Gordon Hessler
1925 - 2014Gordon Hessler was a British film and television director, screenwriter, and producer.
He was raised in England and studied at the University of Reading. While a teenager, he moved to the United States and directed a series of short films and documentaries. Universal Studios hired Hessler as a story reader for the Alfred Hitchcock Presents television series. He became story editor for two seasons (1960–1962) for that series, then served as the associate producer for The Alfred Hitchcock Hour from 1962 until its cancellation in 1965. He directed episodes of that series and several other shows (including Hawaii Five-O).
In 1969, he directed his debut feature film, The Oblong Box, starring Vincent Price. It was the first of three horror films Hessler would direct with the veteran horror star, the other two being Cry of the Banshee (1970) and Scream and Scream Again (1970). Hessler's other films include Murders in the Rue Morgue (1971), The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1974) and The Girl in a Swing (1988) starring Meg Tilly, an adaptation of Richard Adams's ghost story novel. The majority of Hessler's directorial work from the late-1970s to date has been in television.
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The Golden Voyage of Sinbad
Gordon Hessler
John Phillip Law, Caroline Munro
Sinbad and his crew intercept a homunculus carrying a golden tablet. Koura, the creator of the homunculus and practitioner of evil magic, wants the tablet back and pursues Sinbad. Meanwhile Sinbad meets the Vizier who has another part of the interlocking golden map, and they mount a quest across the seas to solve the riddle of the map.
The Golden Voyage of Sinbad
A Cry in the Wilderness
Gordon Hessler
George Kennedy, Joanna Pettet
The father of a wilderness family gets bitten by a skunk, and fearing rabies, chains himself to a barn to protect his family should he go mad. He orders his son not to come near him no matter how persuasive or rational his appearance or argument. However, the creek dries up, indicating an upstream blockage and an imminent flood. Several trips upstream by the son have failed to locate the blockage and now Dad wants to be released...
A Cry in the Wilderness
Catacombs
Gordon Hessler
Gary Merrill, Jane Merrow
A rich woman who uses meditation to deal with pain is visited by her niece who returns from Paris. The woman can be a handful and one of her employees suggests to her husband that he kill her freeing them both. When an affair starts between the husband and the niece murder becomes a real possibility. However some people won't stay dead.
Catacombs
Evil Stalks This House
Gordon Hessler
Jack Palance, Christopher Lee
Jack Palance stars as a self-serving, abusive boor who becomes stranded (along with his two children) by a thunderstorm, forcing them to take shelter in an isolated country estate owned by a group of mysterious and wealthy old dowagers. Seeing a golden opportunity, Palance soon turns to plundering their estate, but his plans collide with the secret activities of a Satanic snake-cult who carry out ritual sacrifices in the attic.
Evil Stalks This House
Betrayal
Gordon Hessler
Amanda Blake, Tisha Sterling
Wealthy widow Helen Mercer hires a young woman, Gretchen Addison, to act as her personal assistant and companion. Unfortunately, Helen is a poor judge of character, as Gretchen is part of a murderous extortionist duo with her boyfriend, Jay. However, Gretchen has second thoughts when she develops genuine affection for Helen. When Gretchen informs Jay that she wants to call off their plot, he refuses and carries on with the plan. Now both Helen and Gretchen may be in grave danger.
Betrayal
The Oblong Box
Gordon Hessler
Vincent Price, Christopher Lee
Evil lurks in the gloomy house at Markham Manor where a deranged Sir Edward is the chained prisoner of his brother Julian. When Sir Edward escapes, he embarks on a monstrous killing spree, determined to seek revenge on all those whom he feels have double-crossed him.
The Oblong Box
Pray for Death
Gordon Hessler
Sho Kosugi, James Booth
Akira Saito, a Japanese businessman lives in Tokyo with his Japanese-American wife Aiko and their children, Takeshi and Tomoya. When the family has a chance to move to the United States so that Aiko can teach the children about their American heritage, they pack up and head for Houston, Texas and run a restaurant. This is where the trouble begins....
Pray for Death
The Secret War of Jackie's Girls
Gordon Hessler
Lee Purcell, Ann Dusenberry
This prospective pilot to a series tells the improbable story of five American female pilots recruited into the British RAF, before the USA joined the war, to fly a new top-secret aircraft -- the helicopter.
The Secret War of Jackie's Girls
The Strange Possession of Mrs. Oliver
Gordon Hessler
Karen Black, George Hamilton
A houswife, tired of her everyday routine, makes changes in her hair, her wardrobe and her makeup, and begins to take on the personality of a woman who had died five years earlier.
The Strange Possession of Mrs. Oliver
Cry of the Banshee
Gordon Hessler
Vincent Price, Essy Persson
In seventeenth century England Lord Whitman wages unending war on what he sees as the ever-present scourge of witchcraft, and many local villagers have suffered at his hands. But one victim uses her occult powers to curse his family, enlisting unknowing help from one of the household.
Cry of the Banshee
