Female Frights Trio!

A Trio of Female Frights

by Kristin Battestella

This trio of lady horrors past and present provides plenty of paranormal revenge, quirky fatalities, and bizarre terrors for these women young or old. 

 

Dark Touch – Barking dogs, crying babies, thunderstorms, and young girls fleeing into the rain open this 2013 international co-production written and directed Marina de Van (Don't Look Back). Tongue injuries and unexplained bruises further belie the pretty Irish landscapes, and this contemporary, harsh, monochromatic house doesn't match the countryside. Yuppie doctors and reassuring adults calmly explain away why their daughter is traumatized in this home despite ringing in the ears and muffled screams inside the window. Flickering lights, footsteps, shadows, and locked doors build an ominous mood as children are told not to be afraid before they cry in bed over the subtle but no less nasty suggestions. Although nighttime blue lighting is a little too dark, clever editing makes the banging objects, moving furniture, chandelier frights, and crafty kills more terrible amid police discovery, tip toeing social workers, and acting out at the hospital. It will take time to adjust, but ongoing whispers, fear of belts, and back to school structure don't help heal this trauma. People are trying to help and see to our survivor's needs, but the awkward disconnection persists alongside secret photo albums, missing medical records, locking oneself in the bathroom, and refusing to bathe except fully clothed. Are the buzzing lights, breaking dishes, and garage mishaps something paranormal or uncontrolled telekinesis reacting to abuse? Other children are brutally honest in some refreshing exposition, and creepy sing songs lead to nearby abusers and gory retributions as a yellow patina shapes this surreal atmosphere where the fantastic allows hurt children to take matters into their own hands rather than suffer what goes on behind closed doors in this close knit, superstitious community. Adults insist it isn't this girl's fault that bad things happen, but they suspect worse as she recoils from any compassion and child's play becomes harmed dolls and fiery birthday parties. Trances and school barricades come full circle, but the well intended adults only question what they didn't know about the people closest to them when it's too late. At times, the slow pace and frequent screaming drag, and the supernatural aspects are also misleading. The artsy finale will be confusing as well, but the mix of nightmares real and horror make for interesting metaphors and conversations on the frightening truth and who really has the titular mark.

Office Killer – Carol Kane (Taxi), Molly Ringwald (The Breakfast Club), and Jeanne Tripplehorn (Basic Instinct) star in photographer turned director Cindy Sherman's 1997 dark satire of magazine deadlines, office downsizing, and meek but murderous co-workers. Phone gossip, bossy dames, cigarettes, big computers, and older fashions invoke a quirky noir feeling amid the mundane ticking clock and a greasy higher up man who's giving all the ladies his cold. The copier ink explodes on hard working Dorine with the crookedly drawn eyebrows, everyone forgets her name, and she's stuck at home making tea for her crabby old mother amid laptop upgrades and learn or get left behind memos. Late night tech support, power outages, red lighting, and orange glows make the office a little scary before creepy convulsions, thunderstorms, poison in the inhaler, and crossed wires frying associates. Morbid winks layer scenes amid well-filmed bungling crimes, messy mail room slices, and a homeless man catching one hauling out the deceased, but Dorine gains confidence in talking back to that mean corpse while the cat plays with the bodies piling up in the basement. Bloody flashbacks with sixties wagons suggest our mousy employee already had some sociopathy in her, but the trickle down office blame mixes the real world stinky of the ignored worker who sees all with horror, distorted camerawork, kaleidoscope effects, and twisted perspectives. Would she have killed if she had been treated nicely? Mom yearns for the days when a man ruled the house, and mean girls, jealousy, frienemies, and calls to the bitchy wife of the deceased from the girl he was smooching in the office create multi-faceted women's interplay. Sure let's go to lunch – so I can knock you out with a crowbar! Our little lady is pretty crafty when she wants, using primitive emails to get back at stealing accountants or cleaning decomposing bodies with Windex and making unique décor with body parts. Dorine trades tightly wound buns for better make up – letting her hair down as she receives the workplace respect she deserves. Is one hateful co-worker right to not take her sob story at face value and accuse her of playing on everyone's sympathy? It's one woman's word versus another, but the macabre, likable moments ultimately reveal how disturbed the seemingly mild-mannered Dorine truly is. The satire may be uneven, too on nose for some and not outright horror enough with bemusing violence and cut away splatter. However, the innocent, unassuming start results in flies buzzing, smelly discoveries, and a sinister character parable with shrewd commentary on women's relationships, workplace environments, childhood dynamics, social shapings of psychoses, and more.

