10 Hammer Horror Movies You NEED To See

In 1957, the face or horror cinema was to undergo a radical change. The Curse Of Frankenstein would begin Hammer's undisputed reign as masters of terror and was the first of the classic Gothic horror novels to be adapted. The element that would set this film apart from other versions of Mary Shelley's classic tale of man playing God was the characterisation of Victor Frankenstein himself - no longer the protagonist, instead Cushing would become the main villain, the murderous mad scientist type that's become so familiar to today's audiences.

Hammer were also under extreme legal pressure from Universal Pictures, who were very clear that Lee's monster must in no way resemble the 1931 Boris Karloff make-up, the lumbering brute with bolts through his neck, that was now world famous. Make-up artist Phil Leaky went in a totally different direction, something more like Shelley's original corpse-like creature. With the relatively unknown Lee standing at an intimidating six foot four inches, this version of the monster was surprisingly original and scary to viewers in the late fifties.

It was Cushing, however, who would steal the show. Shrewd, cold and methodical, Cushing's Frankenstein outright murders people for 'raw materials,' including the servant, Justine, who is pregnant with his child when Victor allows her to be killed by the creature. As she screams in terror, the scene quickly fades to the next morning as Victor calmly asks "Pass the marmalade would you Elizabeth?" This is Hammer at its most self-aware, amongst the creaking melodrama and ominous claps of thunder.