Terence Fisher (23 February 1904 – 18 June 1980) was a British film director best known for his work for Hammer Films.
He was the first to bring gothic horror alive in full colour, and the sexual overtones and explicit horror in his films, while mild by modern standards, were unprecedented in his day. His first major gothic horror film was The Curse of Frankenstein (1957), which launched Hammer's association with the genre and made British actors Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee leading horror stars of the era. He went on to film several adaptations of classic horror subjects, including Dracula (1958), The Mummy (1959), and The Curse of the Werewolf (1961).
Given their subject matter and lurid approach, Fisher's films, though commercially successful, were largely dismissed by critics during his career. It is only in recent years that Fisher has become recognised as an auteur in his own right. His most famous films are characterised by a blend of fairytale myth and the supernatural alongside themes of sexuality, morality, and "the charm of evil", often drawing heavily on a conservative Christian outlook.
Fisher's career changed direction permanently when Hammer asked him to direct The Curse of Frankenstein (1957), their first colour horror film. It was the company's most important project to date, and Fisher was hand-picked by Hammer management to helm the film as he had a reputation for reliability. Working from a script by Jimmy Sangster that re-imagined the lengthy original novel as a gruesome, morally ambiguous chamber piece, the film saw British TV star Peter Cushing cast as Baron Victor Frankenstein whilst the then little-known supporting actor Christopher Lee portrayed the Creature. It was a handsome-looking, quality production and an international box office smash; alarming British critics and raising the standard for what was acceptable in terms of on-screen violence and gore, the film established Hammer as a leading brand name in the British film industry.
Hammer had even more financial success with Fisher's second gothic horror film Dracula (1958), starring Lee in the title role and Cushing as his adversary Doctor Van Helsing. Once again reducing the scope of its source novel in line with Hammer's budgetary constraints, the screenplay minimised both the geographical settings and the number of characters, and the result was a compact, atmospheric and action-packed chiller in which Lee portrayed the figure of the vampire Count Dracula as having an animalistic sexuality that had never before been presented on screen. It is today regarded as a trailblazer in the horror film genre, the archetypal Hammer film, and the greatest of Fisher's directorial efforts.
However, Hammer didn't only assign him to gothic chillers; The Stranglers of Bombay (1959) was a different kind of horror, a tale of the thuggee cult in Imperial India starring Guy Rolfe and Allan Cuthbertson. Fisher had a change of pace when he directed Sword of Sherwood Forest (1960) for Hammer, with Richard Greene reprising his small screen role as Robin Hood from the ITV series on which he had previously worked with Fisher. Also featured in a supporting part was Oliver Reed shortly before Hammer cast him in the lead role of Fisher's The Curse of the Werewolf (1961). Then came The Phantom of the Opera (1962) starring Herbert Lom; it was one of Hammer's most expensive films but proved a relative commercial letdown, and following its release Fisher did not work for Hammer again for over two years.
Director for hire
German company CCC Film hired Fisher to make his first movie outside Hammer since 1957, Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace (1962), starring Lee as Holmes, but making the film was an unhappy experience for the director and it remains an obscurity. Lippert Pictures then employed Fisher for The Horror of It All (1963), a horror comedy starring Pat Boone, but it received poor reviews and was not a success.
He finally worked for Hammer again when they reunited him with both Cushing and Lee for The Gorgon (1964), a personal favourite of the director, before Lippert used him once more for the black-and-white science fiction film The Earth Dies Screaming (1964), featuring American actor Willard Parker alongside Dennis Price and Fisher's close friend Thorley Walters.
For Hammer, Fisher and Lee next made The Devil Rides Out (1968), from the novel by Dennis Wheatley, which is now a very highly regarded genre classic, whilst Cushing starred in Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1969), which was conceived as a climax to the Frankenstein series; it was another favourite of Fisher's and stands up as one of his most suspenseful and exciting movies.
After injuries sustained in a pair of road accidents resulted in lengthy periods of convalescence, Fisher returned to Hammer for the final time to make Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (1974), which was to be his last film. A financial failure that was written off as being very much behind-the-times when it was first released, more recently the movie has been reappraised as a worthy and melancholic "last hurrah" for Fisher and Hammer's style of horror in general.
After several years in retirement, Terence Fisher died in June 1980 at the age of 76.
Filmography
The following is a list of the theatrical films in which Terence Fisher received screen credit.