Trilogy of Terror – Karen Black (Burnt Offerings) leads this 1975 made for television anthology from director Dan Curtis (Dark Shadows) and writer Richard Matheson (Somewhere in Time) beginning with the campus bells, bell bottoms, and coeds of “Julie.” One stud student wonders how hot this frumpy teacher would be with hazy fantasy intercuts and steamy suggestions as he spies on her undressing. Classroom talk on Faulkner rape and Fitzgerald violence lead to a spicy French vampire movie and a dollar for two large root beers at the drive in – spiked of course. It's surprising they got away with such disturbing date rape on mid-seventies television, as a check-in at the hotel as “Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan Harker” leads to dark room photography and threatening notes forcing a woman to “meet” some of his friends before good old fashioned “I have the negatives” blackmail. Who is controlling whom? Newspaper scrapbooks and surprising revelations lead to the black and white reels and button up repression of Segment Two “Millicent and Therese.” Voiceover journaling recounts the family innuendo, cunning sister, fatal accidents, and satanism books on the shelf, but our prudish sibling won't let these perversions continue. All the lewd, sordid mentions are just talk done in one room confrontations – leaving enough saucy to the imagination in this near one woman show as a little voodoo puts the sibling rivalry into her own hands. Sure, it's obvious what's happening by time we see this tawdry sister in hot pants and platform shoes listening on the phone extension. However, it's taut fun, and I wish there were more star of the week, one actress in small set piece presentations today. “Amelia” adds one ugly little but cute in its own twisted way Zuni fetish tribal statue with a miniature spear, sharp teeth, and instructions on not removing its gold chain or the spirit inside will be released. .Awkward chats on the phone with mom provide comforting exposition while building drama – she wants to move on with her wild seventies kitchen, seriously floral wallpaper, shiny orange appliances, and bright teal carpet. Our tiny guy disappears under the couch, and initially, the talking to oneself is bemusing until bloody ankles, low camera angles, and tracking zooms across the floor create fear. Our young woman is home alone with scary sounds, hissing, and blood on her white robe. Yes, it is just a puppet, but the frenetic editing creates scares as this little sucker climbs up the bedskirt and sticks a stolen knife under the door. How does one explain this emergency when calling the police for help? Wrapping him in a towel or holding him under the water won't do the trick, but trapping him in a suitcase just might! Though hysterical as much as it is scary, this little battle makes for a memorable and wildly entertaining finish.

Top Ten: Writers!

Welcome to our new Top Tens series in celebration of I Think, Therefore I Review's Tenth Anniversary! These monthly lists will highlight special themes and topics from our extensive archive of reviews.

This time I Think, Therefore I Review presents in alphabetical order...

Our Top Ten Writers!

Charles Beaumont

Robert Bloch

Bernard Cornwall

Jane Goldman

Stephen King

John Logan

Richard Matheson

Edgar Allan Poe

Rod Serling

Robert Louis Stevenson

Please see our Books tag or visit our Sharpe and Science Fiction labels for more literary analysis!

I Think, Therefore I Review began as the blog home for previously published reviews and reprinted critiques by horror author Kristin Battestella. Naturally older articles linked here may be out of date and codes or formatting may be broken. Please excuse any errors and remember our Top Tens will generally only include films, shows, books, or music previously reviewed at I Think, Therefore I Review.

The Omega Man

The Omega Man Remains Relevant Science Fiction

by Kristin Battestella

After 1964's The Last Man on Earth but before 2007's I am Legend, there was The Omega Man, a loose 1971 adaptation of the Richard Matheson novel that remains a fine science fiction parable for today's audience.

Former military scientist Colonel Robert Neville (Charlton Heston) is immune to the plague that has ravaged the world after biological warfare between The Soviet Union and China has made him the last man on earth. He's spent the last two years alone by day – shopping where he may and driving the empty Los Angeles streets – while at night Neville avoids the mutated brethren cult led by former newscaster Matthias (Anthony Zerbe). Matthias sees Neville as the last remnant of the old technological ways that caused their suffering, but when Neville discovers Lisa (Rosalind Cash) and her small group of young survivors resisting the mutative turn, he's determined to use his immunity to develop a cure.

