The horror icon that is Vincent Price made an almighty appearance on Night Gallery for this surreal Gothic hoot about an aging sorcerer, John Carnby, hiring a language expert to interpret a passage in Arabic inside the book of the Necronomicon. Bill Bixby of "The Incredible Hulk" is the Arabic language expert, Noel, who should have walked right out the door of Price's occult-decorated abode, but is drawn to the allure of his sorceress Fern (Tisha Sterling, portraying a real oddball, but a sexy oddball). Her seductive powers keep Bixby from exiting stage left as soon as he realized what the Arabic writing said, yet he remains to a possible grisly fate. Including Satanic décor and a black mass sanctuary of worship (along with a black goat Price claims is his father eating at their table!), "The Return of the Sorcerer" is full of eye candy, the reds and blacks incorporated into the set design laying out Price's castle, along with skulls and these candle holders resembling monstrous hands, it felt like I was watching a Roger Corman Poe picture, which maybe was the intention, I don't know. It was fun seeing Price going full-bore into the part of a frightened sorcerer who believes he hears "bits and pieces" of his twin brother scurrying about just out of sight (Fern saying they are just rats), harboring a secret regarding said brother's fate. Sterling as Fern is rather spooky, vacuous and absent of emotion, she seems to be hiding something of her own, yet her sensual nature draws Bixby who seems powerless to resist. Fern, with her pet toad, is just bizarre, as is the overall tone of this particular tale of Night Gallery. "The Return of the Sorcerer" is probably a must-see for fans of "moving body parts" and Vincent Price, whose response to the Arabic spoken in English is priceless. Bixby is very much in league with the bland leading men who often enter the strange world of Price in those Corman Poe films. Most of the episodes of Night Gallery I have watched seem to be more open to contemporary settings, while "The Return of the Sorcerer" seems more old fashioned, with its Gothic trappings and ghoulish subject matter. I had a grand old time, just the same. Price chanting Satanic gibberish might be too much for some horror fans, all dressed in his black robe (with the blood red upside down cross on the front of his chest), but I thought he was a riot.
12 Reviews
Book Of Evil
AaronCapenBanner13 November 2014
First episode of the third and final season was cut to a half-hour, but at least this episode is a good one. Bill Bixby("The Incredible Hulk") stars as Noel Evans, an Arabic interpreter who responds to an ad placed by John Carnby(played by Vincent Price) to interpret a rare book of magic. Noel falls hard for Carnby's assistant Fern(played by Patricia Sterling) who uses him for her own ends, as the book promises a horrible fate for anyone who dares to translate it, as events surrounding her plans and Carnby's dead brother come to a head... Amusing but grim episode(typical for this series) has a fine trio of actors doing their best, with a wild ending.
Magnificent Acting at Any Price
Hitchcoc18 June 2014
This is an obtuse story of a sorcerer who hires a translator, played by Bill Bixby, to read an ancient manuscript containing an ancient curse. Vincent Price does his usual mugging best as the sorcerer, who, with his beautiful assistant enlist the nervous Bixby. There are things that should have been left unsaid because when these words are spoken, things are set in motion, including a twin brother who has been dismembered by his own brother and moves around the mansion in pieces; a hand here and a foot there. His head is kept in a closet and the body parts want to get back together. At times, things become quite confusing but Price and the others keep it going and the die is cast.
kiss the toad
stones7827 August 2018
I can understand Noel's(Bill Bixby)aversion for kissing the toad, but he kisses Fern(Patricia Sterling)after she kisses the toad, so I guess in reality, he does in fact kiss the toad. Now that's over with, let me speak a bit about this odd Vincent Price segment. Price is in fine form as a strange sorcerer named John Carnby, who hires Noel to translate an Arabic book in order to do weird things, which you probably read about already, although Noel's hesitant to accept the job offer at first. The version I saw seemed to have been edited from the original format, so there's some unanswered questions, which is frustrating, and is typical for this series, but I did enjoy this episode for the most part, especially Price, a black goat, and the eerie interior shots of the house/castle. This has a Roger Corman feel to it, which adds to the eyes. Jeannot Szwarc(Jaws 2)directed this episode, and he's also directed 18 other Night Gallery episodes.
