Boris Karloff’s Thriller Debuts with Spooky Quality
by
Kristin Battestella
Oft
bespectacled and mustachioed horror guru Boris Karloff came to the
small screen in 1960 as host of Thriller,
and though uneven to start,
the black and white anthology series’ 37-episode Season One debut
packs a wallop of suspense, drama, and scares.
Businessman
with a stalker Leslie Nielson (The
Naked Gun) is the first of
many guest stars on Thriller
in “The Twisted Image.”
The implied vices, family secrets, violent subtext, and domineering
dames may not be anything we haven't seen before, yet we know the
suspicion, schemes, and opportunist desperation can’t end well.
Then scandalous topics and saucy literary sources give Thriller
a mature tone, and
blackmail, wills, and murder keep the sly, vindictive players
entertaining to watch. Without the effects of today, Thriller
relies on the players and
the plot to craft well paced episodes and escalating acts – “The
Mark of the Hand” uses flashback recountings, distorted
investigations, and non-speaking child witnesses for its suburban
scandals and askew twists. Mary Astor (The
Maltese Falcon) may be a
bit obvious in “Rose’s Last Summer,” but its fun to see how the
fading stars, would be comebacks, and alcoholism will play out. Disc
Two, however, provides the first whiff of the supernatural on
Thriller with
“The Purple Room.” Rip Torn (Men
in Black) and Richard
Anderson (The Six Million
Dollar Man) spend the night
in the house from Psycho
and great atmosphere, isolation, hauntings, and hysteria follow in
this deadly, scary tale. “The Prediction” continues the bizarre
with Karloff himself doing double duty as host and performing as an
aging psychic for play within a play theatrics, deadly intuitions,
and crazy Cassandra circumstances. Even though it probably would have
meant even less episodes for Thriller,
I wish Karloff could have
played a macabre part in every show.
Blink
and you will miss a very young Mary Tyler Moore alongside Robert
Lansing (Star Trek’s
Gary Seven) for “The
Fatal Impulse,” an intriguing look at mid century bomb plots,
politicians, and murder threats complete with a ticking clock and
unknown peril. Of course, “The Cheaters” may be Thriller’s
most famous episode. From the period piece science and accursed
spectacles to an antique mood and desperation, the vignettes here
offer a disturbing perspective with props to match. What if one could
see another’s true, cruel thoughts – or maybe even our own? It
would certainly come in handy over poker! This hour makes for a wild
precursor to the spooky antiques of Friday
the 13th: The Series. The
stars continue on Disc Four with more cobwebs, stormy cliff side
locales, and creepy mirrors in “The Hungry Glass.” Kirk himself
William Shatner and Gilligan’s
Island Professor Russell
Johnson add to the atmospheric reflections and what you may or may
not see, and the proverbial smoke, mirrors, shadows, and lighting
tricks set off this simmering spooky and period panache. Likewise,
“The Posioner” is delightfully gothic and operatic thanks to a
Jerry Goldsmith score, past waistcoats, paintings, pesky family
fortunes, and that suspicious titular tea. The beach bum con artists
and rich dames of “Choose a Victim” may be too gullible to be
believable; however, kinky swindles and double crossings see it
through to the end. Dated witchcraft perceptions may also hinder
“Hay-Fork and Bill-Hook,” but eerie chases, Stonehenge accents,
and pitchfork imagery keeps this one perfect for Halloween – and
look its Batman’s
butler Alan Napier! Goldsmith’s music again matches the sacrifice
discussion and superstitious ways ala The
Wicker Man, and these great
supernatural outings just seem to be the better episodes on Thriller.
“The
Merriweather File” opens Disc Five with dangerous gas, a deceased
child, and dead bodies in the trunk as touchy feely, supposedly
friendly lawyers bring subtext and tawdry secrets to light. “The
Fingers of Fear” implies more than just child murder to match the
quite creepy abductions, sociopathy, and pursuit twists. It’s neat
to see how town apprehension, suspicion, evidence, public opinion,
and what’s in the newspaper influence the case – especially
compared to today. The late Richard Kiel (The
Spy Who Loved Me) looms
over the “Well of Doom” along with a booming score, roadside
terror, and castle evils. Is this a scheme or the supernatural? The
picture is too dark at times during the titular dungeon escapes, but
the desperation and atmosphere work. Likewise, fun science equipment
goes awry for Robert Vaughn (The
Magnificent Seven) in “The
Ordeal of Dr. Cordell.” Pleasing paranoia, spinning effects,
unknown trauma, and dangerous triggers accent the escalating
laboratory obsessions and frayed tensions. Oft-Thriller
director Ida Lupino (The
Hitch-Hiker) helms the
anthology within an anthology episode “Trio for Terror” with 1905
English scenery and heaps of chilling mood. In what might have been a
neat design for the series, claret sipping Karloff hosts these
segments from inside a pub full of shady characters – telling tales
of spooky train car companions, creepy wax artifacts, high stakes
suspense, tricked out castles, and serial stranglers. Though
disjointed, there’s a little bit of everything to fit one’s scary
need, and the smaller literary based stories do well over the hour.
Ironic
carnival scoring and a killer sideshow atmosphere lead Disc Six in
“Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper.” While mid century suits debate
the psychology of the killings and analyze ongoing 70-year patterns,
scandalous burlesque dames, beatnik artists, bloody pacts, and a
morbid shocker or two create a fun take on the Whitechapel theme.
