Hammer films, by contrast, generally have Victorian/Edwardian settings, stand-alone narrative structure and themes of black-and-white Manichean morality. Amicus horror almost always has a contemporary setting, usually is structured as an anthology and often features a theme of bleak moral relativism.

While Amicus and Hammer films often get confused with one another due to the use of similar casts and crews, there are three trademarks to most of Amicus' horror output: setting, structure and theme. Although Subotsky's treatment was supposedly scrupulously faithful to the source material, Hammer scribe Jimmy Sangster significantly re-shaped the script into the film that would put Hammer on the map: 'The Curse of Frankenstein'. It is a bit ironic that Amicus would perpetually be in Hammer's shadow since they had actually kick-started the Hammer juggernaut when Subotsky wrote a screenplay adaptation of Mary Shelley's 'Frankenstein' which Rosenberg then sold to Hammer through a middle-man. Starting with a slate that included a couple of hard-hitting dramas, four rock musicals, a family film and only one actual horror movie, the duo decided to capitalize on the appetite for fright films that Hammer had recently awakened. Rosenberg, a lawyer, were two New York-based, would-be producers with polar opposite personalities who partnered on a few films Stateside under the Vanguard label before shifting the operation to England as Amicus. Milton Subotsky, an engineering major, and Max J. Just look for the Subotsky-Rosenberg label! Often regarded as Hammer's poor relation, the little production company known as Amicus established a distinctive identity all its own and was brought into being through the collaboration of two managing partners whose tempestuous relationship gave lie to the amiable company name.

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