"Well, it's been quite an evening."
classicsoncall17 May 2017
Warning: Spoilers
This episode of 'Night Gallery' might appeal to fans of rogue body parts, with a disembodied hand and foot crawling around in one of the campier scenes of the story. Vincent Price does double duty here as a sorcerer who killed and dismembered his twin brother and buried the pieces around and about the old homestead. I'm not sure what the point was of old Carnby (Price) hiring Bill Bixby as a translator of Arabic; I guess he needed a fourth for dinner to sit across the table from his father the goat. Yeah, you read that right. I just write 'em. I don't explain 'em.
If this segment didn't leave you with enough appreciation for things that go creepy-crawly, you might try a trio of films I've come across at various times along the way. Crawling hands all take center stage in these flicks, and a good one to start with would be 1960's "Tormented". But if your tastes run to old time horror, you'll definitely want to check out a couple from 1935 - "Mad Love" and "The Beast With Five Fingers". Both of those feature Peter Lorre, who like Vincent Price, never gives a bad performance. You can bet on it, hands down.
If this segment didn't leave you with enough appreciation for things that go creepy-crawly, you might try a trio of films I've come across at various times along the way. Crawling hands all take center stage in these flicks, and a good one to start with would be 1960's "Tormented". But if your tastes run to old time horror, you'll definitely want to check out a couple from 1935 - "Mad Love" and "The Beast With Five Fingers". Both of those feature Peter Lorre, who like Vincent Price, never gives a bad performance. You can bet on it, hands down.
You can never go wrong with Vincent Price.
Hey_Sweden12 September 2021
'The Return of the Sorcerer'. The first single-segment episode of the series, this was scripted by Halsted Welles, based on a story by Clark Ashton Smith, and directed by extremely prolific 'Night Gallery' director Jeannot Szwarc. Vincent Price stars as John Carnby, a sorcerer who hires young Noel Evans (Bill Bixby) to translate some ancient Arabic texts for him. Noel learns that the two translators before him quit, and for good reason: uttering a particular passage (involving hot coals and dismemberment) will leave a curse on the person doing the reading.
Price is a delight as always, and he IS in his element: a theatrical role in a wonderfully macabre genre tale. Price lends all the needed gravitas that the tale needs, although the sexy Tisha Sterling is equally delightful as a devious young woman living in Prices' abode. Bixby is an excellent "straight man" as a character with no particular love or affinity for the occult, just an appreciation for the Arabic language. He's understandably hesitant at taking the assignment, and his uneasiness naturally proves to be totally warranted, during a genuinely weird second half. This involves Sterling kissing a toad, and a black goat seated at a dinner table! Carnby, who is haunted by repeated scraping sounds, has a nasty history with his late brother, and this is paid off fairly well, although this viewer wouldn't blame others if they didn't feel a complete sense of satisfaction with the ending. After all, the episode is left fairly open-ended.
Director Szwarc DOES have a good flair for the macabre with the way he is able to keep the tension increasing, and the set decoration is 100% effective. Good atmosphere, too: the halls and rooms of this house often fill up with smoke. Bixby, Sterling, and genre icon Price keep things moving along quite nicely. Oddly enough, this episode only runs a half hour, unlike most in the series' run.
Seven out of 10.
Price is a delight as always, and he IS in his element: a theatrical role in a wonderfully macabre genre tale. Price lends all the needed gravitas that the tale needs, although the sexy Tisha Sterling is equally delightful as a devious young woman living in Prices' abode. Bixby is an excellent "straight man" as a character with no particular love or affinity for the occult, just an appreciation for the Arabic language. He's understandably hesitant at taking the assignment, and his uneasiness naturally proves to be totally warranted, during a genuinely weird second half. This involves Sterling kissing a toad, and a black goat seated at a dinner table! Carnby, who is haunted by repeated scraping sounds, has a nasty history with his late brother, and this is paid off fairly well, although this viewer wouldn't blame others if they didn't feel a complete sense of satisfaction with the ending. After all, the episode is left fairly open-ended.
