GALLERY OF HORROR (1967)
aka Dr. Terror’s Gallery of Horrors
Article 2714 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 10-9-208
Posting Date: 1-17-2009
Directed by David L. Hewitt
Featuring Lon Chaney Jr., John Carradine, Rochelle Hudson

Five tales of terror are told. In the first, a clock revives a witch’s curse. In the second,a vampire is on the loose. In the third, revenge comes from the grave. In the fourth, a dead man is revived. In the fifth, more vampires are on the loose.

For those who encounter this one under its alternate title, please don’t mistake it for the vastly superior Amicus anthology DR. TERROR’S HOUSE OF HORRORS. Though both of them are horror anthologies, this one looks as if had a budget almost one-hundredth of the amount it cost to make the other movie (that is, if you discount the stock footage taken from some AIP movies). Even when the actors are decent, they’re still struggling with a clumsy, awkward script, and the twist endings may rank with some of the worst in history. The winner (or is it loser) in this regard is the last story; for a while, it looks as if this segment is going to tell a straightforward rendition of the Dracula story, but it goes off track after ten minutes and then reaches an ending so cockamamie that you’re liable throw something at the TV. Add some long-winded story introductions by John Carradine, and you’ve got one profoundly awful movie. Still, perhaps we should be grateful; if Hewitt hadn’t made an anthology movie, he might have tried to make features of each one of these tales. Now there’s something that will bring on nightmares…