HAMMER FILMS, Continued.

The 1957 film The Curse of Frankenstein, directed by Terence Fisher, starred Peter Cushing in a great performance as Victor Frankenstein, and Christopher Lee as the monster. The huge success of this film played a great part in the worldwide increase of popularity for science fiction, fantasy, and horror in the media. One of the many departures Hammer's Frankenstein series (Cushing did six of them) took from Universal's series, is that in the Hammer films, Victor Frankenstein, himself, is really the monster. He creates a new creature in each picture, while the Universal series is the adventures of the monster created in the 1931 film.

Left: Peter Cushing as the demented genius in Hammer's great The Curse of Frankenstein, 1957. Right: The film that broke box-office records around the world, and changed forever, the image of the undead Count.

In 1958, Hammer produced what many consider the best vampire film ever. Christopher Lee's performance as Count Dracula in Dracula (American title Horror of Dracula) shattered forever the image of the slow moving, Bela Lugosi image of the character. Cunning, suave, and cultured, Lee's vampire explodes with ferocious feral power when aroused or in the heat of bloodlust. The film, directed by Terence Fisher, again teamed Lee with Peter Cushing, who played Van Helsing, the vampire slayer. Christopher Lee did seven Dracula films for Hammer.

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