Director Szwarc DOES have a good flair for the macabre with the way he is able to keep the tension increasing, and the set decoration is 100% effective. Good atmosphere, too: the halls and rooms of this house often fill up with smoke. Bixby, Sterling, and genre icon Price keep things moving along quite nicely. Oddly enough, this episode only runs a half hour, unlike most in the series' run.
Seven out of 10.
Hugely entertaining comic episode
Woodyanders30 August 2018
Warning: Spoilers
Evil sorcerer John Carnby (robustly played with trademark plummy aplomb by Vincent Price) hires language expert Noel Evans (a solid and likeable performance by Bill Bixby) to translate a passage in Arabic from the Necronomicon. Complications ensue when Evans falls for Carnby's fetching assistant Fern (a bewitching portrayal by the lovely Tisha Sterling).
Director Jeannot Szcarc keeps the enjoyable story moving along at a brisk pace, maintains an engaging tongue-in-cheek tone throughout, milks plenty of brooding gloom-doom atmosphere from the moldy mansion setting, and pulls out the exciting stops for the wild climax in which all kinds of freaky supernatural hell breaks loose. The quirky script by Halsted Welles boasts a few inspired oddball touches (for example, the goat at the dinner table that Carnby claims is his father!). Gerald Perry Finnerman's sharp cinematography provides a bright colorful look. Eddie Sauter's spirited score hits the stirring spot. Naturally, Price's delightfully hammy histrionics serve as the tasty cherry on an already deliciously campy cake. A total hoot.
Director Jeannot Szcarc keeps the enjoyable story moving along at a brisk pace, maintains an engaging tongue-in-cheek tone throughout, milks plenty of brooding gloom-doom atmosphere from the moldy mansion setting, and pulls out the exciting stops for the wild climax in which all kinds of freaky supernatural hell breaks loose. The quirky script by Halsted Welles boasts a few inspired oddball touches (for example, the goat at the dinner table that Carnby claims is his father!). Gerald Perry Finnerman's sharp cinematography provides a bright colorful look. Eddie Sauter's spirited score hits the stirring spot. Naturally, Price's delightfully hammy histrionics serve as the tasty cherry on an already deliciously campy cake. A total hoot.
The Sorcerer, the translator and the beauty!!!
elo-equipamentos13 September 2019
Before the smashing success on Hulk series Bill Bixby made this episode with the iconic Vincent Price, he was hired to translate an ancient handwritten document that has a curse whom read and hear, Price played a old sorcerer who killed his brother and was haunting by whispers and weird noises, but who stolen the episode is the gorgeous and sexy lady Fern played by Patricia Sterling, a true eye candy, valuable short episode!!
Resume:
First watch: 2019 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 7
Resume:
First watch: 2019 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 7
Pretty good on its own terms
InjunNose23 November 2021
Clark Ashton Smith is an acquired taste. (It helps if you like the substitution of conspicuous ten-dollar words for plain old English that would have worked just as well.) One of his best and least effete stories is 'The Return of the Sorcerer,' on which this episode of "Night Gallery" is based. How faithful to Smith's tale is the small-screen adaptation? The mechanics of the plot are fundamentally the same, but the overtly horrific nature of the story is eschewed in favor of a languid, decadent atmosphere, with costumes and set pieces that look like something out of Théophile Gautier. (Tisha Sterling is essentially one of those set pieces. She's nice to look at, but there's really no reason for her character to exist...and of course the character did *not* exist in Smith's story. Bill Bixby is bland and inoffensive as the translator, and no one could have played John Carnby nearly as well as hammy, leering Vincent Price.)
