Terence Fisher
Birth : 1904-02-23, Maida Vale, London, England
Death : 1980-06-18
History
Terence Fisher (23 February 1904 – 18 June 1980) was a film director who worked for Hammer Films. He was born in Maida Vale, a district of London, England.
Fisher was one of the most prominent horror directors of the second half of the 20th century. 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 long association with the genre and made British actors Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee leading horror stars of the era. He went on to film a number of adaptations of classic horror subjects, including "Dracula" (1958), "The Hound of the Baskervilles" (1959) and "The Mummy" (1959).
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 films are characterised by a blend of fairy-tale, myth and sexuality. They draw heavily on Christian themes, and there is usually a hero who defeats the powers of darkness by a combination of faith in God and reason, in contrast to other characters, who are either blindly superstitious or bound by a cold, godless rationalism.
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Himself (archive footage)
A retrospective of the films of Britain's Hammer Studios, renowned for making stylish horror films in the 1950s, '60s and '70s. Included are clips from Hammer productions and interviews with actors, actresses, directors and producers who worked on these films.
Director
Dr Simon Helder, sentenced to an insane asylum for crimes against humanity, recognises its director as the brilliant Baron Frankenstein, the man whose work he had been trying to emulate before his imprisonment. Frankenstein utilises Helder's medical knowledge for a project he has been working on for some time. He is assembling a man from vital organs extracted from various inmates in the asylum. And the Baron will resort to murder to acquire the perfect specimens for his most ambitious project ever.
Director
Blackmailing a young couple to assist with his horrific experiments the Baron, desperate for vital medical data, abducts a man from an insane asylum. On route the abductee dies and the Baron and his assistant transplant his brain into a corpse. The creature is tormented by a trapped soul in an alien shell and, after a visit to his wife who violently rejects his monstrous form, the creature wreaks his revenge on the perpetrator of his misery: Baron Frankenstein.
Self
Director
The powers of good are pitted against the forces of evil as the Duc de Richelieu wrestles with the charming but deadly Satanist, Mocata, for the soul of his friend. Mocata has the knowledge and the power to summon the forces of darkness and, as the Duc de Richelieu and his friends remain within the protected pentacle, they are subjected to ever-increasing horror until thundering hooves herald the arrival of the Angel of Death.
Director
While mainland Britain shivers in deepest winter, the northern island of Fara bakes in the nineties, and the boys at the Met station have no more idea what is going on than the regulars at the Swan. Only a stand-offish visting scientist realizes space aliens are to blame.
Director
A deformed tormented girl drowns herself after her lover is framed for murder and guillotined. Baron Frankenstein, experimenting with the transfer of souls, places the boy's soul into her body, bringing Christina back to life. Driven by revenge, she carries out a violent retribution on those responsible for both deaths.
Director
A small island community is overrun with creeping, blobbish, tentacled monsters which liquefy and digest the bones from living creatures. The community struggles to fight back.
Director
Whilst vacationing in the Carpathian Mountain, two couples stumble across the remains of Count Dracula's castle. The Count's trusted servant kills one of the men, suspending the body over the Count's ashes so that the blood drips from the corpse and saturates the blackened remains. The ritual is completed, the Count revived and his attentions focus on the dead man's wife who is to become his partner; devoted to an existence of depravity and evil.
Director
In the early 20th century a village experienced a series of inexplicable murders. All the victims were young men who had been turned to stone. The perpetrator of these deaths was a being so repulsive that she transformed the onlooker using the power of her deadly stare. Much of the time the creature took the form of a beautiful and seductive woman, but during periods of the full moon she becomes a living horror, vicious and deadly. A professor has come to investigate the deaths, bringing with him his beautiful assistant whose knowledge of the Gorgon is more intimate than anyone would ever realise.
Director
A crack test pilot lands to find the planet has been devastated by unknown forces. There are a few survivors, so he organizes them in a plan to ward off control by a group of killer robots.
