In this first of one of my Director’s Profile sub-themes, I’ll be profiling directors who have worked regularly with Hammer Productions, the British B-picture studio that reinvigorated the classic monster film in the ‘50s through ‘70s and brought to prominence great actors like Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee.

Terence Fisher is associated with Hammer perhaps more than any other director, directing a series of hard-nosed crime pictures for them throughout the ‘50s and rising to prominence after directing Curse of Frankenstein for Hammer which set the tone for nearly every Hammer horror film that was to come: the gothic atmosphere, sumptuous set design, the overt violence, the emphasis on internal character struggle. He would proceed to direct some of Hammer’s most well-regarded and popular horror films including The Horror of Dracula, Curse of the Werewolf, The Mummy and many others. He may be gone but Fisher leaves a legacy as one of the kings of British horror.

Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace (1962)

I was looking forward to this one. Terence Fisher, who had previously directed the quite good Sherlock Holmes film Hound of the Baskervilles, is at the helm here with the great Christopher Lee as Holmes himself and one of the best B-picture screenwriters of the era Curt Siodmak on writing duties. Unfortunately this is a dull, unshapely dud of a film. The plot never comes together and Christopher Lee is dubbed over with someone else’s voice. Why would you dub over one of the most unique, commanding voices in film history? Apparently the film was butchered in post-production by the German producers and was deemed a disappointment by pretty much everyone involved.

Night of the Big Heat (1967)

Night of the Big Heat tells the story of a small British town that grows increasingly unseasonably hot for reasons beyond anyone’s comprehension. No one seems to have even a clue as to why except a shut-in scientist who has a working theory involving aliens. This one is the very definition of a slow burn. The movie spends a large chunk of its runtime on building its characters, mostly the denizens of a local pub. As the heat rises, emotions start running rampant leading to escalating tensions, both of a suspicious and sexual nature. In general theme, it has a little of the same vibe as Do the Right Thing although obviously more of a cold war paranoia metaphor than a representation of racial tension. This one does require a lot of patience, but I think if you hang in there, you might end up getting pulled into its swirling stew of agitation.

Blackout (1954)

Blackout is one of Fisher’s earlier film noirs he did for Hammer and is a solid and engaging little potboiler about a US ex-pat who’s broke, looking for a way to make a quick buck when a young woman approaches him offering a lot of money to marry her, no questions asked, which he desperately agrees to. Cut to next morning. He wakes up in an unfamiliar place. Her father is found dead in the room with him and he’s got blood on his coat. It seems like somebody is being played for a patsy. This was a pretty solid if predictable crime flick. The acting from several of the cast, particularly a couple of the supporting players has a more naturalistic quality to it that makes it feel like a more modern film than it is at times. Not bad at all.