Directed by Boris Sagal (Rich Man, Poor Man) and adapted by John William and Joyce Hooper Corrington (Boxcar Bertha), The Omega Man opens with silent, distant shots of tall buildings and one small car on a quiet drive. No hustle, no bustle, no need to worry about traffic lights or speed limits on these open streets! Gunfire breaks this solitude as our eponymous man shoots at any sudden movement without hesitation, reminding viewers this isn't a pleasant empty but catastrophic fallout and germ warfare for a more jaded generation. The Woodstock footage in the empty cinema is a shrewd way to add more music and dialogue to The Omega Man, and the happy hippies and split screen designs create a sad commentary as the lonely Neville quotes the bittersweet lines before racing home to his foolproof penthouse and its “No Admittance” sign. Such humorous moments anchor the audience amid the well paced bleakness, and intercut overlays of past news bulletins, retro clips, missile footage, and Cold War updates sell the disaster. The specifics on how the then future 1977 got this way aren't completely spelled out, nor are they necessarily that important, for montages of overrun hospitals and bodies left in front of the television as they succumbed are enough. The apocalypse happens quickly though, it's been only two years and now there's one man on foot and no one to hear his echoes – or is there? The Omega Man has some lurking in the shadows surprises, and it's a great moment when our last man discovers he isn't as alone as he thought. While the style and casting admittedly capitalizes on the budding Blaxplotation movement, the interracial romance remains impressive, for the last people on earth wouldn't be so hung up on race anyway. Of course, The Omega Man is also silly at times with white men still screwing everything up, iffy Anglo Saxon versus Harlem jokes, and Jive talk laid on a little too thick. Cults and religious fanaticism sweep into the vacuum civilization left behind, and the confrontations are great when they do happen alongside well balanced action, dangerous rescues, and chases. Potentially resistant child survivors come out of the woodwork with innocent questions on The Family coming to steal their souls at night and if Neville's cure makes him God. At times both sides each represent death and savior with arguments over the new brethren's extremism and zealousness versus proper organization, cures, and scientific answers – although it was technology run amok that caused the problem in the first place! There's still a chance for science to save the day, man fixing what he put wrong with plans for a rural restart and hopeful Eden possibilities. However, this cataclysm may be too far gone to turn back, and some just won't let it. Despite a slightly abrupt and perhaps on the nose finale, The Omega Man offers multi layered interpretations for then and now amid heaps of Messianic symbolism – a man from the lit above brought mortally low with lances, pierced sides, crucifixion, blood, and a setting out to do what must be done legendary remembrance with a title to match. 
 

Charlton Heston aka Moses is a little older in The Omega Man but remains gritty. After all, if anybody would survive an apocalypse, we kind of know it would be good old Chuck and his guns. He's shirtless too, as if there was any doubt he would be. Neville has a sense of humor about his situation and has delightful one liners or bitter quips as he talks to his reflection – “There's never a good cop around when you need one!” However, he's also a little zany by this point, hearings phantom noises and yelling at them to shut up and leave him alone. He plays chess with a Caesar statue, drinks, makes a car deal to himself, says excuse me to nobody, and dresses for Sunday dinner in a swinging green velvet jacket and ruffled collar when not in then hip leisure suit safari styles or mod military athleisure. The former scientist and retired colonel jogs with a rifle and notes safe areas on his map with a tape recorder – he's outnumbered and holding out but mentally slipping. Is he imagining it when he sees a girl? He claims he's a narcissist by default and Neville's reputation proceeds him, but the idea that his self injected experimental vaccine could be a cure within his blood makes him reconsider the staunch defense of his lonely home. Not to mention Neville puts on the gentlemanly charm as the only boy in town despite generator scares and a few close calls. He goes from saying the only thing people should build is coffins, as that's all we'll ever really need, to risking the cure from his body to save others. Should Neville exhaust his healing supply on the brethren whom he perceives as more vermin than human and half dead already? If he won't save them, does he kill them or leave them to die? Neville himself was once half crazed and entombed in his own fortress, so is his hope of leaving The Family behind to be with new people elsewhere too good to be true?

In The Omega Man's flashbacks, Anthony Zerbe's (License to Kill) brethren leader Matthias was a news anchor, a familiar face and voice to and for the public informing citizens of the Soviet versus China nuclear war. It's an eerie, though not surprising leap – especially today – that a television celebrity could rise as the leader of this plague cult called The Family, uniting victims with warped religion and distorted views on the error of our ways. Matthias waxes on the ills of technology and views Neville as a relic of destruction that must be purged. He uses this plague as an opportunity to cleanse and set fire, becoming obsessed with getting rid of the refuse of the past – obsolete oil, engines, and artificial light. From his ironic perch in the abandoned civic center, Matthias is ready to erase history and begin civilization anew. While his methods are extreme and twisted, we viewers unfortunately know he is scarily not wrong in how we are the cause of our own destruction with germ warfare and biochemical weapons. Maybe some of our technology is better off burned – but lynch mobs, torches, and Inquisition revivals are not the answer, leaving Matthias' destructive ways no better than the leaders who came before this apocalyptic plague.

