John Hough (born 21 November 1941) is a British film and television director. He is primarily known for his suspense films of the 1970s and 1980s, including ''

Twins of Evil ''Twins of Evil'' (also known as ''Twins of Dracula'') is a 1971 British horror film directed by John Hough and starring Peter Cushing, with Damien Thomas and the real-life identical twins and former ''Playboy'' Playmates Mary and Madeleine ...

'' (1971), ''

The Legend of Hell House ''The Legend of Hell House'' is a 1973 supernatural horror film directed by John Hough, and starring Pamela Franklin, Roddy McDowall, Clive Revill, and Gayle Hunnicutt. It follows a group of researchers who spend a week in the former home of a ...

'' (1973), '' The Incubus'' (1982) and ''

American Gothic ''American Gothic'' is a 1930 painting by Grant Wood in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. Wood was inspired to paint what is now known as the American Gothic House, ''American Gothic'' House in Eldon, Iowa, along with "the kind of ...

'' (1988), as well as the 1974 action thriller ''

Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry ''Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry'' is a 1974 American road crime drama film based on the 1963 Richard Unekis novel titled ''The Chase'' (later retitled ''Pursuit''). Directed by John Hough, the film stars Peter Fonda, Susan George, Adam Roarke, an ...

''.

Career

British TV

After many credits as a

second unit Second unit is a discrete team of filmmakers tasked with filming shots or sequences of a production, separate from the main or "first" unit. The second unit will often shoot simultaneously with the other unit or units, allowing the filming stag ...

director on '' The Baron'', '' The Avengers'' and '' The Champions'', he took his first job as a director on the 1968 season of ''The Avengers'', directing episodes such as "Super Secret Cypher Snatch" and "Homicide and Old Lace". "ITC was a very special place to work in", he said later. "And the people cared. Instead of asking you to do it quicker and with less quality, they'd push you to excel yourself. It was creative and interesting, but very disciplined. It was like Michelangelo painting the Sistine Chapel on a nine-to-five contract."

British films

His TV work led to a TV pilot for a proposed Robin Hood TV show, '' Wolfshead: The Legend of Robin Hood'' in 1969. Even though the series never materialised, the pilot was picked up by Hammer Films, which distributed it theatrically. "That one sank without trace", Hough recalled in the notes for his biography on the DVD of his 1980 film '' The Watcher in the Woods'', "but in 1970 a Hollywood producer named Paul Maslanksy came over here looking for a new director to work on a remake of '' The Window'' (1949), in which a young boy is the sole witness to a murder and is then tracked down by the assassin." The film '' Eyewitness'' (1970) was well received; Hammer then approached him to make the final film in its erotic vampire horror 'Karnstein' trilogy, ''

'' (1971).

Hollywood Career

Hough moved to Hollywood with the intention of making inroads to direct for

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

. While doing so, a new production company, Academy Pictures Corporation (started by former American International Pictures partner,

James H. Nicholson James Harvey Nicholson (September 14, 1916 – December 10, 1972) was an American film producer. He is best known as the co-founder, with Samuel Z. Arkoff, of American International Pictures. Early life Nicholson was born on September 14, 1 ...

), hired Hough to direct the low-budget action picture ''

''. The film was very successful in the summer of 1974, and helped open the doors to Disney, where Hough directed ''Escape to Witch Mountain'' which was successful and ''Watcher In The Woods''.

Return to Britain

He later directed three of the TV movies in the 1984

anthology series An anthology series is a radio, television, video game or film series that spans different genres and presents a different story and a different set of characters in each different episode, season, segment, or short. These usually have a dif ...

Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense ''Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense'' is a short-lived (one season) anthology television series produced in Britain in 1984/85 by Hammer Film Productions. Though similar in format to the 1980 series ''Hammer House of Horror'', the ''Mystery a ...

''. He did a series of films based on

Barbara Cartland Dame Mary Barbara Hamilton Cartland, (9 July 1901 – 21 May 2000) published as Barbara Cartland was an English writer, known as the Queen of Romance, who published both contemporary and historical romance novels, the latter set primarily duri ...

novels starting with '' A Hazard of Hearts''. He directed ''Something to Believe In'' (1998) for

Lew Grade Lew Grade, Baron Grade, (born Lev Winogradsky; 25 December 1906 – 13 December 1998) was a British media proprietor and impresario. Originally a dancer, and later a talent agent, Grade's interest in television production began in 19 ...

Filmography

Unmade films

*''The Fan Club'' (1974) – for Lawrence Gordon at Columbia Pictures based on novel by Irwin Wallace. *''Poe'' – about

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wid ...

(1976)

References

External links

* * * *
John Hough profile
at Den of Geek * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hough, John 1941 births Living people Film directors from London