The Men Who Made the Monsters

Five of moviedom's most talented creators of fantasy and horror films are given brief but surprisingly thorough biographies by Jensen (The Cinema of Fritz Lang). They are James Whale, the director of the 1930s classics Frankenstein, The Invisible Man and The Bride of Frankenstein; Willis O'Brien, the pioneer animator of The Lost World (1925) and the original King Kong; O'Brien's protege Ray Harryhausen, the master animator of such films as The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958) and The Valley of Gwangi (1969); and Terence Fisher and Freddie Francis, who directed some of the best horror films made by Britain's Hammer Films from the late 1950s through the early 1970s. Each chapter focuses on one filmmakers's working life, with detailed production histories of the important movies and an intepretive reading of each film. The filmmakers' personalities show through. O'Brien's obsessive perfectionism, for instance, is contrasted to Harryhausen's willingness to sacrifice a big budget in exchange for complete control of his films, resulting in cheerfully slapdash productions. Particularly welcome are the two chapters on Hammer horror. Fisher was making run-of-the-mill melodramas until his career took off with his superb Dracula and Frankenstein adaptations featuring Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing. Francis has had two careers, as the cinematographer of A-list films like The French Lieutenant's Woman and as the inventive director of low-budget fright fests like Paranoiac and The Skull. Jensen, who teaches film at SUNY-Oneonta, keeps his prose free of jargon. His deep research and manifest enthusiasm for these wonderfully strange movies make this a must read for fans of the genre. Filmography; photos. (Dec.)