Director
In this dark comedy, a Yankee goes to visit a family of British eccentrics to ask for the hand of one of their daughters in marriage. He soon finds himself in the midst of a really odd family. One of them talks like Bela Lugosi, another believes herself to be a vampire, while a third is locked away in a padded cell. Another family member is thrilled when he finally invents a horseless carriage (50 years after Ford), and the family grandfather is found reading Playboy just before he dies. Trouble begins when members of the family begin to be mysteriously murdered. The American suitor must then discover which member of the strange family is in line to inherit the family fortune.
Director
Sherlock Holmes and Watson do battle with their nemesis, Professor Moriarity, over an ancient necklace attributed to Cleopatra.
Director
A London opera house is haunted by tragic events on its opening night, but when its star is kidnapped, a producer tracks down the Phantom who is intent on seeking his revenge.
Director
A child conceived by a mute servant girl transforms from an innocent youth to a killer beast at night with uncontrollable urges.
Director
Robin of Loxley and his men stumble on a plot to overthrow Hubert Walter, King's Chancellor and Archbishop of Canterbury. The plotters, the Sheriff of Nottingham and the Earl of Newark, have set an ambush for Walter and Lady Marian Fitzwater. Will Robin get to them before it is too late?
Director
After a series of scientific experiments directed towards freeing the inner man and controlling human personalities, the kindly, generous Dr Henry Jekyll succeeds in freeing his own alter ego, Edward Hyde, a sadistic, evil creature whose pleasure is murder.
Director
A young teacher on her way to a position in Transylvania helps a young man escape the shackles his mother has put on him. In so doing she innocently unleashes the horrors of the undead once again on the populace, including those at her school for ladies. Luckily for some, Dr. Van Helsing is already on his way.
Director
In 1826 British-ruled India, the secret Cult of Thugee demonstrates their worship of their goddess, Kali, by the mutilation and mass murder of thousands of Indians while pirating the shipments of the British East-Indian Tea Company. As the British military leaders play down the implications of the piracy and disappearances, a lone captain realizes that they are not just coincidence and sets out to uncover the source of the deviltry, at the risk of his career. Based on history.
Director
One by one the archaeologists who discover the 4,000-year-old tomb of Princess Ananka are brutally murdered. Kharis, high priest in Egypt 40 centuries ago, has been brought to life by the power of the ancient gods and his sole purpose is to destroy those responsible for the desecration of the sacred tomb. But Isobel, wife of one of the explorers, resembles the beautiful princess, forcing the speechless and tormented monster to defy commands and abduct Isobel to an unknown fate.
Director
Dr. Bonner plans to live forever through periodic gland transplants from younger, healthier human victims. Bonner looks about 40; he's really 104 years old. But people are starting to get suspicious, and he may not make 200.
Director
When a nobleman is threatened by a family curse on his newly inherited estate, detective Sherlock Holmes is hired to investigate.
Director
Baron Frankenstein, working under the protective pseudonym Dr. Victor Stein, together with his assistant Dr. Kleve, transplants a dwarf's brain into another body and unleashes a deranged being.
Director
After Jonathan Harker attacks Dracula at his castle, the vampire travels to a nearby city, where he preys on the family of Harker's fiancée. The only one who may be able to protect them is Dr. van Helsing, Harker's friend and fellow-student of vampires, who is determined to destroy Dracula, whatever the cost.
Director
Baron Victor Frankenstein has discovered life's secret and unleashed a blood-curdling chain of events resulting from his creation: a cursed creature with a horrid face — and a tendency to kill.
Director
A reporter who needs cash for his son's operation is paid by a smuggler to take a murder rap.
Director
A man is tried for the murder of his neurotic wife by means of a sedative overdose.
Director
A classic Robin Hood tale, starring Richard Greene as Robin Hood and Bernadette O'Farrell as Maid Marian. Released in 1991 by ITC, it was edited together (quite seamlessly) from episodes of the ITC 1955 TV series "The Adventures of Robin Hood".
