Gallery of Horror

1967 "So shocking it will sliver your liver!"
3.3| 1h23m| en
Details

John Carradine narrates five horror tales, each with a comically predictable surprise ending. In the first, "The Witches Clock," the Farrells have purchased an old mansion in Salem Massachusetts and are warned by the town doctor of the history of witches in the community. The second story, "King of the Vampires," deals with a slight-figured killer called the King of the Vampires by Scotland Yard. The third, "Monster Raid," is about a man turned zombie when he ODs on his experimental drug. "Spark of Life" deals with a doctor Mendell obsessed with the experiments of a thrown-out professor named Erich von Frankenstein. "Count Alucard" is a variation on the Dracula story, with the Count acquiring the deed to Carfax Abbey from Harker as vampiresses and dead bodies start turning up.

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Cubussoli Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!
Actuakers One of my all time favorites.
SunnyHello Nice effects though.
Acensbart Excellent but underrated film
mark.waltz Certainly among five different stories within one movie, there must be something redeeming. It certainly isn't the use of the castle from American International's cheepy "The Terror" (1963), so different looking as far as film stock is concerned that it becomes jarring every time the castle is shown, or the sets used within the film itself which seemed to be recycled from the first sequence throughout the fifth. The first sequence is probably the best, featuring narrator John Carradine in his only acting part within the film, playing the man who pays a visit upon the newleyweds who have purchased an abandoned mansion with a secret, followed by two individual stories about vampires (one with the obvious and already used name of Alucard) that features a Van Helsing with a secret (slightly amusing). But the absolute worst has Lon Chaney Jr. delivering his usual lame performance as a scientist who interferes in the experiments of some of his students, and gets the wrong body for their attempts to bring a Frankenstein like monster to life. Carradine and Chaney only appear in one sequence each, and at least Carradine's narration is subtle, if not juvenile. However, the younger actors all play multiple roles and their acting is certainly not anything worth writing about.
kevin olzak What first began life in 1966 as "Dr. Terror's Gallery of Horror" evolved over the years with new titles for cinema ("The Blood Suckers") and television ("Return from the Past"), easily available today under the shortened title "Gallery of Horror." John Carradine had earlier garnered the title role in "The Wizard of Mars" for director/special effects maven David L. Hewitt, who here managed to corral Lon Chaney and Rochelle Hudson to add greater marquee value to what arguably appears to be his masterwork. Rather than science fiction, truly impossible on such chintzy budgets, we have traditional, old fashioned horror, an anthology film inspired (as one can guess by the title) by the 1964 Amicus feature "Dr. Terror's House of Horrors" (one character even named after Peter Cushing!). Conceived by CREEPY editor Russ Jones, an expert in short stories, Hewitt spent approximately $20,000 on a super fast 5 day schedule at Ray Dorn's Hollywood Stage that left the actors breathless, and audiences speechless (Al Adamson and John Carradine filmed "Blood of Dracula's Castle" there around that same time). Virtually all the stock footage is culled from AIP's Roger Corman/Poe films (plus "The Terror"), its main musical theme cribbed from 1960's "The Hypnotic Eye." Carradine is the unnamed narrator, introducing on screen all five stories but only appearing in the opener, "The Witches Clock" (13 minutes), in which a young couple move into a New England castle that 300 years before housed a Salem witch, with an enchanted clock that revives the spirit of Carradine's Tristram Halbin (little characterization in just two scenes). Second, and perhaps weakest, is "King Vampire" (12 minutes), feebly depicting Scotland Yard's hunt for a vampire that supposedly has the face of a corpse, and how they've detained all suspects that fit that description! Next is another poorly executed story, "Monster Raid" (16 minutes), with Rochelle Hudson's adulterous wife getting her comeuppance from her dead husband, whose resurrection was made possible by his own curiously vague formula. Fourth, "Spark of Life" (15 minutes) casts top billed Lon Chaney as Dr. Mendell, the only mad scientist of his entire career, a colleague of Hamburg's Baron Erik Von Frankenstein, continuing experiments that involve bringing the dead back to life via electricity. His greatest mistake is in choosing the corpse of an executed murderer out for revenge, but Chaney really acts up a storm, running the gamut from elation to disappointment, deadly serious as he attempts to undo his success, with predictable results. Last is "Count Dracula" (13 minutes), a seriously crippled retread of Stoker's familiar tale, featuring a woefully inadequate Mitch Evans in place of Carradine as Dracula. As bad as it undoubtedly is, this film remains ideal for younger audiences who favor harmless terror for late night viewing, which was how this monster kid saw it on Pittsburgh's Chiller Theater on four occasions: Nov 11 1972 (paired with first feature "Son of Frankenstein"), Dec 29 1973 (paired with second feature "Monster on the Campus"), Nov 30 1974 (paired with first feature "The Horror of Frankenstein"), and Jan 7 1978 (paired with first feature "Count Dracula").
Michael_Elliott Gallery of Horror (1966) BOMB (out of 4) John Carradine hosts five different horror stories in this incredibly poor cash-in on Dr. Terror's House of Horrors. This here is another contender for one of the worst films ever made but thankfully it's so bad that you can laugh at it. Carradine stars in the first story, which is probably the best one. Lon Chaney, Jr., sadly showing signs of his alcoholism, turns in the worst performance of his career and it's rather hard not to laugh. All five stories end with dramatic music at their "shock endings", which are all stupid and lame.
roddmatsui Good God!! Someone subjected me to this a while back, and it was more than I could take. I like watching bad horror movies, by the way. 'Dracula vs. Frankenstein' and 'Manos: Hands of Fate' are two of my favorites. I enjoy bad movies quite a bit, and love the ones that are funny and weird. I thought I had seen the worst of all of them, too...and then this abomination came along and smacked me square in the face. 'Gallery of Horrors.' Yes, a very appropriate title, for all the wrong reasons. It is very, very close to being impossible to watch. Every moment is painful and slow. Sound like your cup of tea?Certainly, a lot of the film's badness is obviously due to the fact that it was CHEAP. I mean really cheap; 'we can only afford one take' cheap. 'Let's not bother moving the camera if we can help it' cheap. Long, wide master shots you will never escape from...scenes that drain the viewer's soul as he/she watches. Aside from Carradine and Chaney, none of the actors is anyone you're likely to have heard of. And there's a good reason for that. They're terrible! I was wondering what the actors were thinking while they were doing this...their minds seem to be on something else entirely. 'I think they're all hoping that check's gonna cash,' my friend suggested. And really, this is a very plausible assumption. There is a creeping expression of worry in their eyes. They don't just want to go home. They're wondering if they're even going to be paid. Even the actors in "Santa Claus Conquers the Martians" didn't suffer this much.But...ya gotta start somewhere. David L. Hewitt, director and screenwriter, has moved on to much bigger and better things since then.