Rosalind Cash's (Tales from the Hood) badass Lisa, however, has survived the apocalypse without talking to herself like Neville or power tripping like Matthias. She has some sweet red leather suits and remains prepared with guns and a motorcycle. Lisa warns Neville she'll bust his ass if he tries anything, and we believe it faster than he can say, “Yes ma'am.” She doesn't care about the world and has kept to herself just fine, only seeking out Neville for his scientific expertise once her brother has begun to turn from the plaque. However, Lisa does make herself at home in Neville's place, giving life to his museum with her panache and using her hustle to steal a red dress from its late owner and make a move on Neville as well. All this bleakness and morose on the run, yet when you put a man and woman together, they still know how to flirt! Her third perspective between Neville's cling to what was lost and Matthais' Dark Ages revival opposites add fine conversation on how a new existence need not be mere survival or retribution, there's a fresh world out there for the taking to make what they choose. While there is a whiff of black woman fetishism in her nude scenes, Lisa's on top and the next morning nakedness makes no mistake on what has happened. Neville and Lisa have a bittersweet laugh when they find birth control pills in the pharmacy, too – an irrelevant need to them post-apocalypse but a then recent liberation in 1971. Lisa jokes she's going out shopping and will be borrowing Neville's credit cards, but takes a gun as he reminds her his only rule is to shoot first – progressive banter for their situation that remains refreshing. Blaxplotation trappings of the time aside, it's exceptional to see a black woman take charge, kick ass, and look divine doing so. Why do we still not have enough characters like this? By contrast, Eric Laneuville (St. Elsewhere) as Lisa's young and innocent brother Richie naively thinks the potential cure developed by Neville will be for everyone – the youthful more slowly infected as well as the turned brethren. He foolishly thinks everything can simply go back to the way it was and make the world all right, but who could blame him? Unfortunately, this is exactly why we can't have nice things, for even after such a catastrophic fallout, there will always be someone to take advantage of a child's hopes.

While not as bad as some of my earlier, laughable Hokey Heston favorites, The Omega Man has its share of dated seventies designs. The albino make up, sunglasses, and Afro hairstyles are bemusingly memorable – creepy thanks to the hooded robes, red lesions and white out eyes but odd rather than truly scary as intended. The rad music swells before the fine action scenes, but there are swanky melancholy tunes on the radio and warped organ music heralding the dead afoot. Not to mention the eight tracks! The Omega Man isn't a quiet film but common alarms or phones ringing are surprising noises breaking the isolation. Neville abandons a cool red convertible, stopping in the used dealership to help himself to a blue one before using a giant remote for that spiffy garage door opener. His townhouse is tricked out with elevators, spotlights, generators, old laboratory equipment, and a gunnery on the roof – a nighttime fortress holding out against fire bombs and primitive catapults. The penthouse is a mix of mod and baroque with candelabras, marble busts, paintings, and other pleasantries now mere relics of a civilization's lost sophistication. The luxurious hotels sit derelict with red velvet and waiting place settings overtaken with cobwebs, corpses, and ghoulish reveals. This is a bright and colorful film – the Ω lettering in the title is neat, too – yet the gritty, dark mood increases with eerie mannequins in empty department stores free for the shopping. Though the park scenes and winding motorcycle rides are lovely, the benches are rusted and the outdoors overgrown as nature reclaims itself without people. Such visuals look especially renewed on blu-ray along with a retrospective introduction and vintage behind the scenes featurettes.

Some purists may dislike the changes from the novel or find The Omega Man's seventies updates too of their time. However, believable characters anchor the audience alongside social statements that sadly still ring true, providing religious undercurrents and continued contemplation as good science fiction should do. The Omega Man remains a fun action thriller as well as a cerebral and mature fable. This is a superb story able to stand on its own as a separate entity from its source that keeps the conversation going long after the movie is finished. 

 

Just Vamps V!

Just Vamps V!

By Kristin Battestella

Indulge your cravings with this batch of elusive or obscure, foreign, and somewhat rare but mostly bloody good vampire pictures from decades yore.

