Speaking about ‘..Satan’s Claw’ in interviews over the years, Haggard always seemed very serious about his intentions for the project, and the lengths to which he and writer Robert Wynne-Simons went in realising them - an attitude which, though largely responsible for helping the film turn out as brilliantly as it did, perhaps ironically also damaged his prospects for a follow-up career as a director of features. (By which I mean, it probably wasn’t quite the vibe that the likes of Tony Tenser, Deke Heywood or other players in the cash-strapped world of early ‘70s British genre movies were looking for, or so I can only imagine.)
Instead, Haggard carved out a career for himself as a reliable director of respectable British TV (winning a BAFTA for his work on Dennis Potter’s ‘Pennies from Heaven’ in 1978) - in which context we should also single out his role as director on the 1979 ITV ‘Quatermass’ serial (or ‘Quatermass Conclusion’, as I think it should probably have been called - the one with John Mills, anyway). Odd, disturbing and perpetually underrated, it’s a series which arguably feels more resonant and relevant today than it did when first broadcast, and which could perhaps be seen to share a seriousness of purpose, a warped sense of realism and a willingness to disregard genre convention which all loop back to Haggard’s earlier horror masterpiece.
Thereafter, we’ve also got to admire his chutzpah in stepping in to take over 1981’s infamous ‘Venom’ after Tobe Hooper bailed, and actually delivering a half-decent movie in the process. (I know he’s been credited with saying, “the friendliest person on set was the snake,” or words to that effect, but I can’t actually find a source for that quote; his slightly more nuanced thoughts on wrangling one of most difficult casts in film history can be found here however.)
Scarcely much less problematic, Haggard also has the misfortune of being credited as the director of Peter Sellers’ ill-fated ‘The Fiendish Plot of Dr Fu Manchu’ in 1980, although the internet informs me that he was actually dismissed after a few days shooting by Sellers, who completed the bulk of the film himself, so hopefully that whole farrago won’t cast too much of a shadow on his legacy.
Also worthy of note: Piers was the grandson of H. Rider Haggard (author of ‘She’ and ‘King Solomon’s Mines’), and the father of ubiquitous British TV actress Daisy Haggard.
RIP, and my thoughts and best wishes go out to his family & friends.
