Trembling in these thrillers' presence

By Susan King

June 4, 2006 12 AM PT

Times Staff Writer

THE post-World War II British cinema produced brilliant comedies from quirky Ealing Studios, titles such as “Kind Hearts and Coronets” and “The Lavender Hill Mob” as well as gritty “kitchen sink” dramas helmed by angry young filmmakers such as Tony Richardson, John Schlesinger, Lindsay Anderson, Clive Donner and Karel Reisz.

Every so often a horror film such as “Dead of Night” or “The Queen of Spades” would pop up on the landscape.

But it wasn’t until 1955, when scrappy Hammer studios released the low-budget sci-fi horror flick “The Quatermass Xperiment,” that the genre took hold in England.

Over the next 20-some years, Hammer and other British producers created a series of monster chillers and suspense thrillers that featured such Hollywood stars as Bette Davis and Dana Andrews and accomplished British thespians like Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee.

“The Golden Age of British Horror: 1955-1975,” kicking off Thursday at the American Cinematheque at the Egyptian Theatre, offers classic examples of the genre, including “Revenge of Frankenstein” and “Horror of Dracula,” as well as such rarities as “Witchcraft” and “I Start Counting.”

Hammer, says programmer Chris D, had been producing low-budget films in England since the late 1930s. “In the late ‘40s and early ‘50s they were making movies that were pulp kind of films and doing some film noirs.”

But that all changed in 1953 when “The Quatermass Experiment,” a sci-fi horror miniseries, aired on TV in England. “It was very popular, and Hammer decided to buy the rights to it to make it into the movie.”

Hammer enlisted director Val Guest and cast veteran American actor Brian Donlevy to play rocket scientist Quatermass, who will do anything to discover the mysteries of outer space.

“Though it was a science fiction film, they emphasized the horror stuff,” says Chris D. “It was extremely popular, and they were kind of shocked at how well it did.”

After British TV aired a miniseries sequel, Hammer brought the rights to that and released “Quatermass II” in 1957. It’s considered just as good if not better than the original movie. “It hasn’t been screened in America since the 1960s,” says Chris D. “It is really comparable to Don Siegel’s ‘Invasion of the Body Snatchers.’ ”

With the success of the “Quatermass” thrillers under its belt, Hammer began to move into the gothic horror film with “The Curse of Frankenstein” and “Horror of Dracula,” starring Cushing and Lee, two actors whose names became synonymous with Hammer horror. “They decided to spend a little more money on them and made them in color,” says Chris D.

Not only did the films do well in England, they also attracted audiences in the U.S. “It kind of led to a lot of other producers -- independent producers in Britain -- in the late 1950s thinking about going in the [horror] direction.”

What sets the British horror films apart from American horror films of the era was that the English took the genre seriously. “There were a lot of trashy British horror films,” says Chris D, “but the level of craftsmanship -- even the trashy stuff in general is better photographed and more interesting than some of the American horror films. That isn’t to say there weren’t a lot of good American horror films, but I’d say 50 to 60% were aimed more at teenagers in drive-ins. Hammer didn’t look down on the subject matter or make fun of it. When the movies worked, they were really effective.”

Besides Guest, Hammer directors included Terence Fisher and Freddie Francis. “They had a really great team behind the camera,” says Chris D. “They also had a great team of production designers, special-effects people and really great craftsmen. The first few years of the Hammer horror boom -- the quality of these films are really great.”

By the mid-’70s, the golden age of British horror had evaporated -- costs were rising, and the filmmakers were getting old. “In England, some parts of Europe and Japan, the ‘70s was a catastrophic decade for those countries’ box office,” he adds. “The production schedule for the movies fell off and TV started to make a huge impact. People started not going to the movies. It was downhill from there....”

‘The Golden Age of British Horror’

Where: American Cinematheque at the Egyptian Theatre, 6712 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood

When: Thursday to June 25

Price: $6 to $9

Contact: (323) 466-3456 or www.egyptiantheatre.com

Schedule

Thursday: “Revenge of Frankenstein,” “Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed,” 7:30 p.m.

Friday: “Horror of Dracula,” “Taste the Blood of Dracula,” 7:30 p.m.

Saturday: “X, the Unknown,” “The Crawling Eye,” 6 p.m.; “The Face of Fu Manchu,” “The Stranglers of Bombay,” 9:30 p.m.

Next Sunday: “Curse of the Demon,” “Burn, Witch, Burn,” 7:30 p.m.

June 14: “Witchcraft,” “The Devil Rides Out,” 7:30 p.m.

June 16: “The Gorgon,” “The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll,” 7:30 p.m.