John Hough is a capable director of suspense and action, worth seeking out selectively. We value his feel for pursuits and haunted-house tension, though the later horror work makes a poor case for following him indiscriminately.
Fi1m perspective
In Dempsey and Makepeace (1985), the friction between Michael Brandon and Glynis Barber's police partners is predictable, but their timing keeps it funny. We laughed at their sparring; the crime-solving seldom surprised us. Hough's directing work includes the series, although the actors are the chief reason we recommend it. His wider career gives us firmer evidence of his strengths as a director, particularly when there is a pursuit to stage or a supernatural threat to establish.
His second-unit work on The Baron, The Avengers and The Champions helps explain his confidence with pursuits. Twins of Evil (1971) established him in Hammer horror, while The Legend of Hell House (1973) made good use of his ability to build haunted-house tension. His use of composition and camera angles to distinguish heroes from villains suggests a director concerned with making a scene legible. We value that care, particularly in suspense films, where understanding the space can make the threat more immediate.
In Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry (1974), the car chases benefit from keeping us invested in the people involved. Escape to Witch Mountain (1975) applies his taste for the supernatural to a solid family adventure for Disney, followed by Return from Witch Mountain (1978). Moving between those audiences was a useful skill, and there is no reason to mark him down for it. The better question is how well he judges the amount of menace each kind of film can take.
The Watcher in the Woods (1980) is less assured in balancing eerie material with family expectations, while Howling IV: The Original Nightmare (1988) offers little encouragement to explore the later horror work. There is enough unevenness here to make a complete survey feel unnecessary. Choose Dempsey and Makepeace for Brandon and Barber's timing; anyone hoping to be baffled by the investigations should look elsewhere.
Biography
John Hough (born 21 November 1941) is a British film and television director. He began his career in the 1960s working in television production in London, initially as a second unit director on series including The Baron, The Avengers and The Champions. He directed his first episodes of The Avengers in 1968.
Hough's feature films include Twins of Evil (1971), The Legend of Hell House (1973), Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry (1974), Escape to Witch Mountain (1975), Return from Witch Mountain (1978) and The Watcher in the Woods (1980). He has also directed television episodes and films, including one episode of Dempsey and Makepeace (1985).
