Terence Fisher Movies

The key image of this film occurs early on, as a hideous monster removes its face, only to reveal itself as Baron Frankenstein in a mask. Hammer's fifth installment in the series sees the transformation of doctor into monster complete. Peter Cushing's portrayal of the Baron here is all insanity and hatred, rather than the misunderstood (if unethical) genius of previous entries. Frankenstein transplants the brain of an insane doctor into Freddie Jones' body, creating a pathetic, misshapen beast, while using blackmail and rape to control the people around him. This was director Terence Fisher's favorite film, and his pacing and composition have rarely been better. Jones (the nasty showman in The Elephant Man) is great at communicating the disorientation and helpless agony of his condition, and while Cushing's character is more one-dimensional than usual, he does his normal excellent job as the Baron. Hammer's next installment was the silly Horror of Frankenstein before Fisher returned to end the series with Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell. ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi

The famed British horror trio of Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, and director Terence Fisher brought John Lymington's sci-fi novel Night of the Big Heat to the screen in this slow-moving shocker. The plot concerns a small British island where alien protoplasm creatures are attempting to raise the temperatures to match those of their home planet. The result is a winter heat-wave so intense that most of the island's residents go up in flames. Lee and Cushing are among the few survivors able to battle the malignant extraterrestrial scourge. Fisher proves once again that his deliberately paced directorial style is better suited to Gothic horror than to what should be fast-moving sci-fi. ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi

Christopher Lee dons the evil Count's cloak once again after an 8-year hiatus for this first "authentic" sequel to Hammer Studios' Horror of Dracula (the literal 1960 follow-up Brides of Dracula did not feature Lee). The story begins when two stuffy vacationing couples make an ill-fated stopover at Castle Karlsbad in the Carpathian mountains -- despite the warnings of the mysterious Fr. Sandor (Andrew Keir) and the near-destruction of their coach when the terrified driver runs for his life. After a slightly tedious stretch, one of the men (Charles Tingwell) is sacrificed in a bloody Satanic ritual, orchestrated by the Count's loyal manservant Klove (Philip Latham) to bring the legendary vampire back to life. The revived Count immediately sets his sights on the man's wife (Barbara Shelley), making her his undead bride; the surviving pair seek refuge in Fr. Sandor's abbey, with the undead bloodsuckers in hot pursuit. This stylish and chilling production is imbued with Gothic atmosphere by director Terence Fisher (one of his last films for the studio) and remains one of the classier entries from Hammer's heyday. Also known as Revenge of Dracula. ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi

This obscure little science fiction/horror film (a British-American co-production) stars Willard Parker as a heroic astronaut who returns from a test flight to discover that most of England has been utterly destroyed by alien invaders, whose armies of killer robots have transformed nearly all of their victims into zombies. Parker manages to rally together a small resistance army from a few scattered survivors in outlying villages, and they eventually find the earth-based relay point for the transmissions which have enabled the invaders to coordinate the robot attack by remote control. Although entertaining overall, the story lags after a thrilling first half, with the final battle hampered by budget limitations. ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi

A small German town falls prey to an unseen monster that turns its victims into lifeless statues in this mid-'60s outing from Hammer Studios. When the girlfriend of bohemian artist Bruno Heitz (Jeremy Longhurst) becomes the latest townsperson to turn up dead, her corpse transformed to stone, Bruno hangs himself, leaving the town to assume his guilt. But when his father, Prof. Heitz (Michael Goodliffe), comes to investigate, he too encounters the Gorgon and turns to stone. Just before dying, the professor dashes off instructions to his other son, Paul (Richard Pasco), about how to exonerate Bruno. Suspicion falls on Dr. Namaroff (Peter Cushing), proprietor of the local madhouse, although one of his patients (Joyce Hemson) seems just as likely a culprit. Then along comes Prof. Carl Maister (Christopher Lee), a folklore expert from the University of Leipzig, who claims that the murderer is actually a human possessed by the spirit of Magaera, one of Medusa's snake-haired sisters from Greek mythology. Together, Paul and Dr. Namaroff attempt to root out the incognito Gorgon while Paul courts lovely amnesiac Carla Hoffman (Barbara Shelley). Directed by Hammer veteran Terence Fisher, The Gorgon is one of several films to feature British horror mainstays Lee and Cushing side by side. In the States, the film appeared with The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb on a double bill promoted by the distribution of a unique giveaway item: black stamps. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi

This Gothic melodrama from Hammer Studios is in color, but the plot is basically the same as the two previous efforts. Instead of Paris, the action takes place at the Royal Opera House in London. The Phantom (Herbert Lom) is a facially disfigured musician/composer who had his opera stolen by a conniving composer, the lecherous Lord d'Arcy. The Phantom -- who lives in the sewer beneath the opera house -- has his dwarf assistant (Ian Wilson) kidnap Christine Charles (Heather Sears), the lead actress in Gough's production, with whom he has fallen in love, and trains her to become an opera singer, performing a work he has written. Meanwhile, Christine's fiance, Harry Hunter (Edward de Souza, researches the phantom's history and, after locating his whereabouts and finding him, decides to unmask the mysterious fellow. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

Gorgo is an attempt to make a Japanese-style "giant reptile" flick in an English setting. The story begins when underwater volcanic activity in the Irish Sea brings forth a 65-foot monster called Gorgo. Enterprising Joe (Bill Travers) and Sam (William Sylvester) capture the beast and transport it to London, where Gorgo is put on display as a seaside carnival attraction. This proves to be a major mistake when Gorgo's even larger mother lumbers to the surface in search of her cute li'l baby. In short order, London is trampled and trashed. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Hammer Films and director Terence Fisher followed the excellent Horror of Dracula with this well-made, richly-colored sequel which suffers only from the conspicuous lack of Dracula himself -- since Horror's Christopher Lee had declined participation in further Dracula sequels for the time being. In his stead, we have young, blond Baron Meinster (David Peel) providing the requisite vampiric threat. Though imprisoned in the family estate by his mother, Meinster is released from his silver chains by an unsuspecting French teacher (Yvonne Monlaur), through which he gains access to a veritable smorgasbord of nubile wenches at a girls' school. Fortunately, master vampire killer Dr. Van Helsing (Peter Cushing) is on the case. Besides featuring some of the best acting, photography and period detail of the Hammer Dracula series, this is also one of the first to delve into the more sexual aspects of vampirism, with implicit suggestions of incest, sadomasochism and homosexuality. ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi

Loosely based on a cult of assassins in early 19th-century India known as "thaga" (pronounced "tahg"), the villains in this routine, part-horror, part suspense story are causing problems in the East India Company and throughout Bombay. It seems that someone is stealing cargo from the company, and many people are unaccountably disappearing. But as usual, the colonial attitude prevails and one officer in the company is too focused on his goal of playing polo in England to see clearly, while the others are equally opaque. So it takes awhile before these Brits realize that the "thaga" cult is strangling the population and inducting new people into its rituals every day. As the assassins wreak havoc in Bombay, one of the company's officers is captured and slated for execution. The cult became so notorious and well-known in its day that the word "thug" entered into common English usage. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

In the 17th century, the arrogant, cruel Hugo Baskerville (David Oxley) brutalizes a servant and prepares to turn the man's daughter over to his equally depraved companions, but she escapes. When he catches up with the girl in a ruined abbey, he kills her and then is attacked and killed himself by a huge hound that is never seen. The audience then learns that this story is being told in flashback to Sherlock Holmes (Peter Cushing) and Dr. Watson (Andre Morell) by Dr. Richard Mortimer (Francis DeWolff). He was the physician and friend to the late Sir Charles Baskerville, who recently died -- apparently of fright -- on the Devonshire moors near that same ruined abbey. Holmes is very skeptical, but agrees to meet Sir Henry Baskerville (Christopher Lee), who has just arrived in London to claim the estate. Sir Henry is cold and aloof but becomes convinced he's in danger when he's almost bitten by a tarantula. Holmes insists that he not go to Baskerville Hall alone, so Holmes sends Watson to Devonshire with Sir Henry.