Blood and Roses – Mel Ferrer (Falcon Crest) leads this 1960 French/Italian Carmilla influenced production brimming with lovely outdoor locations and lookalike relatives mixing romance and Karnstein history. Though the currently gathered descendants scoff at vampire myths and stories of peasants taking stakes into their own hands centuries ago; familiar names, 500 year old Mircalla voiceovers, and a costume party in a ruined abbey add period piece mood to the modern suits, fifties frocks, and swanky cocktails for a slightly baroque blend. While not as lavish as the later Hammer pictures, this is indeed colorful thanks to quality titular motifs, white wedding dresses, and red fireworks. Peppering creepy words accent the smoke, crosses, tombs, heartbeats, and vampire spirits ready to possess anew. Mirrors, screams, and zooms make for some suspenseful moments – unseen vampire deceptions escalate over the discovery of bodies with neck wounds. However, there is a symbolic sensuality, implied saucy, and very Bava-esque pretty in the surreal, black and white dream sequence winking with water, sanitariums, naked mannequins, and nurses with bloody hands. It's a bittersweet, medieval feeling with all kinds of lesbian vampire shade, blonde versus brunette rivalries, and so close you want to be her Single White Female innuendo. Director Roger Vadim (Barbarella) certainly liked his statuesque blondes, and there are fine personality changes for his then wife Annette Stroyberg (also of Vadim's Les Liaisons dangereuses) as the bewitching, possessed Carmilla – she's minuet dancing, can't work the record player, and horses misbehave around her. Elsa Martinelli (Hatari!) is also divine in several portrait like stills paralleling Carmilla's feminine desire to be loved as much as her necessity for blood. Different edited or longer versions effect the plot here, but the dubbed 74 minute edition is currently available on Amazon Prime. While it won't be scary for modern audiences, this sophisticated and creepy but no less tender tale is impressive and worth seeing.

The Blood Drinkers – The full screen print of this dubbed 1966 Filipino production is somewhat flat, but the unique, cost cutting color schemes create a bizarre design of lavender and blue tints, red spotlights, and a silent film style patina. Smoke, funerary, capes, and crypts accent the time capsule East Indies architecture and style in an old world meets mid century macabre feeling. While the narration may seem dated or unnecessary now, the voiceover details the unique vampire myths and heart rituals assuring an undead return – thus helping in translation when the unpolished production values become confusing. The slightly annoying sci fi buzzing and hokey bat effects aren't too big a bother over the hour and a half, and hunchback servants, rapacious blood attacks, suggested nude victims, and predatory penetration create retro Gothic horror violence, twisted love, past scandals, and vampire pain. Evil old ladies, vampire brides, and eerie relatives coming back from the dead add to the open graves, parish assistance, religious relics, and an almost medieval Christian iconography. The action is well paced alongside rival suitors, vampire persuasions, and cemetery sieges, too. Sure, this is cheap and sappy at times, but the alternate Blood is the Color of Night title perhaps better represents the jealous vamp vixens, moral twists, and other now familiar vampire motifs – not to mention there's a fiery mob and chase finale!

Dan Curtis' Dracula – After a perpetual Netflix save only, I finally found the uncensored version of this 1973 telemovie produced and directed by the eponymous Dark Shadows creator on Hulu. Once billed as Bram Stoker's Dracula, the historical Tepes connections and reincarnated romance also found in Coppola's 1992 edition seem to have their impetus here alongside more than a whiff of Dark Shadows in Robert Cobert's score. Wolf howls and carriages accent the outdoor filming, 1897 village, and European locations – leading to a creepy Borgo Pass and monstrous vampire brides for solicitor Harker. Though heavy on the seventies zooms, ominous epistles and past portraits build suspense before quick Demeter action, Victorian trains, and the idyllic English coast. With only Arthur Holmwood and no Renfield, writer Richard Matheson (The Twilight Zone) swiftly moves to Lucy sleepwalking, Dr. Van Helsing, garlic, blood, and stakings. Wolves are in this parlor with the spilling tea and fainting ladies! The big Civil War era gowns are earlier than truer turn of the century bustles, and though pretty, the English transition restarts the atmosphere, delaying away from Dracula. Despite Eastern European roots, Jack Palance (City Slickers) doesn't need any velcome talk thanks to his already deep, robust voice, and his chilling delivery of the familiar book lines adds to his suave facade. We know Dracula's lost love motivations, but thanks to Palance's hissing, rough desperation, the Count isn't too sympathetic. Whitby, Carfax, bites, crosses, boxes of earth – the investigation of such horrors escalates into a full on Transylvania pursuit. At times however, this does feel like a big budget Dark Shadows with the wrong cast of characters. It's not scary today and seems too derivative of other Dracula movies – perhaps because until recently, this version was somewhat sequestered while we watched all the others. Fortunately, the story moves fast, with superfluous players and book events excised for a straightforward Stoker summation. I'm glad this kind of Victorian Gothic is coming back into vogue, and the abbreviated plot, eerie atmosphere, and fine performances here are a great introduction to the genre.

Your Call!

