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From 1933 until the outbreak of World War II, Briton John Gilling was steadily employed as a film editor. After serving with the Royal Navy, Gilling turned to scriptwriting, and in 1948 directed his first film, the Tod Slaughter melodrama The Greed of William Hart (1948). Evidently accepting whatever assignment came his way, Gilling invested as much creative energy in above-average suspensers like The Embezzler (1954) as he did in nonesuch like Old Mother Riley Meets a Vampire (1952). He was most closely associated with Hammer Studios, megging several of that firm's better horror efforts. Many aficionados consider 1967's Plague of the Zombies to be the director's finest work. Moving to Spain in 1970, John Gilling retired from filmmaking a few years later, preferring to channel his talents into painting.