on the BBC Television serial Quatermass II, written by Nigel Kneale. In this film Professor Quatermass (Donlevy) investigates reports of hundreds of meteorites landing solely in the Winnerden Flats in the UK. His inquiries lead him to a top-secret facility, strangely similar to his own moon colony plans, where he uncovers a conspiracy involving aliens. Professor Quatermass and his allies do whatever they can to stop the alien invasion. 

This poster was on loan to the ICA and the Institute of International Visual Arts (inIVA) in 2006. They co-produced an exhibition, which was held at the ICA, and was the first exhibition of its kind. Alien Nation was an ambitious and thought-provoking exhibition that explored the complex relationship between science fiction, race and contemporary art. In science fiction films of the 1950s and 1960s subjects such as the Cold War, fears of invasion, communism and nuclear war were explored in these films. Anxieties that were present then were projected into the future. The exhibition presented the work of twelve contemporary international artists who explored themes of otherness and difference through the language and iconography of sci-fi. Alien Nation was accompanied by a collection of original sci-fi film posters from the 1950s to present day, together with extracts from contemporary and archive science fiction films.