Sidney Hayers


Biography

Scotsman Sidney Hayers was a film editor, producer, and director who is best known for his horror films. His film career began in the postwar era in England as a film editor. Among the films he worked on were the Nevil Shute adaptation "A Town Like Alice" in 1956 and the 1958 depiction of the Titanic disaster, "A Night to Remember." A year later he directed his first film, the low-budget...

Biography

Scotsman Sidney Hayers was a film editor, producer, and director who is best known for his horror films. His film career began in the postwar era in England as a film editor. Among the films he worked on were the Nevil Shute adaptation "A Town Like Alice" in 1956 and the 1958 depiction of the Titanic disaster, "A Night to Remember." A year later he directed his first film, the low-budget drama "Rebound" and in 1960 made his first foray into television when he directed an episode of "The Edgar Wallace Mystery Theatre." His "Circus of Horrors" came out in 1960 as well, and the cult film may be his best known. He followed it up with the horror film "Burn, Witch, Burn!" and later in the decade helmed the thriller "The Trap," which starred Rita Tushingham and Oliver Reed. Other exploitation titles like "Inn of the Frightened People" and "Deadly Strangers" followed, but by the mid-'60s he was mostly working in television. Series he worked on in England included the action show "The Avengers" and the medieval adventure "Arthur of the Britons" in the early '70s. He had a longer stint on the family show "The Famous Five" and in the '80s worked on American network shows such as "The Greatest American Hero" and the action drama "Knight Rider," and returned to his B-movie roots in 1990 with the sci-fi show "They Came from Outer Space."

Life Events

Videos

Movie Clip

Burn, Witch, Burn (1962) -- (Movie Clip) You've Got Too Much Already Wrapping up the faculty bridge party, popular hosts Tansy (Janet Blair) and Norman (Peter Wyngarde) deflecting suggestive inquiries from Lindsay (Colin Gordon) and Flora (Margaret Johnston), then getting weirder afterward, in Burn, Witch, Burn, 1962.
Burn, Witch, Burn (1962) -- (Movie Clip) She Was Ice Cold! Upwardly mobile social science professor Norman (Peter Wyngarde) has discovered wife Tansy (Janet Blair) has a hidden stash of witching gear, and an undue sense of longing for their time spent in Jamaica, in Burn, Witch, Burn, 1962.
Burn, Witch, Burn (1962) -- (Movie Clip) Domestic Superstitions Following credits and a prologue about witchcraft, introduction of hip, handsome English professor Taylor (Peter Wyngarde), student Margaret (Judith Stott) more impressed than classmate Jennings (Bill Mitchell), from Burn, Witch, Burn, 1962, from the Fritz Leiber novel Conjure Wife.
Burn, Witch, Burn (1962) -- (Movie Clip) Dispel All Evil Spirits The unusual but gratifying opening over black, the default announcer of the era Paul Frees declares the "motion picture you are about to see" free from devilment, before the credits, in Burn, Witch, Burn, 1962, starring Peter Wyngarde and Janet Blair.
One That Got Away, The (1958) -- (Movie Clip) One Must Have Luck Now moved to a P-O-W camp per his wishes, Lieutenant Von Werra (Hardy Kruger) conspires with fellow German prisoners (Harry Lockart, Robert Crewdspon, George Mikell, George Roubicek), in The One That Got Away, 1958.
One That Got Away, The (1958) -- (Movie Clip) Our Will To Victory The British army interrogator (Colin Gordon) chooses a uniform for his initial interview of captured German flier Franz Von Werra (Hardy Kruger), early in The One That Got Away, 1958.
One That Got Away, The (1958) -- (Movie Clip) September 5th, 1940 Following the prologue, Hardy Kruger (as Lieutenant Franz Von Werra) crash lands in England, opening The One That Got Away, 1958, the mostly true story of the only German prisoner to escape from the British in World War II.
Circus Of Horrors -- (Movie Clip) Ugly As Sin Hunting for talent in France, deranged plastic surgeon "Schuler" (Anton Diffring) meets thief Elissa (Erika Remberg) then proceeds with assistants (Jane Hylton, Kenneth Griffith) in Circus Of Horrors, 1960.
Circus Of Horrors -- (Movie Clip) I Am Beautiful Fugitive plastic surgeon now known as Schuler (Anton Diffring) with aides Angela and Martin (Jane Hylton, Kenneth Griffith) works wonders on Nicole (Yvonne Monlaur), pleasing circus owner father Vanet (Donald Pleasence) in Circus Of Horrors, 1960.
Circus Of Horrors -- (Movie Clip) What Had She To Fear? Opening scene, father Doctor Morley (William Mervyn) and husband Edward (John Merivale) find the disfigured Evelyn (Colette Wilde) but miss fleeing surgeon Rossiter (Anton Diffring) in Circus Of Horrors, 1960.

Bibliography