Roy Ward Baker

Roy Ward Baker was a film director who directed the Hammer Films vampire movies in the 1970s.Melton, J. G. (1999). The Vampire Book. 2 ed. p.29
== Biography ==
Roy Ward Baker was born in London. In 1934, he became an assistant director at Gainsborough Studios, working there until 1940 when he left to become an officer in the British Army. While in the army, he directed films for the Army Kinematograph Service. After WWII, he directed for a number of studios, including four films for 20th-Century Fox in the early 1950s. 
He started working for Hammer Films in the late 1960s, and in 1969 directed The Anniversary, Quartermass and the Pit, part of the studio's Quartermass films. In 1970, he was assigned to his first vampire film by the studio, The Vampire Lovers, the studio's first adaption of Sheridan Le Fanu's Carmilla. This film starred Ingrid Pitt, and is generally considered one of the studio's best films. After The Vampire Lovers, Baker directed Christopher Lee's film The Scars of Dracula, wherein a young man went to Castle Dracula and dies, being avenged later by his brother and girlfriend, leading to Dracula's ultimate demise. The film was successful in both Britain and America. Afterwards Baker continued working on other Hammer horror films, such as 1971's Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde. 
Baker's final vampire film with Hammer Films was The Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires, also known as The Seven Brothers Meet Dracula, a joint effort by Hammer Films and the Hong Kong-based Shaw Brothers. This film was both a vampire horror and a martial arts film, and was made because Hammer Films was struggling financially. In this film, Abraham Van Helsing, played by Peter Cushing, went to China in search of Dracula. All the combat scenes became martial arts demonstrations. Cushing's acting and Baker's directing couldn't salvage the nonsensical plot, leading Warner Bros. to refuse to release it in America, resulting in Hammer Films going bankrupt in 1975. 
After his time with Hammer Films, Baker directed another vampire horror film: 1981's The Monster Club, starring John Carradine as Ronald Chetwynd-Hayes. This anthology film contained one vampire story. Vincent Price helped Carradine introduce this film's different episodes and played Eramus the vampire. 
== Further Reading ==
* Cinematic Vampires, Flynn, J.
* The World Encyclopedia of Film, Smith, J.
== References ==
Category:The Vampire Book