David L. Hewitt (born August 12, 1939) is an American film director and producer. Among the films he has directed are The Wizard of Mars, Monsters Crash the Pajama Party (both 1965), Journey to the Center of Time (1967), The Mighty Gorga (1969) and The Girls from Thunder Strip (1970).
Background As a teenager he was an illusionist in the Dr. Jeckyll's Strange Show, a travelling spook show.The New Poverty Row: Independent Filmmakers as Distributors - By Fred Olen Ray Page 89 American General Pictures David L. Hewitt Later, with an interest in getting into the movie business, he contacted Forrest J. Ackerman and offered him a film script. The original script was called Journey into the Unknown. The script was rewritten by Ib Melchior and given a new title of The Time Travellers. His directing debut was Monsters Crash the Pajama Party.Science Fiction Film Directors, 1895-1998 By Dennis Fischer Page 297 - David L. Hewitt
Film work In addition to The Time Travellers, which he also provided special effects for,The Dinosaur Filmography By Mark F. Berry Page 153. Journey to the Center of Time and his directional debut, The Monsters Crash the Pajama Party,Letterboxd The Monsters Crash the Pajama Party he would direct a number of films.The New Poverty Row: Independent Filmmakers as Distributors - By Fred Olen Ray Page 89 American General Pictures David L. Hewitt
In 1967, he wrote, directed, and co-produced the horror anthology Dr. Terror's Gallery of Horrors, which featured John Carradine. 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.Eye on Science Fiction: 20 Interviews with Classic SF and Horror Filmmakers - edited by Tom Weaver Page 190 - Dr. Terror's Gallery of Horrors (American General, 1967) The film, which was basically a capitalization on Dr. Terror's House of Horrors, had in later years achieved a degree of cult status.About.com February 29, 2016 Horror Anthology Movies 101, Three Stories Are Better Than One - By Mark H. Harris In 1968, he directed Hell's Chosen Few, a biker movie starring Jody Daniel and Kelly Ross. He also directed The Mighty Gorga and The Girls from Thunder Strip, both of which featured Megan Timothy.Wild Beyond Belief!: Interviews with Exploitation Filmmakers of the 1960s and 1970s By Brian Albright Page 202 The Girl from Thunder Strip, Megan Timothy In The Mighty Gorga, he also played Gorga.A Year of Fear: A Day-by-Day Guide to 366 Horror Films By Bryan Senn Page 189 - May 16. The Mighty Gorga He directed the Nazisploitation film The Tormentors which was released in 1971.Nazisploitation!: The Nazi Image in Low-Brow Cinema and Culture - edited by Daniel H. Magilow, Elizabeth Bridges, Kristin T. Vander Lugt Page 320 - Selected Filmography
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. The cover, released on both films, proclaims "Blood flows like water...", and shows a woman in helmet and epaulets (and apparently nothing else) standing in a barren landscape with her arm, bleeding profusely, modestly covering her chest. These films are The Wizard of Mars (1965), retitled Horrors of the Red Planet in 1988, an uncredited science fiction takeoff of L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (which became public domain in 1957) in which astronaut Dorothy (Eve Bernhart) and three male astronauts follow a golden road to an ancient alien city, and the aforementioned Dr. Terror's Gallery of Horrors (1966), which, in spite of the new title, 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, Rabbit-Proof Fence and Inspector Gadget 2.franc's cinema March 2, 2015 biker, grindhouse, nazisploitation, The Tormentors
Filmography As director The Wizard of Mars (1965), director/producer/writer Monsters Crash the Pajama Party (1965 short), director/producer/writer Journey to the Center of Time (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 The Mighty Gorga (1969), director/producer/writer The Girls from Thunder Strip (1970), director/producer/writer Pornography USA (1971, documentary) The Tormentors (1971, as B. Eagle), director/producer The Lucifer Complex (1978), director/writer
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