The Vampire's Ghost – Writer Leigh Brackett (The Big Sleep) adapted this hour long 1945 black and white tale loosely from the Polidori source, however an unfortunate narration warning of a dark land of voodoo and jungle evils sets the scene with stereotypical forties film racism. Cliché tribal drums, primitive English speaketh, and a witch cult village are apparently worse than a restless 400-year-old vampire prowler because this superstitious, medieval tomfoolery is interfering with native worker output on the big white man's plantation. It's uncomfortable to see such subservient mentalities, for locals aren't allowed to solve their own village vampire problem and must follow the mistaken white doctor or minister – who's entire dialogue consists of Hayes Code souls and redemption shoehorn. Some may argue the dance scene is unnecessary as well, but Adele Mara (Wake of the Red Witch) is lovely and it is a good dance! Is the suave, sunglasses wearing, bar owner John Abbott (The Woman in White) our vampire? Of course he happens to have the same name as one of his Spanish Armada ancestors! There are some unique pieces of undead lore here, such as small boxes of home soil under the pillow and restorative moonlight properties. Though short and fast moving, seedy gambling scenes and barroom brawl action are also fun alongside would-be sympathetic vampire revelations. The villainy is good, as are the shadows, suspense, hypnosis, and seductive kills with dames caught in the middle. However, the mirrors, safari style, and weird innuendos are more bemusing than scary. The potential for a fun little hour is here, but it is tough to overlook the racist plot points when it feels like half the picture and most of the actual vampness are unfortunately absent.

Thriller: Season 2

Though Flawed, Thriller's Second Season Remains Frightful

By Kristin Battestella

In 1961, Boris Karloff returned as host for Year Two of the spooky and suspenseful anthology series Thriller. With 30 episodes a season, the mixed focus on scares and scandal runs thin at times. However, several thrilling and frightful gems –with a few from Big K himself – keep this season entertaining.

Disc One of Thriller's Second Year opens with an ill wife, an easy to suspect a husband, and pretty younger sister in “What Beckoning Ghost?” Directed by Ida Lupino (The Hitch-Hiker), the suspense, coffins, premonitions, wills, and funerary wreaths escalate the gaslighting versus supernatural possibilities. Smart shadow placement and quality editing on the toppers combine for a nice mix of both scary and crime – a positive blend in the identity crisis that will continually hampered Thriller. Also directed by Lupino and adapted by Charles Beaumont (The Twilight Zone), “Guillotine” sets the French flavor with slicing practice, dark prisons, and jingling shackles. The delicious intro from Karloff, crimes of passion, simmering pace, and seduction anchor the sinister poisons versus ticking clock executions. Although the plot boils down to a straightforward crime, the unique period piece tone and final twists make up the difference, and “The Premature Burial” ups Thriller in full on, macabre Poe fashion. Boris himself is involved with this dreary Victorian tale, its elaborate tombs, questionable deaths, and catalepsy – and this episode aired before the release of the 1962 Roger Corman film adaptation. The larger than usual cast, great costumes, and fancy sets add to the deceit, unfaithfulness, and obsession while the black and white accents the morbid fail safes, bells, turnabouts, and demented performances. More statues and fortune tellers highlight “The Weird Tailor,” written by Robert Bloch (Psycho) and also later adapted in the 1972 Amicus anthology film Asylum. The deadly sorcery mistakes here can't be amended, but the special eponymous request leads to marital dysfunction, one unusual sewing dummy, and fine social drama amid the occult intensity.

Elizabeth Montgomery (Bewitched), Tom Poston (Newhart), and John Carradine (Bluebeard) start off Disc Two with the lighthearted, perfect for Halloween farce “Masquerade.” From a writer on a honeymoon and a stormy night breakdown to ominous music, the Psycho house setting the scene, and rumors of vampires afoot – even Karloff's introduction is unabashedly in on the spooky winks, tongue in cheek tone, and self aware repartee. Maybe the vampire cliches are too hammy for some viewers expecting true scares, but fortunately, the haunted house kooky and maze like bizarre contribute to a delightful kicker! “The Last of the Sommervilles” – again directed and also written by that oft Thriller gal Ida Lupino – has hastily buried bodies as garden fertilizer as well as Karloff once again making a slick appearance alongside Martita Hunt (Anastasia). This greedy family has plenty of crazy aunts and hidden relations with inheritance double crosses and Victorian irony. The actual murder how tos are a little loose, but sinister bathtub suggestions and fine interplay raise the suspense. Intense silhouettes, a bemusing score, card game puns, and old ladies with binoculars make the crimes in “A Third for Pinochle” all seem so quaint in this quid pro quo social etiquette meets hatchets tale. The belittling frumpy wives and unassuming killer neighbors ala The 'Burbs is perhaps too similar to Season One's “A Good Imagination” also starring Edward Andrews (Sixteen Candles), however, there's enough whimsy to accent the hi-jinks while thunderstorms, slamming windows, a spooky castle, dungeon cobwebs, and great costumes up the scares in “The Closed Cabinet.” The medieval riddles sound like nonsensical hyperbole, but the 1880 flair, disbelieving lineage, and a superb black and white mood add to the ghostly beckoning, gothic dressings, and ye olde medieval harmonies.

