Night Gallery (TV Series) House - With Ghost/A Midnight Visit to the Neighborhood Blood Bank/Dr. Stringfellow's Rejuvenator/Hell's Bells (1971) User Reviews

Unexpected Outcomes

[AaronCapenBanner · 6/10 · 11 November 2014]

'House - With Ghost' - A man plots to get rid of his awful wife by scaring her to death in a haunted house, but the ghost has his own plans... Mediocre tale with Bernard Fox coming off best as the determined ghost.

'A Midnight Visit To The Neighborhood Blood Bank' - Dreadful.

'Dr. Stringfellow's Rejuvenator' - Forrest Tucker plays an old west peddler/con man whose snake oil has startling effects he didn't anticipate. Best of the four is an effective tale of justice and irony.

'Hell's Bells' - John Astin plays a hippie who dies and goes to hell, which isn't as he expects unfortunately for him... Amusing tale is silly but has a most pointed moral point to make, and memorable end.

It coulda been a contender....

[Gialmere · 6/10 · 8 December 2008]

This entry draws some inevitable comparisons to the Twilight Zone episode "Mr. Garrity and the Graves" (also written by Serling). Both shows take place in the old west and feature traveling salesmen who try to resurrect the dead. But while Mr. Garrity's tale hits the bulls-eye, Dr. Stringfellow's falls a little short of the target. Forrest Tucker plays the title role as a snake oil salesman who pulls into a desert town and starts selling his healing elixir to the local yocals. One of these is a man whose daughter is dying. Stringfellow, trying to give the man some hope, promises that his tonic will cure her, and if it doesn't he will resurrect her from the dead. Inevitably all his promises fall far short of his claims. The patient dies and he certainly can't bring her back to life. But who is that eerie young girl sitting across the street as Stringfellow prepares to leave town?

In the beginning of the episode Tucker does a decent job playing the gruff and travel hardened "doctor". As the show progresses, however, the character's dimensions expand and a show of emotion is needed, yet Tucker just keeps his acting chops stuck in neutral. Another gripe is the ghost sequence at the end when Stringfellow approaches the girl. They pull a few tricks with the point-of-view shot by wobbling the camera and blurring the focus, but it's obvious that it's only a young girl sitting there. So the horror diminishes the closer the camera gets, which is a pity since a simple solution was at hand. When the dying girl is first introduced she is wearing a veil (presumably to keep out the blowing desert sand). If the ghost was shown wearing this it would have ramped up the terror considerably as you wondered just what was under that veil now.

Don't get me wrong. These are only minor complaints to what is a pretty solid Night Gallery "exhibit". The supporting cast does a fine job ( Murray Hamilton in particular) and the writing is vintage Serling. I just can't help thinking that with a better actor it could have been a really good episode, and with a little more creativity it could have been a classic. In a way "Dr. Stringfellow's Rejuvenator" is an epitaph for the entire Night Gallery series - it has all the right ingredients for greatness but has difficulty with the chemistry of mixing them all together.

None of These Really Hit the Spot

[Hitchcoc · 6/10 · 9 June 2014]

"House, with Ghost" stars Bob Crane, Hogan from "Hogan's Heroes" who eventually succumbed to some pretty weird stuff. He is paired up with "Laugh In"s Joanne Woorley. He wants her dead so he can pursue an affair with an insensitive blonde who is only interested in his money. He rents an English house which supposedly has a ghost and waits for his wife's nerves to get the best of her. Unfortunately, things don't always work out. I found this episode really dull.

"A Midnight Visit to the Neighborhood Blood Bank" isn't even worth mentioning. A young woman is visited by a vampire (didn't we just see the same thing?) Short and clichéd.

Forrest Tucker is featured in "Dr. Stringfellow's Rejuvenator." He is a snake oil salesman in the old West. He is generally harmless until a man comes to him to get assistance for his dying daughter. The good doctor has an adversary, a drunk who is also a doctor, who challenges him at every turn. Stringfellow gives the girl some of his stuff, promising that it will make her well. When it doesn't he promises that he can bring her back from the grave. What happens makes for a neat horror story. The only problem is the pacing is so plodding and the events unfold so slowly that on is almost lulled to sleep. Good idea but not so good execution.

"Hell's Bells" stars John Astin (there must have been a Patty Duke, John Astin connection in this series). He is a reckless hippy who drives too fast and gets himself killed. He ends up in a waiting room, imagining that he is in Hell. Interestingly, there are strange things that happen. A fat lady called "the fat lady" appears every time he throws litter on the floor. He eventually goes into a dull room with ugly furniture, a stack of records that play awful music, an old man who doesn't hear well and runs on and on, and a couple who are going to show him their slides of their trip to Tijuana. There are thousands of them. Astin is quite good in this and it is just goofy fun. The best of this lot.