But it works! Director Jeannot Szwarc took the bare bones of the short story and superimposed upon them the sinister/humorous aesthetic that was a trademark of "Night Gallery." It's a neat reimagining of the Smith tale, not at all like the clunky, uncomprehending adaptations to which Hollywood so often subjects the work of H. P. Lovecraft. All in all, 'The Return of the Sorcerer' is one of the better moments of the series' third and final season...by which time Rod Serling's involvement had, unfortunately, become minimal.
But it works! Director Jeannot Szwarc took the bare bones of the short story and superimposed upon them the sinister/humorous aesthetic that was a trademark of "Night Gallery." It's a neat reimagining of the Smith tale, not at all like the clunky, uncomprehending adaptations to which Hollywood so often subjects the work of H. P. Lovecraft. All in all, 'The Return of the Sorcerer' is one of the better moments of the series' third and final season...by which time Rod Serling's involvement had, unfortunately, become minimal.
A complete disappointment
ben-thayer16 March 2021
Warning: Spoilers
As a long time fan of Clark Ashton Smith, I had hopes of a decent adaptation of what many say is his most celebrated story, Return of the Sorcerer, first published in 1931. Alas, this production saw Clark's story rewritten, and not in a good way. What could've been a frightening segment was far from it.
Yes, Vincent Price is always great to watch, but by 1972 he had become just as famous for comedy as he had been for his roles in melodramatic and horror films from previous decades. Unfortunately the showrunners decided to skew the production towards humor, and the end result is...well, amusing, although barely. Readers familiar with Smith's work are well aware that the original, brilliant story is devoid absolutely of humor.
To begin, the lighting was overdone. Clark's story goes to great lengths describing in detail the dark, gloomy, frightening atmosphere pervasive in John Carnby's house, one that terrified the story's protagonist from the moment he approached the property. Night Gallery's well-lit version of the house was more of the circus sideshow "scary" variety, and really did nothing to instill any kind of actual dread or menace.
Bill Bixby as Ogden, or "Noel Evans" as he is referred to in this production, seemed miscast. At the time (1972) he basically stepped off the set from The Courtship of Eddie's Father and strolled over to do this episode of Night Gallery. Watching Eddie's father in that role didn't make me feel the dread that permeated every molecule of Ogden's being in the original story. It would appear that Bixby basically walked through this job.
The screenwriters also decided to add a female character, Fern (Tisha Sterling). Why this was done is completely baffling, as the character adds absolutely zero to the plot and actually serves to dilute the story further. This practice would go on to become the standard for the adaptations of HP Lovecraft's work in the 1980s, and even after watching Reanimator I just couldn't fathom why women were added to the cast except for an excuse to show some skin. Unlike Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith did actually include female characters in much of his work, but they were integral to the stories rather than serving what I refer to as "eye candy".
The production goes off the rails completely in the final act. A black mass? Why? Helman Carnby, presiding over the mass, looking kinda like a zombie rather than a dismembered corpse reassembled by willpower? Why? John Carnby submitting willfully to a beheading? Again, WHY? And with a sword? What happened to the bone saw? And then Ogden (Evans) accompanying Fern to her room for a romp afterwards? Hey, no time to flee from the utter insanity of the situation with complete abandon, I got a hot date with a sexy witch! And finally the goat...what the...? Argh...no more.
Overall an end result that was somewhat mildly amusing rather than frightening. My grade: 3/10.
Yes, Vincent Price is always great to watch, but by 1972 he had become just as famous for comedy as he had been for his roles in melodramatic and horror films from previous decades. Unfortunately the showrunners decided to skew the production towards humor, and the end result is...well, amusing, although barely. Readers familiar with Smith's work are well aware that the original, brilliant story is devoid absolutely of humor.
To begin, the lighting was overdone. Clark's story goes to great lengths describing in detail the dark, gloomy, frightening atmosphere pervasive in John Carnby's house, one that terrified the story's protagonist from the moment he approached the property. Night Gallery's well-lit version of the house was more of the circus sideshow "scary" variety, and really did nothing to instill any kind of actual dread or menace.