For Disc Three of this Second Season, Thriller finally caught on with the need for more in on the game Karloff and serves up two tales both featuring Boris in different roles for “Dialogues with Death.” Morgue slabs, afterlife questions, skeptical reporters mocking the idea of asking the departed who killed them – and that's the first half before more American Gothic swamps, flooded mausoleums, and catalepsy. Thriller can seems redundant or as if its running out of content with too many family scares in a row, especially so if every episode had been this kind of multi-plot variety, but writer Richard Matheson (The Twilight Zone) picks up the slack with a crazy uncle and his unusual internment requests in “The Return of Andrew Bentley.” The shrill sounds effects are terrible, indeed, however, familiars, necromancy, and occult warnings on tampering with the perimeters of death add to the moody marital discord. Wow, Jo Van Fleet (Wild River) looks so beautiful and evil alongside pup Bruce Dern (The 'Burbs) and the again suspicious John Carradine in “The Remarkable Mrs. Hawk.” The quaint farm, cute piglets, weird whimsy, and county fair gentility belies the ruthless thieves and deadly rural. This toes the too goofy line, but there are some fun chess battles had here. More creepy voices, shadows, nightmares, and a noose start “An Attractive Family” before Leo G. Carroll (Spellbound) and Robert Long (The Big Valley) duel over crafty but thwarted spousal accidents that keep the audience guessing to the end.

“Waxworks” leads Disc Four with uncomfortably realistic designs and what you think you see tricks setting the mood for another Robert Bloch tale. The cops are trite, however French flavor adds to the Old World atmosphere, double take scares, unexpected violence, and noir style – making for another pleasing combination of the crime and paranormal parents on Thriller. Ursula Andress (Dr. No) looks divine for “La Strega,” making the viewer care for the peasantry even if the Italian setting is slightly stereotypical and somewhat Spanish thanks to Ramon Novarro (Mata Hari) and Alejandro Rey (The Flying Nun). Once again director Ida Lupino builds an Old Country and foreign horror feeling with witches, familiars, and a dangerous mix of beauty, curses, and superstitions. Operatic orchestration accents the romantic tragedy and inevitable pursuits that can't be outrun while creepy crones ascend toward the camera with their dread uninterrupted. More screams, black cats, and solitary perils elevate the standard premise, understandable fears, and expected suspicions in “The Storm.” Pesky cabbies and unheeded warnings escalate toward frightful power outages, deadly downpours, animal knee jerks, natural scares, and a fine topper. “A Wig for Miss Devore” begins with past executions and fatal beauties before film within a film aging starlets and movie magic deceptions featuring John Fiedler (The Bob Newhart Show). It's interesting to have seemingly contemporary talk of parts for 25 year old fresh red heads only and a 38 year old has been who was finished at 32 – a swift social commentary on desperate charms and Hollywood extremes. Thriller is on point when the crimes are supernatural, period set, or elevated with more cultural dimension as in “The Hollow Watcher.” Backwoods murder and Irish mail order brides lead nosy but fearful townsfolk, local legends, and phantom vengeance with scandalous touches and schemes compensating for anything that may appear comical now. Besides, scarecrows are already disturbing enough, right? The series peaks here with what may be the single best disc in the complete Thriller collection.