Hell's Bells

[paulbehrer22173 · 11 March 2009]

In this segment, which Theodore J. Flicker adapted from the Harry Turner short story, and also directed, stoner hippie Randy Miller (John Astin) crashes his car, resulting in his death, and while on the way to Hell, encounters 3 angry demons (played respectively by Flicker, Gene Kearney, and producer Jack Laird) who accuse Miller of committing a wide variety of sins. When Miller arrives in Hell, he discovers that it has a waiting room...and rules of conduct...and a fat lady (Jody Gilbert) who yells at people if those rules are broken. Miller isn't greatly concerned, though. He envisions the real Hell to come, complete with tormented souls, capering demons, and the Prince of Darkness all awaiting him to appear. A fire door opens and he passes expectantly into the waiting hell mouth of... A sitting room, which is furnished with dull furniture and drab wallpaper. Miller is pleased to see a jukebox in one corner of the room, with a stack of records on the changer, but when he selects the first record, instead of rock and roll he gets a decidedly boring big band tune, and is unable to get the record to stop playing. A simple, boring farmer (Hank Worden) appears in a rocking chair, and Miller asks this guy what his thoughts are concerning the disbanding of the Beatles, only to hear from the Bore that you get rid of beetles using boric acid, in addition to telling Miller about such uninteresting subjects as baby's croup, crop rotation, and the Farmer's Almanac, to name a few. Hell is turning out to be a real bummer. At this point, a vacationing couple (John J. Fox and Ceil Cabot) appear, along with their slide projector and 8,500 slides of their Tijuana trip. As Mr. and Mrs. Tourist launch into their dissertation on the joys of touring Mexico, Miller's patience is exhausted, and he demands that the Devil show his face. Satan (played by Flicker) appears, calm, unimposing, and quite short. Sure, he's got the horns, the beard, and the pitchfork, but he isn't quite as awe-inspiring as Miller had envisioned him to be. Miller asks him about the whips, the chains, the snakes, and the boiling oil, all the things that Miller thinks Hell should have. Satan tells Miller, "This is it. My dear boy, Hell is never what you quite expect it to be. For you, this is it. Don't you like it?" Miller tells him, "No, it's a real downer." Satan responds, "Yes it is, isn't it? You know, they have a room up in Heaven just like this one, and while this room is Hell for you, absolute, beastly Hell, up there the same room is someone else's idea of Heaven. Think about it. Bye." And with a wave, the Devil is gone. Hell's latest initiate, Randy Miller, clamps his hands over his ears in an effort to shut out the yammering voices of the Bore, Mr. and Mrs. Tourist, and that gratingly boring big band music, and he moans repeatedly, "Bummer, bummer, bummer," as he does so. I found this to be a rather enjoyable absurd view of Hell thanks to Theodore Flicker's direction, his script, and the performances of the cast. Spoiler alert: Theodore Flicker was to have directed more segments of Night Gallery after this, but refused to because of the temper of the cinematographer assigned to him, Lionel Lindon.

Pretty solid assortment of stories

[Woodyanders · 7/10 · 26 September 2018]

"House - With a Ghost" - Smooth heel adulterer Ellis Travers (Bob Crane in fine smarmy form) takes his frail wife Iris (nicely played by Jo Anne Worley) to a haunted house so he can get rid of her. This vignette boasts a witty twist ending as well as a delightful turn by Bernard Fox as a ghost with his own self-serving agenda.

"A Midnight Visit to the Neighborhood Blood Bank" - A vampire (Victor Buono, who's given precious little to do) gets repelled by a young gal with a good excuse. Very slight and silly comic short with a lame punchline.

"Dr. Stringfellow's Rejuvenator" - Charlatan medicine man Dr. Ernest Stringfellow (a wonderfully robust portrayal by Forrest Tucker) sells a fake healing potion in the Old West. Definitely the strongest story of this particular bunch, this yarn benefits from its potent brooding gloom-doom mood, a flavorsome 19th century period atmosphere, typically sharp writing by Rod Serling, excellent acting from Murray Hamilton as bitter drunk Snyder and Don Pedro Colley as Stringfellow's doltish assistant Rolpho, and a satisfyingly nasty climatic comeuppance for shameless posturing phony Stringfellow.

"Hell's Bells" - Obnoxious hippie Randy (a funny and lively performance by John Astin) finds himself trapped in a highly unusual, yet still fitting type of hell. Veteran old guy character actor Hank Worden lends amusing support as a senile elderly fellow. The clever story puts a neat spin on the concept of hell not being exactly what you expect it to be, with hell proving to be a total square bummer for poor Randy.