In Devonshire, Sir Henry and Watson learn that an escaped convict, Selden, is at large on the moor. Watson meets local Bishop Frankland (Miles Malleson), and later on the moor, Baskerville's neighbors, Stapleton (Ewen Solon) and his daughter, Cecile (Marla Landi). Watson is almost trapped in one of the many bogs that dot the moors, but he escapes. Later, leaving Sir Henry stricken with a mild heart attack at the hall, Watson ventures again onto the moors, and to his surprise, discovers Sherlock Holmes there. Holmes has been hiding and watching for developments. They hear the howl of the hound, and are too late to prevent the huge beast from killing a man they take for Sir Henry. But back at Baskerville Hall, they find Sir Henry alive and well: the dead man was the convict Selden, dressed in some old clothes of Sir Henry's. At the ruined abbey, they find evidence that a strange rite has been performed.

When Holmes visits Frankland for information, he learns that someone has stolen the bishop's tarantula. (He's an amateur naturalist.) Meanwhile, near Baskerville Hall, Sir Henry meets Cecile, and they are attracted to one another. Holmes, Mortimer and Stapleton descend into a disused tin mine in search of evidence, but a cave-in almost traps Holmes. That evening, when Sir Henry goes to meet Cecile on the moors, he learns that she actually hates him, and that the hound is now on his trail. Holmes and Watson arrive almost too late to save him, but Holmes kills the hound and reveals it's an ordinary, if large, dog in a mask. The villain is a descendant of Sir Hugo's from "the wrong side of the sheets"; he and his daughter were determined to use the legend of the Hound to kill those standing between them and Baskerville Hall.
No movie version of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's most famous novel follows its source very closely, and this colorful Hammer film is no exception. An extra killer is added, events are compressed, and even the novel's most famous line -- "they were the tracks of an enormous hound!" -- is omitted. The film also suffers at times from a budget too low for its ambitions and by extraneous elements aimed at making it more like a Hammer movie, such as the unexplained "rite." However, the movie has a brisk pace and particularly strong characters. Lee, initially icy and arrogant -- perhaps to remind us of Sir Hugo -- thaws into a likable person romantic enough to fall in love, atypically for Lee. Andre Morell is one of the most solid and realistic Watsons ever; there's nothing whatever of the harrumphing Nigel Bruce, no comedy elements to the role at all. He's straightforward, heroic in his own right. But the triumph of the film
was the casting of Peter Cushing as Sherlock Holmes. Cushing's Holmes is vivid, dynamic and arrogant; the actor does not even attempt to make Holmes likable, but instead plays the character exactly as Doyle wrote him. It's a performance of steely integrity and terrific skill, one of the greatest Holmes performances ever. Cushing later played Holmes in a television series, and became as identified with the role in England as Basil Rathbone was in the United States. Cushing returned once again to the role late in life, in the TV movie The Masks of Death, as well as writing about Holmes for several books. ~ Bill Warren, Rovi

This Hammer Studios classic is far closer to the letter (and spirit) of the Bram Stoker novel than the Bela Lugosi version of Dracula. The premise finds the infamous count journeying from his native Transylvania to England, where he takes a headfirst plunge into the London nightlife, and begins to rack up victim after victim. In the process, Dracula also runs into his arch-nemesis, Van Helsing (Peter Cushing), which ignites a battle of wills between the two. Heavily censored in Britain when released (with the goriest moments truncated), this outing was restored by the BFI in the mid-late 2000s. It put Lee and Cushing on the map and paved the way for many sequels starring the two, and for many non-Dracula follow-ups with these actors as well. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

He may be calling himself "Dr. Stein," but the audience isn't fooled: that popular general practitioner (Peter Cushing) in the mittel-European village of Carlsbruck is none other than our old friend, Victor Frankenstein. No one seems unduly concerned when the patients in a charity clinic begin losing their arms and legs during Dr. Stein's emergency operations -- no one except his young rival, Dr. Kleve (Kerwin Mathews). Threatening to expose Dr. Stein as the fugitive from justice he really is, Kleve is instead persuaded to be Stein's partner. Things really begin heating up when Stine and Kleve use the brain of vengeful village hunchback Karl (Oscar Quitak) for their new synthetic monster. Adding to the climactic melee is another monster, built in the image of Dr. Frankenstein himself! Full of clever (if gory) touches, Revenge of Frankenstein is among the best of Hammer Studio's late-1950s output. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi