Herbert L. Strock (January 13, 1918 - November 30, 2005) was an American television producer and director, and a B-movie director of titles such as I Was a Teenage Frankenstein (1957), How to Make a Monster (1958) and The Crawling Hand (1963). Strock was born in Boston, and moved with his family to Los Angeles when he was 13. By 17, while a student at Beverly Hills High School, Strock was director of gossip columnist Jimmy Fidler's Hollywood segments for Fox Movietone News. Strock graduated in 1941 from USC, where he studied journalism and film. During World War II, he served in the Army's Ordnance Motion Picture Division. He was assistant editor on the 1944 film Gaslight for MGM. In a "pioneering" television career that began in the 1940s, Strock was involved with many television series including Highway Patrol, Sky King, Sea Hunt and Maverick. Other directorial efforts included Blood of Dracula (a 1957 film in which a disturbed teenage girl at a boarding school becomes a vampire through hypnosis) and Ivan Tors' "Office of Scientific Investigation" trilogy, which included The Magnetic Monster, Riders to the Stars and Gog, shot in 3-D. In 2000, Strock published a memoir, Picture Perfect. Description above from the Wikipedia article Herbert L. Strock, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
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Biography from TMDB.
- January 13, 1918
- November 30, 2005 (aged 87)
- Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Director, editor, writer and producer
- 19 on MovieCove · 41 credits in all
What are Herbert L. Strock's films like?
Across their 15 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Morality and Self.
Genres
Their MovieCove films by primary genre. The badge is the typical Midcredits score of the genre's films, the median percentile; an up arrow marks a genre at or above their average across these genres.
Themes
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 1 · Wry 3 · Earnest 10
Light 4 · Serious 7 · Dark 3
Grounded 6 · Stylized 6 · Heightened 2
Gentle 2 · Charged 10 · Intense 2
Steady 9 · Shifting 5 · Whiplash 0
Straight-faced 10 · Some laughs 3 · Funny 1
Slow burn 8 · Even-paced 6 · Relentless 0
Casual 7 · Engaged 6 · Full focus 1
Easy watch 7 · Affecting 7 · Heavy 0
Resolved 10 · Open-ended 2 · Ambiguous 2
Moods and endings
- Happy2
- Bittersweet4
- Tragic2
- Ambiguous7
AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.
Where can I watch Herbert L. Strock's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 14 of their 19 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on Prime Video (8).
- Carnival of Souls (1962) · editor · free
- The Veil (1958) · director · free
- The Magnetic Monster (1953) · director, editor · free
- How to Make a Monster (1958) · director · free
- Blood of Dracula (1957) · director · free
- Monstroid (1980) · director, writer · free
- The Crawling Hand (1963) · director, writer, editor · free
- Midnight Pulp, show their 3 titles on Midnight Pulp
- ScreenPix, show their 3 titles on ScreenPix
- Shout! TV, show their 3 titles on Shout! TV
- Cineverse, show their 2 titles on Cineverse
- Screambox, show their 2 titles on Screambox
- Best TV Ever, show their title on Best TV Ever
- FilmBox+, show their title on FilmBox+
- IndiePix Unlimited, show their title on IndiePix Unlimited
Subscription and free streaming for Herbert L. Strock's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.
Filmography
41 credits, 19 with a MovieCove page.
You Snooze You Lose (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1995)
The Crawling Hand (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1991)
Summer Seductions (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1988)
Night Screams (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1987)
Appointment with Fear (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1985)
Betty Boop for President(1980)
Midcredits score: 27th percentile of all films (provisional, few ratings)
UFO Syndrome (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1980)
Witches' Brew (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1980)
Monstroid(1980)
Midcredits score: 1st percentile of all films
UFO Journals(1978)
Midcredits score: 35th percentile of all films (provisional, few ratings)
So Evil, My Sister(1974)
Midcredits score: 4th percentile of all films
Brother on the Run (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1973)
The Small Miracle (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1973)
Decisions! Decisions! (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1971)
Shark (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1969)
The Crawling Hand(1963)
Midcredits score: 1st percentile of all films
Carnival of Souls(1962)
Midcredits score: 82nd percentile of all films
The Devil's Messenger (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1962)
Rider on a Dead Horse(1962)
Midcredits score: 14th percentile of all films
77 Sunset Strip (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1958)
Bronco (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1958)
How to Make a Monster(1958)
Midcredits score: 26th percentile of all filmsDestination Nightmare (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1958)
Sea Hunt(1958)
Midcredits score: 74th percentile of all shows
The Veil(1958)
Midcredits score: 64th percentile of all shows
Midcredits score: 18th percentile of all films
Blood of Dracula(1957)
Midcredits score: 8th percentile of all films
Harbor Command (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1957)
Maverick(1957)
Midcredits score: 86th percentile of all shows
The Man Called X (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1956)
Highway Patrol(1955)
Midcredits score: 74th percentile of all shows
Cheyenne(1955)
Midcredits score: 79th percentile of all shows
Science Fiction Theatre (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1955)
Battle Taxi (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1955)
Gog(1954)
Midcredits score: 24th percentile of all films
Riders to the Stars(1954)
Midcredits score: 20th percentile of all films
Donovan's Brain(1953)
Midcredits score: 37th percentile of all films
The Glass Wall (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1953)
The Magnetic Monster(1953)
Midcredits score: 32nd percentile of all filmsYour Favorite Story (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1953)
I Led Three Lives (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1953)
Career shape
A full career of 41 titles from 1953 to 1995.
Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Midcredits score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on MovieCove, shown from 5 scored.
How do Herbert L. Strock's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 22nd percentile, the median of all 14; across their 14 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 29th percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up3
- 50th to 74th3
- 25th to 49th5
- Below 25th8
Shape of the crowd
9 of their 19 titles are Mixed.
- Universally Loved1
- Cult Classic1
- Crowd Pleaser5
- Broadly Agreed3
- Mixed9
Reviewers score the atmosphere 52/100 and the pacing 32/100 in their films, across 12 reviewed titles. The element that speaks to their work as a director.
Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.
Who does Herbert L. Strock work with?
People who share at least 2 of Herbert L. Strock's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Aben Kandel shares the most, 3.
Writers
- Aben KandelShared titles: How to Make a Monster (1958), Blood of Dracula (1957), I Was a Teenage Frankenstein (1957)See all 3 shared titles with Aben Kandel
- Curt SiodmakShared titles: Riders to the Stars (1954), Donovan's Brain (1953), The Magnetic Monster (1953)See all 3 shared titles with Curt Siodmak
- Ivan TorsShared titles: Gog (1954), Riders to the Stars (1954), The Magnetic Monster (1953)See all 3 shared titles with Ivan Tors
- Herman CohenShared titles: How to Make a Monster (1958), Blood of Dracula (1957), I Was a Teenage Frankenstein (1957)See all 3 shared titles with Herman Cohen
Actors
- Kathleen FreemanShared titles: So Evil, My Sister (1974), The Magnetic Monster (1953)See all 2 shared titles with Kathleen Freeman
- Gary ConwayShared titles: How to Make a Monster (1958), I Was a Teenage Frankenstein (1957)See all 2 shared titles with Gary Conway
- Malcolm AtterburyShared titles: How to Make a Monster (1958), Blood of Dracula (1957)See all 2 shared titles with Malcolm Atterbury
- Jean DeanShared titles: Blood of Dracula (1957), Gog (1954)See all 2 shared titles with Jean Dean
Composers and cinematographers
- Paul DunlapShared titles: How to Make a Monster (1958), Blood of Dracula (1957), I Was a Teenage Frankenstein (1957)See all 3 shared titles with Paul Dunlap
- Lothrop B. WorthShared titles: I Was a Teenage Frankenstein (1957), Gog (1954)See all 2 shared titles with Lothrop B. Worth
- Harry SukmanShared titles: Gog (1954), Riders to the Stars (1954)See all 2 shared titles with Harry Sukman
- Joseph F. BirocShared titles: Riders to the Stars (1954), Donovan's Brain (1953)See all 2 shared titles with Joseph F. Biroc