"This, Ladies and Gentlemen, is The Night Gallery." - Rod Serling

[classicsoncall · 7/10 · 28 May 2017]

Beware of unintended consequences in the first story titled 'House - With Ghost'. Ellis Travers (Bob Crane) has it all worked out so that his wife with a weak heart (Jo Anne Worley) faints dead away at the sight of a ghost, but the ghost himself (Bernard Fox) presents Travers with a bill for services rendered! Talk about bad luck, the guy who planned on getting it on with his impatient lover (Trisha Noble), wound up getting screwed in an entirely different way.

As for the second entry, wait a minute - didn't we just see something like this in the prior week's story, 'A Matter of Semantics' with Cesar Romero? This time it's Victor Buono making a return appearance to the Night Gallery, wearing Count Dracula's cape and finding out his victim 'gave at the office'. Another good grief episode.

Forrest Tucker earns his just desserts as a shady snake oil salesman in the Old West when the spirit of a dead girl gets her revenge with a little twist of her own. 'Dr. Stringfellow's Rejuvenator' calls to mind a Rod Serling Twilight Zone episode titled 'Mr. Garrity and the Graves' featuring John Dehner in the shyster role who's scam involves sending the dead back to where they came from. It's a better told story, although the irony involved with Stringfellow's demise was certainly suited for the occasion.

'Hell's Bells' also resembles a first season Twilight Zone story called 'A Nice Place to Visit'. Both stories spotlight a version of Hell that one would never suspect, an eternity spent enduring an unfathomable boredom fashioned upon the latest entrant's Earthly life. It's a variation on the theme of 'one man's trash is another man's treasure', dutifully explained by Theodore Flicker's 'Devil'.

A rather mild episode in general.

[Hey_Sweden · 6/10 · 24 September 2020]

'House - with Ghost'. Written and directed by Gene R. Kearney, based on a story by August Derleth, this stars Bob Crane as gruff, cheating husband Ellis Travers, determined to rid himself of his annoying wife Iris (Jo Anne Worley). His idea is to rent a property that's known to have a restless spirit residing within, and have the ghost bump her off. Well, the true punchline comes *after* Iris has expired. It's an amusing touch, but this segment is pretty lightweight stuff, despite good performances by Crane, Worley, and co-stars Eric Christmas, Bernard Fox (as the ghost), Trisha Noble, and Alan Napier.

'A Midnight Visit to the Neighborhood Blood Bank'. Another very brief and ho-hum comic vignette by 'Night Gallery' producer Jack Laird, directed by William Hale. Victor Buono, rather under-utilized, is a cheerful vampire who must suffer some disappointment when attempting to put the bite on his latest victim (who is played by Journey Laird, whom one must assume is some relation of Jacks'). The only good thing is that this segment is over before you know it.

'Dr. Stringfellow's Rejuvenator'. The only segment of any real substance in this underwhelming episode, this was written by Rod Serling himself, and directed by Jerrold Freedman. It touches upon interesting ideas of faith vs. practicality, as an unscrupulous Old West pitchman (Forrest Tucker) peddles his supposedly "magical" elixir to gullible townsfolk. Since this is a Serling script, the viewer can expect some intelligent dialogue, and Tucker has one of his absolute best latter-day roles as this so-called medicine man. He has some great exchanges with guest star Murray Hamilton, who's cast as a drunken but still knowledgable former doctor, and Don Pedro Colley, playing his half-bright assistant Rolpho. Some decent atmosphere is created for whatever budget this segment was afforded. Basically, it is this segment that helps to redeem this collection of stories.

'Hell's Bells". Admittedly, this is rather amusing, as a goofy hippie (a funny John Astin) dies and is damned to Hell. However, it's not all fire and brimstone, whips and chains, and demons, as he was expecting. Rather, what he will suffer through for eternity is inanity and utter BOREDOM. Astin is fun, receiving strong support from Jody Gilbert, Hank Worden, Ceil Cabot, and John J. Fox. At the least, this well illustrates the idea that what constitutes a pure Hell will vary from person to person. So the episode may end up leaving a viewer with a mild smile on their face. Written and directed by Theodore J. Flicker, based on a story by Harry Turner; Flicker also plays The Devil.

Six out of 10.

bland but watchable!

[mm-39 · 6/10 · 23 March 2024]

House - With Ghost/A Midnight Visit to the Neighborhood Blood Bank/Dr. String. House with a Ghost interested the viewer, well acted , but gets across as a play with a predictable ending. Midnight Visit well not very memorable. Dr String was a the early 70's long dragged out social message about a snake oil salesman. I found the story preachy, long stretched out story, which done in a late 60's style of preachy dialogue with over extended scenes. Repeat of what woke is in todays entertainment. Like todays movie has a lame predictable ending. Hell's Bells was like Chong for Chic and Chong goes to hell. Meant to be humorous about mundane everyday life events the protagonist goes threw was actually hell itself. Saw the ending as the installment started. Bland installment. 6 stars.

