escapes with his life when the vehicle becomes stuck in mud while leading the monster into scanner range. The jeep makes it to a safe distance, enough for the scanners to do their job, and the creature is neutralized and explodes a sufficient distance from the observers to avoid further injury or death. As the team approaches the crack from which the monster had emerged, however, a second, more powerful explosion occurs unexpectedly, knocking several of the team off their feet, but otherwise leaving them uninjured. Puzzled, the team continues approaching the crack, presumably to make further tests, as the film comes to an end. Cast Dean Jagger as Dr. Adam Royston Leo McKern as "Mac" McGill Edward Chapman as John Elliott William Lucas as Peter Elliott Peter Hammond as Lieutenant Bannerman Anthony Newley as Lance Corporal "Spider" Webb Ian MacNaughton as Haggis Michael Ripper as Sergeant Harry Grimsdyke Michael Brooke as Willie Harding Frazer Hines as Ian Osborne Norman Macowan as Old Tom John Harvey as Major Cartwright Edwin Richfield as Soldier Burned on Back Jane Aird as Vi Harding Neil Hallett as Unwin Kenneth Cope as Private Lansing Jameson Clark as Jack Harding Marianne Brauns as Zena, the Nurse Brown Derby as The Vicar Anthony Sagar as Security Man (uncredited) Production The film was originally intended by Hammer to be a sequel to the previous year's successful The Quatermass Xperiment, but writer Nigel Kneale refused permission for the character of Bernard Quatermass to be used. The original director of the film was Joseph Losey, working under the name Joseph Walton – Losey was an American director who had moved to the UK after being placed on the Hollywood blacklist. Although Losey did begin shooting the film and some of his footage is included in the final cut, he was replaced by Leslie Norman due to illness. An alternative version is that Jagger refused to work with him because of his blacklisting. Norman was borrowed from Ealing. He had just made his directorial debut with The Night My Number Came Up. He later said "I hated working at Hammer... because I never got on with Anthony Hinds." Filming occurred at Bray Studios in Berkshire. Half the film's budget was provided by Sol Lesser, a producer for RKO Pictures. This amount, $30,000, went towards the salary for Dean Jagger. Nonetheless, the American distribution deal between Hammer and RKO fell through