---
name: "Terence Fisher"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/terence-fisher"
fi1m_id: "terence-fisher"
imdb_id: "nm0279807"
tmdb_id: 29662
wikidata_id: "Q951821"
roles: ["Director"]
born: "23 February 1904"
died: "18 June 1980"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 1
average_as: "director"
average_over: 1
updated: "2026-09-25T08:49:57.631739+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Terence Fisher

## Identity

Terence Fisher

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/terence-fisher
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** terence-fisher
- **IMDb ID:** nm0279807
- **TMDB ID:** 29662
- **Wikidata ID:** Q951821
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terence_Fisher, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q951821, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0279807/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/29662

Director. Born 23 February 1904 in Maida Vale, London, England. Died 18 June 1980.

## Details

- **Work:** Director
- **Born:** 23 February 1904, Maida Vale, London, England
- **Died:** 18 June 1980
- **Also known as:** 泰伦斯·费希
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terence_Fisher, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q951821, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0279807/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/29662

## Fi1m on Terence Fisher

> Terence Fisher's Gothic horror takes dangerous attraction seriously, and we find it persuasive. Rich colour and assured actors make artificial surroundings unsettling, though his measured storytelling can become slow and the plotting can creak.

In *Dracula* (1958), Christopher Lee makes the Count attractive, and Fisher gives that attraction time to become disturbing. Peter Cushing supplies the conviction to stand against him. We were unsettled by Lee's performance because his appeal makes the danger feel personal. Fisher takes the desire as seriously as the fear, rather than hurrying past it to get to the next shock.

Gothic horror proved a good fit for a director who built atmosphere through decor and composition. Before *The Curse of Frankenstein* (1957), he had worked across dramas, thrillers and science fiction. That film and *Dracula* made him Hammer's principal director of its classic horror cycle, with *The Hound of the Baskervilles* (1959) extending his Gothic approach to detection. The later work included the occult confrontation of *The Devil Rides Out* (1968), before his final film, *Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell* (1974).

Jack Asher's cinematography and Bernard Robinson's production design are central to the effect of *Dracula*. The rich colour and insistent period decor can verge on the garish, but the artificiality never makes the setting feel safe. Fisher keeps the actors assured enough to belong there, rather than letting them become ornaments among the furnishings. His preference for composition and atmosphere over rapid cutting gives those surroundings time to trouble us.

There are limits to that patience. *Dracula* runs 82 minutes, yet a few stretches drag, and its stiff plotting needs some indulgence. Fisher's clear divisions between good and evil can also make the confrontations predictable. The attraction in *Dracula* gives us something more troubling to consider than which side deserves to win. Start with *Dracula*; Lee and Cushing do not need us to excuse the film's age.

## Biography

Terence Fisher was a British film director and editor. Born in Maida Vale, London, on 23 February 1904, he served in the Merchant Navy before entering the film industry in 1933 as a clapper boy. He worked as an editor from the mid-1930s, including on The Wicked Lady (1945), and made his directorial debut with shorts and features in the late 1940s.

From the mid-1950s he directed for Hammer Films. His credits include The Curse of Frankenstein (1957), Dracula (1958), The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959), The Mummy (1959), The Brides of Dracula (1960), The Curse of the Werewolf (1961), The Gorgon (1964), Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966) and The Devil Rides Out (1968). His final film was Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (1974).

Fisher died in Twickenham, London, on 18 June 1980.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, screenonline.org.uk, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (1)

- *Dracula* (1958), Fi1m 81, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/dracula-1958.md)

## Complete filmography (68)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell* (1974), Director
- *Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed* (1969), Director
- *The Devil Rides Out* (1968), Director
- *Night of the Big Heat* (1967), Director
- *Frankenstein Created Woman* (1967), Director
- *Island of Terror* (1966), Director
- *Dracula: Prince of Darkness* (1966), Director
- *The Gorgon* (1964), Director
- *The Earth Dies Screaming* (1964), Director
- *The Horror of It All* (1964), Director
- *Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace* (1962), Director
- *The Phantom of the Opera* (1962), Director
- *The Curse of the Werewolf* (1961), Director
- *Sword of Sherwood Forest* (1960), Director
- *The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll* (1960), Director
- *The Brides of Dracula* (1960), Director
- *The Stranglers of Bombay* (1959), Director
- *The Mummy* (1959), Director
- *The Man Who Could Cheat Death* (1959), Director
- *The Hound of the Baskervilles* (1959), Director
- *The Revenge of Frankenstein* (1958), Director
- *Dracula* (1958), Director — Fi1m 81, [page](https://film.one/film/dracula-1958.md)
- *The Adventures of Clint and Mac* (1957), series, Director
- *The Curse of Frankenstein* (1957), Director
- *Kill Me Tomorrow* (1957), Director
- *The Last Man to Hang* (1956), Director
- *The Gelignite Gang* (1956), Director
- *Colonel March of Scotland Yard* (1956), series, Director
- *Robin Hood: The Movie* (1955), Director
- *The Flaw* (1955), Director
- *The Adventures of Robin Hood* (1955), series, Director
- *Stolen Assignment* (1955), Director
- *Children Galore* (1955), Director
- *Mask of Dust* (1954), Director
- *Final Appointment* (1954), Director
- *The Unholy Four* (1954), Director
- *Blackout* (1954), Director
- *Face the Music* (1954), Director
- *Three's Company* (1953), Director
- *Blood Orange* (1953), Director
- *Spaceways* (1953), Director
- *Four Sided Triangle* (1953), Director, Screenplay
- *Mantrap* (1953), Director, Screenplay
- *Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Presents* (1953), series, Director
- *Distant Trumpet* (1952), Director
- *Stolen Face* (1952), Director
- *Wings of Danger* (1952), Director
- *The Last Page* (1952), Director
- *Home to Danger* (1951), Director
- *So Long at the Fair* (1950), Director
- *The Astonished Heart* (1950), Director
- *Marry Me* (1949), Director
- *Portrait from Life* (1948), Director
- *Colonel Bogey* (1948), Director
- *To the Public Danger* (1948), Director
- *A Song for Tomorrow* (1948), Director
- *The Master of Bankdam* (1947), Editor
- *The Wicked Lady* (1945), Editor
- *One Exciting Night* (1944), Editor
- *The Dark Tower* (1943), Editor
- *The Peterville Diamond* (1943), Editor
- *Flying Fortress* (1942), Editor
- *Atlantic Ferry* (1941), Editor
- *That’s The Ticket* (1940), Editor
- *On the Night of the Fire* (1939), Editor
- *Mr. Satan* (1938), Editor
- *Jack of All Trades* (1936), Editor
- *Where There's a Will* (1936), Editor

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© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/terence-fisher