Besides the Harryhausen film, he directed episodes of Kolchak: The Night Stalker and Wonder Woman. He also directed several horror movies starring Vincent Price, including one that has to be considered genre, Scream and Scream Again, starring the great triple threat of Vincent Price, Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing. On the less glamorous side of the ledger, it must be noted he also directed KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park, which has been described as a live action version of a Scooby-Doo episode. (I'm guessing Gene Simmons plays the dog, given the length of his tongue.)
I blush to write this post is better late than never, because Mr. Hessler died in January. My contacts in the obit searching game just got around to posting this. Still, I am glad I got a chance to say good bye to Mr. Kessler her on the blog.
Belated best wishes to the family and friends of Gordon Hessler, from a fan. He is never to be forgotten.
I'm inordinately fond of KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park, which admittedly pales beside Paul Williams's Phantom of the Paradise but features Anthony Zerbe and special effects that look as if someone said, "Hey, you do this in a KISS concert for $500K. Let's see if we can duplicate it for $1.89!"
ReplyDeleteI believe it was later remade, with any effects, as the Kristen Stewart film Adventureland, which I can guarantee is better than Snow White and the Huntsman 2 will be.