Director
A race car driver marries a woman for her money and plans to murder her. An old suitor steps in to help her but the driver takes steps to eliminate the rival. But there's a flaw in the driver's plans.
Director
Henry Crossley is an artist whose wife is spending a week's holiday with her aunt. But when her aunt comes to see him, worried because her niece has not arrived, a police investigation into her disappearance begins. It seems that Henry was fully occupied at the time his wife went missing; but is his alibi completely truthful?
Director
As a going away gift to a small village, the local Lord and Lady promise a new cottage to the local couple with the most grandchildren. Competitive instincts and petty jealousies ensue.
Director
An idol of auto-racing fans attempts a comeback after serving in the Air Force. When his former rival lies dying in the hospital he must decide whether to continue in the Grand Prix, or make peace with his adversary. Featuring race car greats Stirling Moss, Reg Parnell, John Cooper, Alan Brown, Geoffrey Taylor and Leslie Marr.
Director
A pair of reporters try to discover the link between three unsolved, seemingly isolated murders. The only connection between them is they all took place on the same day in three successive years. The police don't trust their instincts - but as 10th July nears again, a solicitor has started receiving threatening letters...
Director
Someone knocked out a man and left him for dead during a fishing trip in Portugal. That someone is either his fetching wife, or two business partners, all sporting guilty faces after his unexpected return. Two more murders and a frame-up befall the quartet before an inspector closes the case.
Director
When a beautiful girl offers Casey Morrow a lot of money for a mystery job, Morrow doesn't ask too many questions. But when the girl's father is found murdered the following day and Morrow's coat is soaked with blood perhaps a little more caution should have been exercised. An intriguing story of deception, greed and immorality.
Director
A famed trumpet player is suspected of murdering a blues singer. Using only two minor clues, he narrows the suspects to four people, but only after surviving poison placed on the mouthpiece of his trumpet!
Director
The test launch for the first inter-planetary research station goes wrong when the satellite station is inadvertently set up instead of returning to earth. Two people attached to the secret project are missing, presumed murdered, and all suspicions fall on the cuckold husband, the scientist responsible for the lack of fuel aboard the rocket. The theory is he murdered his wife and her lover, depositing the bodies on the errant rocket. Desperate to prove his innocence he volunteers for the next mission to link up with the satellite and clear his name.
Screenplay
A young man, in love with a woman who can never be his, discovers a way to fulfil his dreams. In their childhood the three were the best of friends, the perfect triangle. But years later when Lena returns to her sleepy home the tone of the relationship changes and it is Robin she loves. Bill has discovered a method of duplication and decides to make an exact replica of the woman he cannot have... .with disastrous consequences for them all.
Director
A young man, in love with a woman who can never be his, discovers a way to fulfil his dreams. In their childhood the three were the best of friends, the perfect triangle. But years later when Lena returns to her sleepy home the tone of the relationship changes and it is Robin she loves. Bill has discovered a method of duplication and decides to make an exact replica of the woman he cannot have... .with disastrous consequences for them all.
Screenplay
Branded as criminally insane and incarcerated for a murder he did not commit, Speight escapes from the asylum, determined to clear his name. He befriends private detective Hugo Bishop who, convinced that the wrong man has been convicted, agrees to help find the real killer. They begin their search for the murderer closest to home where both Thelma Speight and her employer Maurice Jerrard were visibly distressed by the news of her husband's jailbreak. More than Speight's 'insanity' fuels their worries.
Director
Branded as criminally insane and incarcerated for a murder he did not commit, Speight escapes from the asylum, determined to clear his name. He befriends private detective Hugo Bishop who, convinced that the wrong man has been convicted, agrees to help find the real killer. They begin their search for the murderer closest to home where both Thelma Speight and her employer Maurice Jerrard were visibly distressed by the news of her husband's jailbreak. More than Speight's 'insanity' fuels their worries.
