Editing Hammer Film Productions (section)

===The birth of Hammer Horror (1955–1959)===
Hammer's first significant experiment with horror came in a 1955 adaptation of [[Nigel Kneale]]'s [[BBC Television]] science fiction serial ''[[The Quatermass Experiment]]'', directed by [[Val Guest]]. As a consequence of the contract with Robert Lippert, American actor [[Brian Donlevy]] was imported for the lead role and the title was changed to ''[[The Quatermass Xperiment]]'' to cash in on the new [[X certificate]] for horror films. The film was unexpectedly popular, and led to the popular 1957 sequel ''[[Quatermass 2]]''{{spaced ndash}}again adapted from one of Kneale's television scripts, this time by Kneale and with a budget double that of the original: £92,000.{{sfn|Kinsey|2005|page=50}} In the meantime, Hammer produced another ''[[Quatermass]] ''-style horror film, ''[[X the Unknown]]'', originally intended as part of the series until Kneale denied them permission to use his characters (the writer is known to have disliked Donlevy's performance as Quatermass).{{sfn|Pixley|2005|page=18}} At the time, Hammer voluntarily submitted scripts to the [[British Board of Film Classification|British Board of Film Censors]] (BBFC) for comment before production. Regarding the script of ''X the Unknown'', one reader/examiner (Audrey Field) commented on 24 November:

<blockquote>Well, no one can say the customers won't have had their money's worth by now. In fact, someone will almost certainly have been sick. We must have a great deal more restraint, and much more done by onlookers' reactions instead of by shots of 'pulsating obscenity', hideous scars, hideous sightless faces, etc, etc. It is keeping on and on in the same vein that makes this script so outrageous. They must take it away and prune. Before they take it away, however, I think the President [of the BBFC] should read it. I have a stronger stomach than the average (for viewing purposes) and perhaps I ought to be reacting more strongly.{{sfn|Kinsey|2005|page=41}}</blockquote>