Bill Bixby as Ogden, or "Noel Evans" as he is referred to in this production, seemed miscast. At the time (1972) he basically stepped off the set from The Courtship of Eddie's Father and strolled over to do this episode of Night Gallery. Watching Eddie's father in that role didn't make me feel the dread that permeated every molecule of Ogden's being in the original story. It would appear that Bixby basically walked through this job.
The screenwriters also decided to add a female character, Fern (Tisha Sterling). Why this was done is completely baffling, as the character adds absolutely zero to the plot and actually serves to dilute the story further. This practice would go on to become the standard for the adaptations of HP Lovecraft's work in the 1980s, and even after watching Reanimator I just couldn't fathom why women were added to the cast except for an excuse to show some skin. Unlike Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith did actually include female characters in much of his work, but they were integral to the stories rather than serving what I refer to as "eye candy".
The production goes off the rails completely in the final act. A black mass? Why? Helman Carnby, presiding over the mass, looking kinda like a zombie rather than a dismembered corpse reassembled by willpower? Why? John Carnby submitting willfully to a beheading? Again, WHY? And with a sword? What happened to the bone saw? And then Ogden (Evans) accompanying Fern to her room for a romp afterwards? Hey, no time to flee from the utter insanity of the situation with complete abandon, I got a hot date with a sexy witch! And finally the goat...what the...? Argh...no more.
Overall an end result that was somewhat mildly amusing rather than frightening. My grade: 3/10.
One of the (ahem) least-good NG episodes
twoheartedriver7 February 2015
One bright spot is watching Vincent Price mug for the camera. He is in full scenery-chewing mode and seems to be having a lot of fun. However, let the viewer be forewarned: if enjoying dinner with a goat or kissing frogs is your thing, you might give it a shot. Otherwise, pass on this forgettable episode. It's rather boring, the plot in virtually incomprehensible, and excepting the aforementioned Vincent Price treat, the acting is somnambulistic. Bill Bixby is stone-faced and delivers his line with a stale monotony. Patricia Sterling is beautiful, but adds nothing to the story and seems to be here just to provide a female presence. She seems to be Vincent's wife, although she appears to be at least thirty years younger than he is. I have no doubt this episode was most depressing for Rod Serling.
The cast is good -- the story not so much.
BA_Harrison21 February 2023
Vincent Price can be relied upon to bring a level of class to almost anything, and in this tale from the Night Gallery he is joined by the excellent Bill Bixby (The Incredible Hulk TV show) and the enchantingly beautiful Patricia Sterling. However, despite this talented trio of performers, and some memorably bizarre moments, The Return of the Sorcerer fails to impress, the story a trite mish-mash of occult nonsense that makes little sense and which ends in a most unsatisfactory manner.
Price plays occultist John Carnby, who hires Arabic expert Noel Evans (Bixby) to translate some passages in an old book, texts which have sent two previous translators packing in fear. Sterling plays Fern, Price's sexy assistant, who has more power than anyone guesses. The good stuff includes an atmospheric location (an old mansion so creepy that even the hallways are swathed in mist), a dinner scene in which a goat is a guest, and an amusing moment where Evans meets what is left of Carnby's twin brother: a twitching dismembered foot and a crawling severed hand. It's just a shame that these fun elements weren't part of a better, more cogent story rather than this meandering mystical mumbo jumbo.
Price plays occultist John Carnby, who hires Arabic expert Noel Evans (Bixby) to translate some passages in an old book, texts which have sent two previous translators packing in fear. Sterling plays Fern, Price's sexy assistant, who has more power than anyone guesses. The good stuff includes an atmospheric location (an old mansion so creepy that even the hallways are swathed in mist), a dinner scene in which a goat is a guest, and an amusing moment where Evans meets what is left of Carnby's twin brother: a twitching dismembered foot and a crawling severed hand. It's just a shame that these fun elements weren't part of a better, more cogent story rather than this meandering mystical mumbo jumbo.
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