“The Devil’s Ticket” continues the sinister with shady pawn
shop dealings and a high price on tokens usually not for barter –
such as your soul or your painting talent perhaps. Great dialogue
talks about the fantastic, “What the devil do you mean?” “Now,
now, let’s not mention any names,” whilst also debating the
internal struggle of objective and subjective truths, the games we
play, and the prices we pay. These topics aren’t as cut and dry as
we hope – especially when a love triangle adds to the devilish
deadline. Likewise, surprising innuendo matches the captivity and
titular derelict of “Parasite Mansion” along with some pre-Texas
Chainsaw Massacre backwoods
family shenanigans and one creepy cackling old lady. The moody score
fits the tense attempts to flee amid cobwebs and maze like interiors
while more twists await within the walls and beyond. Ironically, the
crime and scandal with a little something sinister in this hour is a
well done combination of the mixed suspense and supernatural vision
looking for its footing on Thriller.
Child
innocence and warm velvety interiors lead to squabbling relatives and
a disembodied, ghostly voice to start the lovely “Mr. George.”
Inheritance plots and turnabout on those deadly intentions build
suspense thanks to swinging camera work and cleverly edited
accidents. “The Terror in Teakwood” continues on Thriller's
supernatural superior with Hazel Court (The Premature
Burial), romantic rivals, Pandora's Box scares, musical
desperation, and piano melodies. Similar to the later The Mephisto
Waltz, demented pianist talents
and deadly compositions get, well, out of hand, as it were. An
opening Paris 1910 charm conceals more menacing tricks and hypnosis
alongside Marion Ross (Happy Days) in
“Prisoner in the Mirror.” Karloff
pops in to update the time line changes, and forgotten burials,
beautiful not so dead corpses, and internal plays on mirrors,
reflections, and doppelgangers create some fine illusions here. Dark
shadows and lighting schemes accent the atmosphere, twists, and
through the looking glass spins beautifully. Ominous music
immediately sets the tone of “Dark Legacy” as fates are decided
with occult motifs and the blurred line between magic and sorcery is
explored. The rites, rituals, and fake symbols are a little hokey,
but smoke and thunder special effects do wonders in upping the
misused incantation temptations. Romance becomes insignificance when
black magic leads to stage success – or demonic corruption!
Concluding Thriller's First
Season on Disc Eight are “Pigeons from Hell” and “The
Grim Reaper.” Great swamp fog, overgrown ruins, and avian danger
amid the ghostly sounds and off camera screams in “Pigeons” make
an excellent Southern Gothic mood for the deadly turnabouts, mistaken
investigation, and paranormal afoot – and it's all done with one
scary set and three players. “Reaper” brings Shatner to Thriller
again, this time with Hearst driving Mrs. Howell Natalie Schafer
of Gilligan's Island. Ghoulish paintings, kooky authors,
trophy husbands, and cursed artwork do superbly for this blend of
superstition and suspense. Great shadows, up close editing, and what
you don't see scares hit home, and this final stretch of scary and
supernatural sends Thriller's
debut session out on a high note.
However,
despite its title and horror pedigree, the first half of Thriller
seems somewhat weak or
unsure what direction the series shall take. Scary fans could even
skip Disc One on the set altogether, for one expecting all weird or
speculative horror will be disappointed in the straight drama and gun
play of “Child's Play” or the stereotypical mobsters from “The
Guilty Men.” “The Big Blackout,” “Knock Three-One-Two,” and
“Man in the Middle” are also redundant in their similar
blackmails and crimes against women. Though workable as an hour of
dramatic crime and entertainment, Richard Chamberlain’s (The
Thorn Birds) small town
scandal in “The Watcher” and Cloris Leachman’s (Phyllis)
“Girl with a Secret” heist are nothing new and the Moroccan
flavors of “Man in the Cage” don’t sparkle as they should. The
simmering score in “Late Date” can’t overcome the run of the
mill, get rid of the body, beach side violence, and stereotypical
Puerto Rico designs, voodoo scares, and non-believing authorities
can’t help John Ireland’s (Red
River) looking over his
shoulder desperation in “Papa Benjamin.” The creative
premeditation, literary inspiration, clever weaponry, and fun
performances of “A Good Imagination” would have been a neat as
the lone bookish murderer among a season of horrors, but since
Thriller starts
off the other way
around, it's just another more of the same amid too many cheats,
blackmails, and revenge.
Fortunately,
Thriller provides
layers of historical and then-contemporary nostalgia. I’ll take a
bottle of your best champagne for fifteen bucks! Sweet cars, swanky
music, mid century fashions, and period accents create mood or
accessories as needed – although one could lose an eye with these
bullet bras! There are unfortunate, of the time subservient
minorities but thankfully, past prejudices are few across Thriller’s
eight discs for Season One.
The DVD designs for the Complete Series set are also a lot of spooky
fun with spider webs and skull cursors. While there are no subtitles
and the sound is often uneven between soft voices and loud effects,
numerous episodes across the discs have commentaries, promos, or
isolated scores by Jerry Goldsmith along with trailers, photo
galleries, and production stills. This video collection is a bit
elusive, but Thriller can
be found on retro over the air stations like Me-TV and with other
streaming options.
Unlike
The Twilight Zone, The Outer
Limits or even One
Step Beyond, Thriller’s
first season is not totally
paranormal or speculative in nature and can’t really be compared to
such anthologies. The show’s division between straight mystery and
macabre may split viewers, but overall, Karloff’s outing is more
akin to the suspense of The
Alfred Hitchcock Hour thanks
to these mostly dramatic fifty minute tales. Big Boris himself is of
course always suave as host with a fun style and props to his
introductions – even if his greetings often read as double talk
shoehorning in a titular pun. It’s not the sardonic of Serling or
the humor of Hitchcock, but Karloff’s own charming stature is
reason enough for some horror fans to tune in for Thriller,
so
long as you avoid the purely dramatic episodes.
Regardless of scary
expectations and a rocky start, there are still numerous hours of
entertainment, guest stars, and ghastly for mid century television
lovers or creepy enthusiasts to enjoy this First Year of Thriller.
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