Sally the Zombie Cheerleader's School of Horror presents the offbeat, EC-aimed ("giant shock show") anthology, Gallery of Horror, aka Dr. Terror's Gallery of Horror, aka The Blood Suckers, aka "the world's weirdest movie."
Directed and produced by David L. Hewitt and written by Gary R. Heacock, David Prentiss and Russ (Creepy magazine) Jones, this 1967 oddity stars John Carradine (as a wraparound, Serling-esque, pre-Night Gallery narrator and a character in one of tales) and Lon Chaney Jr. in a prominent role. (BTW: Hewitt holds a significant spot in the annals of cinematic thrills, having directed/produced The Wizard of Mars, based on L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, The Lucifer Complex, aka Hitler's Wild Women, The Great Gorga, Monsters Crash the Pajama Party, The Girls from Thunder Strip, Hell's Chosen Few and Journey to the Center of Time, as well as having contributed to The Time Travellers, Stargames, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, Willow and Inspector Gadget 2.)
Gallery's stories include a young couple haunted by a witch-cursed grandfather clock, overseen by Carradine's "casual" handyman; the frenetic search for a Saucy Jack vampire in Victorian London; a murdered man rising from the grave to gain revenge on his unfaithful spouse and her lover; an electrifying, Frankenstein sequel with Chaney as a professor fixated on reanimation; and a retelling of Dracula, with quite a clever twist. (Mitch Evans plays the commanding Count Alucard, and the multifarious Roger Gentry plays Jonathan Harker, in addition to other personas throughout the production.)
As Sally mentions in her enlightening seminar (underscored by detailed liner notes), the episodes hold an uneven, anachronistic but fun flow. (Some parts invoke such Amicus' productions as Dr. Terror's House of Horrors and Torture Garden, while other parts reference such A.I.P., Roger Corman/Richard Matheson, Poe adaptations as House of Usher and Tales of Terror). The clashing (stock-footage bracketed, Flash Gordon music-cued) segments do, indeed, give the movie a quirky, cult vibe. (Carradine and Chaney's headlining participation doesn't hurt, either.)
Gallery of Horror is one to enjoy for its low-budget ambition and grim, child-like charm, made all the better by Sally's instructional lead, with generous help from that ever sarcastic SkeleKat, wiseacre dolls, fan-submitted, Cool Ghoul Art and nostalgic commercials.
Class commences at
https://www.youtube.com/user/thezombiecheerleader
https://www.facebook.com/reel/2228059958004692
ReplyDelete