David L. Hewitt (born August 12, 1939) is a film director and producer. Among the films he has directed are ''

The Wizard of Mars ''The Wizard of Mars'' is a 1965 low budget science fiction film takeoff of L. Frank Baum's 1900 novel ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' co-written and directed by stage magician David L. Hewitt. The title character is portrayed by John Carradine, w ...

'', ''

Monsters Crash the Pajama Party ''Monsters Crash the Pajama Party'' is a 1965 American short horror comedy film directed by David L. Hewitt. The film follows a group of young adults who intend to spend a night in a supposedly haunted house, where a mad scientist is conducting ...

'' (both 1965), ''

Journey to the Center of Time ''Journey to the Center of Time'' is a 1967 U.S. science fiction film, directed by David L. Hewitt, and starring Scott Brady and Anthony Eisley. It is a remake of '' The Time Travelers'' (1964), and was also known as ''Time Warp''. Plot Stanton ...

'' (1967), ''

The Mighty Gorga ''The Mighty Gorga'' is an American science fiction film. Released in 1969 by an independent company, the film is the brainchild of David L. Hewitt. The storyline concerns a couple hunting for a giant gorilla (The Mighty Gorga) in Africa for fi ...

'' (1969) and ''

The Girls from Thunder Strip ''The Girls from Thunder Strip'' is an exploitation film in the biker genre. It is directed by David L. Hewitt. Hewitt also co produced it with Michael Mehas. It was released in 1966. It also featured American Top 40 DJ Casey Kasem. Story Th ...

'' (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 Forrest James Ackerman (November 24, 1916 – December 4, 2008) was an American magazine editor; science fiction writer and literary agent; a founder of science fiction fandom; a leading expert on science fiction, horror, and fantasy films; a pr ...

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 Inter ...

and given a new title of ''

The Time Travellers ''The Time Travellers'' is a BBC Books original novel written by Simon Guerrier. It is based on the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', and features the First Doctor, his Granddaughter Susan Foreman, and her tw ...

''. His directing debut was ''

''.

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 Jo ...

. 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 the firs ...

'', 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 ''

'' and ''

'', both of which featured

Megan Timothy Megan D'Ewes Timothy (born June 21, 1943) is a Rhodesian-American actress, singer, and writer. Background The daughter of an architect,''The Tennessean'' Sunday, March 19, 196Page 5 ''Club Singer Defends Native Rhodesia, Rips British''/ref> Timo ...

. 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 Nazis committing sex crimes, often as camp or prison overseers during World War II. Most follow the women in prison formula, only r ...

film ''

The Tormentors ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'' 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 or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Uni ...

. 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 protect ...

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 ''

'' (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 books, particularly ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' and its sequels. He wrote 14 novels in the ''Oz'' series, plus 41 other novels (not includ ...

's ''

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' is a 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 magical Land of Oz after s ...

'' (which became public domain in 1957) in which astronaut Dorothy (

Eve Bernhart Eve (; ; ar, حَوَّاء, Ḥawwāʾ; el, Εὕα, Heúa; la, Eva, Heva; Syriac: romanized: ) is a figure in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. According to the origin story, "Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the ...

) and three male astronauts follow a golden road to an ancient city to find that the Martians' greatest desire foreshadows ''

Zardoz ''Zardoz'' is a 1974 science fantasy film written, produced, and directed by John Boorman and starring Sean Connery and Charlotte Rampling. It depicts a post-apocalyptic world (which Boorman says, in the audio commentary, may or may not be ma ...

'' (1974), another Oz-influenced science fiction film, and the aforementioned '' Dr. Terror's Gallery of Horrors'' (1966), which, in spite of the new title, the film 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 W ...

'', ''

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 th ...

'' 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. The film is based on the 1983 cartoon series created by DIC Enterta ...

''.franc's cinema March 2, 201
biker, grindhouse, nazisploitation, The Tormentors
/ref>

Filmography

As director *''

'' (1965), director/producer/writer * ''

'' (1965 short), director/producer/writer * ''

'' (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 * ''

'' (1969), director/producer/writer * ''

'' (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