Writehandpalm notes the passing of Roy Ward Baker, director of such classics as The Vampire Lovers and And Now The Screaming Starts. He also made some good films, amongst the lurid titty-tastic Hammer pap, such as Quatermass and the Pit (Demonic bugs from Mars infest the London underground) and a Titanic movie, A Night to Remember. James Cameron paid him a supreme compliment by lifting several scenes and staging directly from Baker's 1958 film for his own effort, though he rather foolishly added in some hogwash about Jack and Rose and a diamond necklace. Baker had the right idea, and produced a straightforward, almost docu-drama account.
He was still directing for TV until the the 90s, having moved backwards and forwards between film and TV throughout his career. In the 60s, he directed episodes of The Avengers and The Saint, and the original Randall And Hopkirk (Deceased).