Too many stories

[BandSAboutMovies · 5/10 · 10 March 2023]

By now, you know the deal. If you see four stories in an episode of Night Gallery, you're not getting more. You're getting less.

"House With Ghost" is directed and written by Gene R. Kearney from an August Derleth story. Ellis Travers (Bob Crane) just wants to be with Sherry (Trisha Noble), which means he has to murder his wife Iris (Jo Anne Worley) by using her dizzy spells and a haunted house, which seems like a lot of work.

"A Midnight Visit to the Neighborhood Blood Bank" is so Jack Laird that while he got William Hale to direct it, he wrote it and his stepdaughter Journey plays the victim of perhaps the healthiest looking vampire ever, played by Victor Buono. You can imagine how one note this all is. It's also the same idea as "A Matter of Semantics," which was in the last episode.

"Dr. Stringfellow's Rejuvenator" is directed by Jerrold Freedman from a script by Rod Serling. Doctor Ernest Stringfellow (Forrest Tucker) claims that he has the cure for anything and when a father believes that it can save the life of his daughter, not even a doctor (Murray Hamilton) can change his mind. But what happens if that snake oil doesn't work?

This is the kind of story that Night Gallery was made for and I wish that it had time to breathe in this episode instead of being jammed in with filler.

Randy Miller (John Astin) is a hippie that dies and soon finds himself in hell's waiting room with a larger woman (Jody Gilbert), an old man (Hank Worden) and Satan, plated by Theodore J. Flicker, who directed and wrote this segment - based on a story by Harry Turner - called "Hell's Bells." It's not long and it's one joke, as the hippie thinks that hell will be a party and it's behind his generation forever.

Sometimes, all you get is one great story in these episodes and that's enough. That said, there are some good moments coming up in the rest of the season.

A Vampire's tale

[stones78 · 8 July 2010]

This isn't the strongest episode in Night Gallery's library, but it's not even 2 minutes long, so there's not much time to get philosophical about it. The opening music and painting for this short vignette are both creepy and eerie, but that's as far as that goes. Victor Buono stars as the vampire out to collect blood from a sleeping young lady, although Buono would prefer a man(if you catch my drift), but that's another story for another time. The room's dark atmosphere and open window are OK, even when the bat transforms into the vampire is at least average for the early 70's. There isn't much dialog except the punch line when the woman utters "I gave at the office.", then the once hungry vampire sighs and says "sorry" then sighs and flies away, changing from vampire to bat, after he puts his notebook and pencil back in his pocket.

Dr. Stringfellow's Rejuvenator

[paulbehrer22173 · 31 March 2009]

In this segment, "Doctor" Ernest Stringfellow is selling his fake drugs to the people of a desert town when a farmer (Lou Frizzell) asks him to help his daughter. Stringfellow sees that the girl is beyond help, but seeks to profit from her plight and her father's misery by giving a bottle of his medicine to ease the girl's pain. Dr. Snyder (Murray Hamilton), who practiced medicine before being brought low by his devotion to whiskey, offers a second opinion: The girl's pain indicates a burst appendix, and she will surely die. Stringfellow scoffs, "Diagnosis by a drunk." "Doubtless, but with a far sight more truth than the labels on those bottles of yours," Snyder says. Rolpho (Don Pedro Colley), Stringfellow's slow-witted assistant, is troubled by the girl's plight, but Stringfellow says, "I should be getting $100 a swallow for that stuff. I give hope to the hopeless and faith to the faithless. You see, I let them look over the pigsty and get a peek of Heaven." The farmer returns to ask Stringfellow to help his little girl, and he sends Rolpho for more of the fake drugs, saying, "You know what I do, brother? I sell faith. I'm going to give your little girl enough faith to kick her way out of a coffin if she needs to be. If she steps into the shadows, I am going to bring her back to life!" She dies anyway, the undertaker (Matt Pelto) gets her body, and Stringfellow prepares to leave town. Snyder says, "You offer one valuable service, medicine man. You can make the Devil himself look like God." As Stringfellow walks down the street, he sees the spirit of the little girl. He reckons that either his fake drug works, or this is a terrible judgment. She rises from the rocking chair as if to accuse him, then vanishes. The wind knocks the undertaker's sign down, missing Stringfellow, but scaring him to death. The undertaker then gets Stringfellow's body. Rolpho says, "Fool old man. You thought you was so smart, but you weren't after all," as he sets the wagon on fire. Snyder asks, "What did you do that for?" Rolpho says, looking first at the burning wagon, then the undertaker's shop, "Nothing in there worth anything, and nothing in there worth anything either," and Snyder agrees with a smile. When I saw this, I thought that Forrest Tucker gave flickers of humanity that indicated Stringfellow was once a compassionate man, and that the story made a comment about profiting from the misery of others, and its consequences.