Karloff's final in character appearance in “The Incredible Doktor Markesan” leads Disc Five with excellent slow, stilted moves and a sunken, deathly veneer. Suspicious medical university secrets, a kitchen with food so old its turned to dust, and inquisitive nephew Dick York (Bewitched) accent the no trespassing signs, old newspapers, and eerie meetings. Terrifically terrifying makeup and music ala The Gentleman from Buffy highlight this mix of murder and science, going for the scares as Thriller should have done all along. “Flowers of Evil” brings yet more ghoulishness with skeletal props and Victorian flavor. How does one come into the business of procuring bad luck bones to sell, anyway? coughmurdercough. Though overlong in some spots, budding forensics, cadavers, and dissection keep the gruesome mood afloat. Robert Bloch pens the western set “Til Death Do Us Part” with a fortune hunting undertaker in a town where the dead body business isn't what it's cracked up to be. The comedic music is overdone, but the unique setting, murderous intentions, and eloping in a horse drawn Hearst are much more fun when played for the macabre bigamy gone bad. “The Bride Who Died Twice” has torture, creepy Mexican generals, and unwilling marital alliances with a wonderfully different setting, epic music, and lovely costumes accenting the star crossed lovers and corruption from director Ida Lupino. Despite the horrors of revolution, fine cinematic flair, and all around period delightful, ironically this strictly dramatic hour doesn't seem like it belongs on Thriller. Fortunately, Mary Tyler Moore sings Cole Porter in “Man of Mystery,” setting a swanky, urbane feeling for this whodunit full of playboys, money, secrets, and escalating obsessions, and Ida Lupino bows out her Thriller directing on Disc Six with sulfuric acid, animal trophies, timid librarians, iron fisted new bosses, and play within a play winks for the dual femmes in “The Lethal Ladies.”

Since it took so long for Thriller to get its full on horror, it's tempting to give several pedestrian episodes a free pass. As the spelling suggests, “God Grante that She Lye Stille” serves up ye olde burning at the stake declarations before more familiar moonlight curses almost pull off all the horror stops. Unfortunately, the odd, interchangeable combination of witches and vampires doesn't quite fire on all cylinders. The room to room opening and closing doors in “Letter to a Lover” feel like an old Scooby Doo montage, complete with repetitive, nondescript country manor suspicions, subservient minorities, subterfuge, and murder. Someone even nearly says, “And I would have gotten away with it if it weren't for you kids!” “Portrait without a Face” has a neat premise, but John Newland (One Step Beyond) starts with a hammy Vincent Price imitation before one annoying, cackling old lady and a slow double talk investigation that can't fill up the 50 minute runtime. “Cousin Tundifer” repeats the Edward Andrews humor and comical music, missing the teleportation and topsy turvy time irony and opportunity on laughter and yet another nephew trying to get rich while “Kill My Love” also rinse repeats murder, adultery, and gas leaks. Young George Kennedy (Dallas) can't save the obvious and disposable Burke and Hare plots of “The Innocent Bystanders,” and as to the crooks and cops of “The Specialists”...yawn. For such a short run, Thriller over relies on too many of the same witches, suspicious couples, amoral families, murderers, and profiteers, and in retrospect, the series seems reluctant to fully embrace its built in horror mantle. I suppose mystery and adultery of the week were simply cheaper to film than weekly macabre. That doesn't mean that the suspense and crime episodes aren't entertaining – Thriller provides a little something for everyone across the spectrum from witty to scary and everything in between. Through today's lense, however, Thriller appears to play it safe more often than it should.

Thankfully, mid century furs, pearls, old technology, fedoras, cool cars, and classy interiors add charm alongside somewhat simplistic but atmospheric and fitting ghost effects – which were probably pretty elaborate for a time when $3, a cup of coffee, or 20 cents a mile paid the cab driver and real operators connected the phone line. Thunder, lightning, fire, mirrors, and black and white ambiance accent the 17^th century through Victorian times. Again, it probably wasn't cost prohibitive to always be period set, but more mood and effort seems to grace the historical pieces, and those well dressed interiors and gothic feelings carry Thriller regardless of the time period onscreen. The series may not be as immediately recognizable as The Twilight Zone or The Outer Limits, however, Thriller does have a universally spooky atmosphere. Part of that may be Karloff's lure, but he's still having a good time doing the introductions, even occasionally getting into it with more spunk on the weaker episodes – popping in amid the sets more like Serling this season and quoting Shakespeare in the cemetery! Although the soft voices and sometimes bombastic sounds on this Complete Thriller series set are still obnoxious, more fine Jerry Goldsmith scores add ambiance and can be isolated on select episodes alongside commentaries and other treats.

This second season lags across the middle discs, and a shorter season with more Karloff would have been so sweet, but I'm happy Thriller righted itself this year with a more scary focus. I'd love to see the earlier Karloff series The Veil for comparison, but unfortunately, those sets appear incomplete, elusive, and unavailable on Netflix. Today, a show like Thriller would have been continuously tweaked into its short ruin with all half horror horrors reaching for stunt casting guests and anything and everything shocking in a desperate grab for ratings. Overall, Thriller's attempt at a suspenseful and scary middle ground is uneven and divisive, leaving audiences to skip around the scary or pick and choose the scandal. However, I'm glad the series didn't cater to the lowest audience with cheap horror, and thus, Thriller remains sophisticated fun be it murder or macabre.

Thriller: Season 1

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.