Ian Cooper
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- February 2021
- ISBN:
- 9780993071737
- eISBN:
- 9781800341937
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3828/liverpool/9780993071737.003.0003
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
This chapter discusses how Hammer became the most important and influential makers of genre cinema, and how their rise to fame was accompanied by violent criticism. It points out that Terence ...
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This chapter discusses how Hammer became the most important and influential makers of genre cinema, and how their rise to fame was accompanied by violent criticism. It points out that Terence Fisher's films portray the struggle between good and evil, and how they are essentially Christian. The chapter discusses several of his films. It talks about how The Mummy reveals Fisher's strengths as a director, and how Fisher, more than anyone else, is responsible for turning horror into an action genre. It discusses how the enormous success of The Curse of Frankenstein encouraged a number of imitations. The chapter also talks about the sensationalism that become a staple of the British genre film in the wake of Hammer's success, and how it is foregrounded with true crime, surgery, pornography and the circus. It moves on to discuss how Hammer was slow to catch onto the social upheavals of the 1960s and the revivifying effect this gave to the horror film. The chapter then talks about the reinvention of Frankenstein and Dracula Hammer and how this exemplifies the notion of the studio as auteur.Less
This chapter discusses how Hammer became the most important and influential makers of genre cinema, and how their rise to fame was accompanied by violent criticism. It points out that Terence Fisher's films portray the struggle between good and evil, and how they are essentially Christian. The chapter discusses several of his films. It talks about how The Mummy reveals Fisher's strengths as a director, and how Fisher, more than anyone else, is responsible for turning horror into an action genre. It discusses how the enormous success of The Curse of Frankenstein encouraged a number of imitations. The chapter also talks about the sensationalism that become a staple of the British genre film in the wake of Hammer's success, and how it is foregrounded with true crime, surgery, pornography and the circus. It moves on to discuss how Hammer was slow to catch onto the social upheavals of the 1960s and the revivifying effect this gave to the horror film. The chapter then talks about the reinvention of Frankenstein and Dracula Hammer and how this exemplifies the notion of the studio as auteur.
