The Big Picture
Terence Fisher brought unprecedented gore, sensuality, and vibrant colors to classic monster movies, revitalizing the genre.
The Curse of Frankenstein
focuses on sinister ambition over the monster, examining the moral lengths one will go for their work.
Horror of Dracula
amps up sensuality and action, making Dracula cooler than ever before, setting new standards for the iconic vampire.
Tackling a horror remake is a dicey prospect. On the one hand, this genre is a hallowed ground; fans do not want their favorite films and franchises to be toyed with! On the other hand, some of the early classics might truly be great, but a later remaining could top it with a different angle. 1942’s Cat People is an undeniably effective and wonderful chiller with its eerie, moody aesthetics, but Brian De Palma’s 1982 remake more than earns its place by flipping the script entirely and turning the whole premise into a supernatural erotic thriller. John Carpenter’s remake, re-adaptation, whatever you want to call it, of Who Goes There? is such a massive improvement over the original The Thing that it’s as if only deep genre fans even remember Christian Nyby’s original. Some think that it’s sacrilegious to tamper with monumental genre cornerstones, but we’d be lying if we said that this practice doesn’t have its place. More than any other, the classic Universal Monsters are ripe for the picking. While many of them originate from literature, their movie adaptations brought them to life to make them a waking nightmare for audiences worldwide. Without their film versions, Dracula, Frankenstein’s Monster, the Mummy, and all of their spooky friends would not be the cultural icons that they are today.
You might argue that this status should make these iconic monsters untouchable. I’m sure that many people agreed with that estimation back in the 1930s and ’40s, but if anyone proved that hypothesis wrong, it was Terence Fisher. Starting with 1957’s The Curse of Frankenstein, Fisher brought unprecedented gore, thrumming sensuality, breakneck pacing, and vibrant color palettes to these creature features that had never been tapped into before. Fisher didn’t just bring a new life to the Frankenstein franchise, though — that would be selling him too short. Between Horror of Dracula, The Mummy, Phantom of the Opera, and The Curse of the Werewolf (okay, that one’s a stretch), this man managed to resurrect several classic monsters in just a few years. Each of these movies found different ways to modernize their titular beasts while also fleshing out, and sometimes placing front and center, various supporting characters. Are Fisher’s pictures the definitive entries in their respective franchises? No, but they are nasty, lovely pieces of work that prove that no beloved classic is too good for a bloody revival.
The Curse of Frankenstein (1957)
While awaiting execution for murder, Baron Victor Frankenstein tells the story of a creature he built and brought to life – only for it to behave not as he intended.
Release Date June 25, 1957
Director Terence Fisher
Runtime 82 Minutes
By the 1950s, the Universal Monsters Needed a Refresh
By the mid-1950s, the Universal Monsters had seen it all. Countless sequels had filled the two prior decades with one enjoyable yet purgatorial retread after the next. To be frank, audiences were ready for something else. The atomic age took on a fear based in reality with numerous pictures that followed giant bugs, scientific atrocities, and resurrected prehistoric titans. Blood-sucking vampires were old hat unless somebody found a way to make them new… and gnarly! Enter Terence Fisher. Leading up to The Curse of Frankenstein, the filmmaker had directed a stacked batch of dramas and noirs, and, before that, worked as an editor for years. These differing experiences gave him both a fantastic understanding of character and a better feel for pacing than most other genre directors. If the classic monsters were going to stand a chance at cultural relevancy, they’d need somebody like Fisher to bring them back.
‘The Curse of Frankenstein’ Shifts Away From the Usual Monster Movie Narrative
Fisher’s first Hammer film would be 1957’s The Curse of Frankenstein, a decidedly different take on the genre-defining tale than before. Right off the bat, this new iteration makes it obvious that it has no interest in leaning into the beloved black-and-white, chilly aesthetics or quiet nature of the Karloff films. Curse is a dirty, bloody, loud, and colorful monster mash. It’s one of the most innovative horror films of its time, not only as a sensory experience but also in its ethics. Fisher’s picture might be gory (for the 1950s, at least), but it isn’t just for shock value. Instead of placing the Monster (Christopher Lee) at the forefront of the story, Curse is all about Victor Frankenstein (Peter Cushing).
Related It’s Time for Us To Appreciate Christopher Lee’s Groovy Dracula All this movie is missing is a little shag carpet.
The titular scientist spends this entire movie murdering people and using their body parts to build his creation. Apart from the thematically rich The Bride of Frankenstein, Universal’s pictures were almost all atmosphere and fun scares. Curse is similarly fun, but it’s also an examination of how far someone will bend their morals for their work. This isn’t even a “Frankenstein becomes the monster by the end of the movie” type of situation. It’s apparent that we’re working with a pretty bad dude very early on. The Monster, on the other hand, has the demeanor of a wounded, frightened child. It definitely has its violent moments, but you can’t help but feel for the thing. Karloff’s performance is masterful and can never be bettered, but Lee is right behind him. He gives the Monster a pained existence that hadn’t been fully tapped into before. If it weren’t for Fisher, there’s no telling when someone finally would have tapped into the grit and sadness of Mary Shelley’s novel. He also just happened to tap into the badass, kitschy nature of ’80s horror several decades ahead of everyone else.i
‘Horror of Dracula’ Made the Titular Vampire Creepier and Cooler than Ever
Image via Universal International
The Curse of Frankenstein was such a massive success that Hammer couldn’t refuse to bring Fisher back again. For his second classic monster outing, he would conjure the world’s most famous vampire back from the dead with 1958’s Horror of Dracula. This outing isn’t as deep as The Curse of Frankenstein, but where it lacks in brains, it makes up for in balls. We all love the stripped back, meat and potatoes sinister vibe of Bela Lugosi’s Dracula films — it’s the reason that he’s the face that you think of when you hear the Count’s name. That said, Horror is exactly the kind of Dracula movie that most filmmakers should strive for.
Fisher places the central conflict right between the vampire and his arch-enemy, Van Helsing (Cushing). For 82 minutes, we get to watch as Cushing’s character stalks Transylvania’s finest. The two duke it out with a brawn unseen in previous depictions. These guys jump over, knock down, and demolish their surroundings in ways that make Lugosi and Edward Van Sloan (who played Van Helsing in the ’31 film) look like a couple of schoolyard nerds. Speaking of nerds, Lugosi’s Dracula has absolutely no game. Horror of Dracula was groundbreaking in the way it approached sensuality. Until this film, Dracula’s female victims only ever seemed terrified of him. Any time Lee approaches one of these women, they seem less terrified and more like they actually want him. For the ’50s, this was about as bold as things could get. Is Horror of Dracula all that smart? No, but it kicks all kinds of ass, and that’s what matters.
Like The Curse of Frankenstein, Horror of Dracula was a bonafide success — so much so that Hammer seemingly couldn’t let Fisher out of their grasp. For the next 16 years, he would continue working with the studio, reviving classic monsters like The Mummy and the Wolfman, directing sequels to his Frankenstein and Dracula reboots, and drumming up new favorites like The Man Who Could Cheat and The Devil Rides Out. We give all the credit to masters like Carpenter and George A. Romero for bringing the horror genre to where it is today, and deservedly so. That said, let’s start throwing Fisher’s name right up there with the rest of them — horror wouldn’t slap us in the face as hard as it does without him.
The Curse of Frankenstein is available for rent on Amazon in the U.S.
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