Orgy of the Dead * (1965, Criswell, Pat Barringer, Fawn Silver) – Classic Movie Review 5290

William Bates and Pat Barringer [Pat Barrington] star as Bob and Shirley, a horror book-researching couple who visit a cemetery and meet the camp and creepy Criswell, as The Emperor, and Fawn Silver, as The Black Ghoul, aka Princess of the Night. The couple are taken prisoner, tied to stakes and forced to watch the dancing of the dead.

Naturally, the desperate duo are then left facing up to the dead’s devilish tricks in producer-director A C Stephen [Stephen C Apostolof]’s splendidly risible, breathtakingly amateurish horror movie stinker.

It is notable for Apostolof’s utterly inept director debut and also especially for its hilarious screenplay, penned by the immortal Edward D Wood Jr, universally admired and loved as the world’s worst film-maker. It is based on Wood’s novel.

Also in the cast are Louis Ojena (as The Mummy), John Andrews (as The Wolfman), Rod Lindeman, John Bealey, Edward Tontini, William Bonner and Arlene Spooner.

Criswell (1907–1982) also stars in Ed Wood’s Plan 9 from Outer Space (1956) – often hailed as the world’s worst ever movie – and Night of the Ghouls (1959).

© Derek Winnert 2017 Classic Movie Review 5290

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