The Charm of Evil: The Life and Films of Terence Fisher

by Wheeler Winston Dixon

Terence Fisher was the director who brought the modern Gothic horror film to life in the second half of the twentieth century. As director John Carpenter ( Halloween ) notes in his introduction to the volume, "to see [Fisher's] films now...is to witness a focused and coherent world-view emerging from the Gothic horror formula...Terence Fisher and The Curse of Frankenstein was the beginning of it all for the modern horror film..." But Fisher's career is much more than the Hammer horror films. He worked in every conceivable genre and left his stamp on every aspect of the medium. In this book, the first full-length study of Fisher in English, Wheeler Dixon discusses in detail Fisher's entire work as a director.

Genres: Biography

591 pages, Hardcover

First published July 1, 1991

About the author

Wheeler Winston Dixon is an American filmmaker, scholar and author, and an expert on film history, theory and criticism.

His scholarship has particular emphasis on François Truffaut, Jean-Luc Godard, American experimental cinema and horror films. He has written extensively on numerous aspects of film, including his books A Short History of Film and A History of Horror. From 1999 through the end of 2014, he was co-editor of the Quarterly Review of Film and Video. He is regarded as a top reviewer of films. In addition, he is notable as an experimental American filmmaker with films made over several decades, and the Museum of Modern Art exhibited his works in 2003. He has taught at a number of schools of higher learning.

Reviews

[M.R. Dowsing · Rating 3 out of 5]

Published in 1991 when it was more difficult to see some of Fisher's films, this book makes a good case for Fisher as one of the essential creators of the Hammer horror style and as a filmmaker with certain preoccupations which may qualify him as an 'auteur' in the eyes of some (although I found this argument less convincing when applied to the pre-'Curse of Frankenstein' films). Some of Fisher's films are dealt with in a mere paragraph or two, while others are examined in exhaustive detail with pages and pages of synopsis. For this reason, I skim read a lot of it.

The author interviewed Fisher's widow at some length, which does provide some insight into the man, but other interviews are few and far between. There is very little in the way of behind-the-scenes anecdotes, so anyone hoping for that is likely to be disappointed, but this is worth reading if looking for a well-written and detailed analysis of the major films (and a few lesser-known ones). In 2017, the author published a revised version entitled 'The Films of Terence Fisher - Hammer Horror and Beyond', so it's probably better to seek that one out.

[Vinnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

this version has contains an introduction by John Carpenter; the later, titled The Films of Terence Fisher Hammer Horror and Beyond, does not

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is actually a very good book about the life and films of director Terence Fisher . The author is Wheeler Winston Dixon , only the introduction is by director John Carpenter .