David L. Hewitt (born August 12, 1939) is a film director and producer. Among the films he has directed are '' The Wizard of Mars'', '' Monsters Crash the Pajama Party'' (both 1965), '' Journey to the Center of Time'' (1967), '' The Mighty Gorga'' (1969) and '' The Girls from Thunder Strip'' (1970).

Background

As a teenager he was an illusionist in the Dr. Jeckyll's Strange Show, a travelling spook show. Later, with an interest in getting into the movie business, he contacted Forrest J. Ackerman and offered him a film script. The original script was called ''Journey into the Unknown''. The script was rewritten by

Ib Melchior Ib Jørgen Melchior (September 17, 1917 – March 14, 2015) was a Danish-American novelist, short-story writer, film producer, film director, and screenwriter of low-budget American science fiction movies, most of them released by American I ...

and given a new title of '' The Time Travellers''. His directing debut was '' Monsters Crash the Pajama Party''.

Film work

In addition to ''The Time Travellers'', which he also provided special effects for, and his directional debut, ''The Monsters Crash the Pajama Party'', he would direct a number of films. In 1967, he wrote, directed, and co-produced the horror anthology '' Dr. Terror's Gallery of Horrors'', which featured

John Carradine John Carradine ( ; born Richmond Reed Carradine; February 5, 1906 – November 27, 1988) was an American actor, considered one of the greatest character actors in American cinema. He was a member of Cecil B. DeMille's stock company and later J ...

. This is also known as ''The Blood Suckers'', ''Gallery of Horrors'', ''Gallery of Horror'', ''Return from the Past'', and even ''The Witch's Clock'', which is the title of the first segment. The film, which was basically a capitalization on ''

Dr. Terror's House of Horrors ''Dr Terror's House of Horrors'' is a 1965 British anthology horror film from Amicus Productions, directed by veteran horror director Freddie Francis, written by Milton Subotsky, and starring Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. It was th ...

'', had in later years achieved a degree of cult status. In 1968, he directed '' Hell's Chosen Few'', a biker movie starring Jody Daniel and Kelly Ross. He also directed '' The Mighty Gorga'' and '' The Girls from Thunder Strip'', both of which featured Megan Timothy. In ''The Mighty Gorga'', he also played Gorga. He directed the

Nazisploitation Nazi exploitation (also Nazisploitation) is a subgenre of exploitation film and sexploitation film that involves Nazism, Nazis committing sex crimes, often as camp or prison overseers during World War II. Most follow the Women in prison film, wo ...

film '' The Tormentors'' which was released in 1971. Two of Hewitt's films were retitled ''Alien Massacre''. The retitling appears to have been the unauthorized work of Regal Video, Inc. of

New York, New York New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on New York Harbor, one of the world's largest natural harb ...

. The cover, released on both films, proclaims "Blood flows like water...", and shows a woman in

helmet A helmet is a form of protective gear worn to protect the head. More specifically, a helmet complements the skull in protecting the human brain. Ceremonial or symbolic helmets (e.g., a policeman's helmet in the United Kingdom) without protecti ...

and

epaulets Epaulette (; also spelled epaulet) is a type of ornamental shoulder piece or decoration used as insignia of rank by armed forces and other organizations. Flexible metal epaulettes (usually made from brass) are referred to as ''shoulder scales' ...

(and apparently nothing else) standing in a barren landscape with her arm, bleeding profusely, modestly covering her chest. These films are '' The Wizard of Mars'' (1965), retitled ''Horrors of the Red Planet'' in 1988, an uncredited science fiction takeoff of

L. Frank Baum Lyman Frank Baum (; May 15, 1856 – May 6, 1919) was an American author best known for his children's fantasy books, particularly '' The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'', part of a series. In addition to the 14 ''Oz'' books, Baum penned 41 other novels ...

's ''

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' is a 1900 children's novel written by author L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W. W. Denslow. It is the first novel in the Oz series of books. A Kansas farm girl named Dorothy ends up in the ma ...

'' (which became public domain in 1957) in which astronaut Dorothy ( Eve Bernhart) and three male astronauts follow a golden road to an ancient alien city, and the aforementioned '' Dr. Terror's Gallery of Horrors'' (1966), which, in spite of the new title, does not feature any aliens. The package description described neither film, but rather described an attack on a scientist and his daughter aboard their space vessel. Neither film depicts a parent-child relationship.

Later years

In later years, he was a visual effects producer for ''

The Quiet American ''The Quiet American'' is a 1955 novel by English author Graham Greene. Narrated in the first person by journalist Thomas Fowler, the novel depicts the breakdown of French colonialism in Vietnam and early American involvement in the Vietnam ...

'', ''

Rabbit-Proof Fence The State Barrier Fence of Western Australia, formerly known as the Rabbit-Proof Fence, the State Vermin Fence, and the Emu Fence, is a pest-exclusion fence constructed between 1901 and 1907 to keep rabbits, and other agricultural pests from ...

'' and ''

Inspector Gadget 2 ''Inspector Gadget 2'' (sometimes called ''Inspector 2 Gadget'' and ''IG2'') is a 2003 American superhero comedy film released direct-to-video on VHS and DVD on March 11, 2003 as a standalone sequel to the 1999 film '' Inspector Gadget''. It wa ...

''.franc's cinema March 2, 201
biker, grindhouse, nazisploitation, The Tormentors
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Filmography

As director *'' The Wizard of Mars'' (1965), director/producer/writer * '' Monsters Crash the Pajama Party'' (1965 short), director/producer/writer * '' Journey to the Center of Time'' (1967), director/producer/writer * '' Dr. Terror's Gallery of Horrors'' (1967, also known as Gallery of Horror), director/producer/writer * ''Hells Chosen Few'' (1968), director/producer/writer * '' The Mighty Gorga'' (1969), director/producer/writer * '' The Girls from Thunder Strip'' (1970), director/producer/writer * ''Pornography USA'' (1971, documentary) * ''The Tormentors'' (1971, as B. Eagle), director/producer * ''The Lucifer Complex'' (1978), director/writer

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hewitt, David L. 1939 births Living people Film directors from San Francisco Filmmakers from California Film producers from California