Director
Discharged by his employer, a private eye stays on a jewel theft case after a model with information for him is murdered.
Director
David Anthony, a Harley Street physician, swaps duties with his brother, a medical missionary in Africa.
Director
A doctor changes a woman's face to match the one that broke his heart. Trouble starts when his love returns.
Director
A former pilot suffering from blackouts discovers that a fellow flyer is suspected of being mixed up with a web of smugglers. While searching for his missing buddy, he unwittingly becomes entangled in a morass of suspicion.
Director
A married bookstore owner is blackmailed after he makes a pass at his new sexy blonde clerk.
Director
A young woman becomes a murder target after inheriting her estranged father's estate.
Director
Vicky Barton and her brother, Johnny, take a trip to the 1896 Paris Exhibition. They both sleep in seperate rooms in a hotel. When the sister gets up the next morning, she finds her brother and his room had disappeared and no one will even acknowledge that he was ever there. Now Vicky must find out what exactly happened to her brother.
Director
Several years after graduation, best friends Barbara (Celia Johnson) and Leonora (Margaret Leighton) reconnect as if not a day has gone by. But Leonora could do without Barbara's husband, Christian (Noel Coward), whom she finds arrogant and off-putting ... at first. One evening alone together, romance is set ablaze, leaving Christian with a lot of explaining to do to Barbara.
Director
The stories of several individuals who consult a marriage bureau, including a peer of the realm, his butler, a lonely school teacher, a French girl on the run from a violent boyfriend, a country vicar, and a newspaper reporter, sent by his editor, to do an undercover story.
Director
A British army officer becomes fascinated by the portrait of a young woman. He travels to Germany to find her, only to discover that she is suffering from amnesia.
Director
Four people with very different backgrounds meet by chance at an English pub and gradually become carried away in a bout of thrill-seeking. When their spree gets out of hand, each person faces a moral choice with lasting consequences.
Director
Derek Wardwell (Shaun Noble) is struck with amnesia, and the last thing he remembers is the beautiful voice of opera singer Helen Maxwell (Evelyn Maccabe). When he regains consciousness, Wardwell thinks he's in love with her. After his amnesia is cured, Wardwell returns to his fiancee while Helen begins a romance with his doctor.
Editor
Two brothers struggle for control of the family business in 19th century Yorkshire.
Editor
A married woman finds new thrills as a masked robber on the highways.
Editor
A young singer meets a man who is the victim of a kidnap plot, and is assumed by the gang to be his girlfriend.
Editor
While working at a circus, a man hypnotizes a trapezist to kill her partner.
Editor
Frantic farce involving a neglected wife, a stolen diamond and four identical briefcases.
Editor
Drama written in flames and told with the staccato of canon-fire!
Editor
The MacIver brothers (Michael Redgrave, Griffith Jones) build the first ship to cross the Atlantic by steam power alone.
Editor
A barber gives in to temptation and steals some money, leading to blackmail and murder.
Editor
In this he's on the dole, hungry and ready to do any job but quickly light-heartedly scams his way into society and a highly regarded position at a bank next to the beleaguered Robertson Hare. Here he invents a fraudulent business plan (Merrivale - you remember it surely?), the manager and chairman and another finance company are suck(er)ed in and it all snowballs from there. With of course a love interest as a dynamo.
Editor
Will Hay plays the pennyless, bungling solicitor Benjamin Stubbins, who arrives at his office to find his insolent office boy (Graham Moffatt) with his feet up on the desk, reading a wild west magazine, which Hay confiscates so that he can read it later. Stubbins later takes a job from a group of Americans who claim they want him to track down some ancestors of theirs in Scotland. In reality however they want to use his office so they can rob a safe in the room immediately below his office. Stubbins takes the job (which is designed to keep him out of the office). In the end Stubbins realises his mistake and at a Christmas Eve fancy dress party he informs a group of carol singing policeman about the Americans nefarious activities
