Boris Karloff's 'Thriller' (1960-62)

[SnarkyOracle!]

Boris Karloff's 'Thriller' Finally Making its Way to DVD

Karloff's classic horror television series "Thriller" is finally making its way to DVD courtesy of Image Entertainment and we couldn't be happier. All 67 episodes will be transferred to a 14 DVD box set due out August 3rd...

For two seasons and over sixty episodes, horror icon Boris Karloff invited television audiences to enjoy captivating tales of suspense, murder, and relentless terror as host of the 1960s anthology series “Thriller.” Featuring stories from such master storytellers as Edgar Allan Poe, Robert Bloch, Cornell Woolrich and starring a galaxy of classic television stars from the 1960s and 1970s, “Thriller” was dubbed by Stephen King as “the best horror series ever put on TV.”

Now, Image Entertainment proudly announces a tribute to a television legend with the August 31st release of “Thriller: The Complete Series” 14-DVD Deluxe Box Set. All 67 unforgettable episodes have been remastered, and are presented uncut for the first time since their original broadcasts! And for this very special release, over 50 hours of bonus features have been exclusively and specially created, with over 24 hours of audio commentaries, over 31 hours of isolated music & effects tracks for select episodes from composers Jerry Goldsmith and Morton Stevens, rare episode promos, extensive promotional and production still galleries and more! SRP is $149.98, and pre-book is August 3rd.

“Thriller” still stands today as one of the most chilling television shows ever produced. In addition to the sterling pedigree of stories chosen for the series, “Thriller” boasts an impressive cast of then and future superstars including William Shatner (“Star Trek,” “Boston Legal”), Leslie Nielsen (The Naked Gun films), Rip Torn (“The Larry Sanders Show”), Richard Chamberlain (The Towering Inferno, “The Thorn Birds”), Oscar-winner Cloris Leachman (“Phyllis,” Young Frankenstein), Oscar-nominee Mary Tyler Moore (Ordinary People), Russell Johnson (“Gilligan’s Island”), Edward Platt (“Get Smart”), Natalie Schafer (“Gilligan’s Island”), Tom Poston (Zotz!, “Newhart”), Elizabeth Montgomery (“Bewitched,” “The Legend of Lizzie Borden”), Ursula Andress (Dr. No, Casino Royale) , Howard McNear (Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, “The Andy Griffith Show”), Dick York (Inherit The Wind, “Bewitched”) and many, many more!

And there was talent behind the camera. Episodes were directed by such veterans as “Twilight Zone” alums Douglas Heyes and John Brahm, Mitchell Leisen (Hold Back The Dawn, Death Takes A Holiday) and actor-turned-director Paul Henreid (Casablanca, Now Voyager).

“Thriller: The Complete Series” 14-DVD Deluxe Box Set is the ultimate tribute to the legendary television series and the ultimate must-have for any fan of horror, classic TV…or both! So turn out the lights, settle into your couch, and just keep telling yourself: It’s only a TV show. It’s only a TV show…

Episodes SEASON 1: The Twisted Image, Child's Play, Worse Than Murder, The Mark of the Hand, Rose's Last Summer, The Guilty Men, The Purple Room, The Watcher, Girl with a Secret, The Prediction, The Fatal Impulse, The Big Blackout, Knock Three-One-Two, Man in the Middle, The Cheaters, The Hungry Glass, The Poisoner, Man in the Cage, Choose a Victim, Hay-Fork and Bill-Hook, The Merriweather File, The Fingers of Fear, Well of Doom, The Ordeal of Dr. Cordell, Trio for Terror, Papa Benjamin, Late Date, Yours Truly Jack the Ripper, The Devil's Ticket, Parasite Mansion, A Good Imagination, Mr. George, The Terror in Teakwood, The Prisoner in the Mirror, Dark Legacy, Pigeons from Hell, The Grim Reaper.

SEASON 2: What Beckoning Ghost?, Guillotine, The Premature Burial, The Weird Tailor, God Grante That She Lye Stille, Masquerade, The Last of the Sommervilles, Letter to a Lover, A Third for Pinochle, The Closed Cabinet, Dialogues with Death, The Return of Andrew Bentley, The Remarkable Mrs. Hawk, Portrait Without a Face, An Attractive Family, Waxworks, La Strega, The Storm, A Wig for Miss Devore, The Hollow Watcher, Cousin Tundifer, The Incredible Doktor Markesan, Flowers of Evil, ‘Til Death Do Us Part, The Bride Who Died Twice, Kill My Love, Man of Mystery, The Innocent Bystanders, The Lethal Ladies, The Specialists.


Special Features

# 29 New Audio Commentaries featuring Arthur Hiller, Patricia Barry, Ernest Dickerson, David Schow, Tim Lucas, Gary Gerani, Jim Wynorski, Richard Anderson, Lucy Chase Williams, Steve Mitchell, Marc Scott Zicree, Alan Brennert, Beverly Washburn, Larry Blamire, Jon Burlingame, Daniel Benton, Ron Borst, Craig Reardon

# Extensive Promotional and Production Still Galleries
# Rare Episode Promos

# Thriller Series Promo

# Isolated Music & Effects Tracks for Select Episodes from Composers Jerry Goldsmith and Morton Stevens

http://www.horrorbid.com/images/blog/446.jpg

[Afton]

Awesome. I've always wanted to see this show. Have you watched, Marky?

[SnarkyOracle!]

Awesome. I've always wanted to see this show. Have you watched, Marky?Haven't seen it in ages. It's of that early-'60s TWILIGHT ZONE/ONE STEP BEYOND/OUTER LIMITS(yuck)/ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS era of shows and movies which could just do "creepy" better than any other era...

It's the same reason why even Opie losing a baseball in the old haunted "murder-mansion" on the edge of Mayberry or Rob and Laura Petrie spending a night in a haunted "murder cabin" were so eerie--- despite being comedic. (Something I've alluded to in threads about PSYCHO or THE INNOCENTS, etc...)

Of all the series like this from that era, Boris Karloff's THRILLER was perhaps the creepiest, although the crime episodes which came early in the series aren't as effective as the full-out horror ones. It's all about nightmarish atmosphere.

In fact, one of the alleged reasons THRILLER was cancelled in 1962 after only two seasons was that exectuives deemed the show "too scary" (very typical of network decisions at that time) and that Alfred Hitchcock considered THRILLER too much competition in the spooky sweepstakes and pressured executives for its removal.

In contrast to THRILLER, Hitchcock's show was a little show of often pedestrian stories (some were good) while Rod Serling's THE TWILIGHT ZONE, though a legit classic, was sometimes weighted down with Serling's need to have every installment carry an explicit (as opposed to implicit) moral message which could sometimes render the series a bit preachy.

I'm not sure if the thing that made THRILLER work was the scripts (as I said, it's been a bit since I've seen it) as much as the shocking (for the time) in-your-face direction the series' producers obviously favored.

http://www.dreadcentral.com/img/news/may10/thrillerb.jpg


$149.98 :eek:
And the price may be the creepiest thing about it.

[minx]

I'd never heard of this one before. I have been searching for a good horror/sci-fi series for some time. I finished the original Twilight Zone series a couple of years ago and enjoyed it. The 1980s version hasn't quite measured up, so that's been sitting on my shelf for a while. I've had The Night Gallery sitting on my Amazon wish list for over a year now. Can't seem to convince myself that it would be worth seeing though. I've read a lot of mixed reviews. I'd heard rave reviews about The Outer Limits, so I bought it, but cannot stand it. The stories are lame and the effects are bad even, it seems, for its time. The cast of actors on Thriller interests me though and I do prefer horror to sci-fi. Thanks for bringing it to our attention.

[Afton]

Haven't seen it in ages. It's of that early-'60s TWILIGHT ZONE/ONE STEP BEYOND/OUTER LIMITS(yuck)/ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS era of shows and movies which could just do "creepy" better than any other era...

It's the same reason why even Opie losing a baseball in the old haunted "murder-mansion" on the edge of Mayberry or Rob and Laura Petrie spending a night in a haunted "murder cabin" were so eerie--- despite being comedic. (Something I've alluded to in threads about PSYCHO or THE INNOCENTS, etc...)

Of all the series like this from that era, Boris Karloff's THRILLER was perhaps the creepiest, although the crime episodes which came early in the series aren't as effective as the full-out horror ones. It's all about nightmarish atmosphere.

In fact, one of the alleged reasons THRILLER was cancelled in 1962 after only two seasons was that exectuives deemed the show "too scary" (very typical of network decisions at that time) and that Alfred Hitchcock considered THRILLER too much competition in the spooky sweepstakes and pressured executives for its removal.

In contrast to THRILLER, Hitchcock's show was a little show of often pedestrian stories (some were good) while Rod Serling's THE TWILIGHT ZONE, though a legit classic, was sometimes weighted down with Serling's need to have every installment carry an explicit (as opposed to implicit) moral message which could sometimes render the series a bit preachy.

I'm not sure if the thing that made THRILLER work was the scripts (as I said, it's been a bit since I've seen it) as much as the shocking (for the time) in-your-face direction the series' producers obviously favored.

$149.98 :eek:
And the price may be the creepiest thing about it.

Wow, quite a price tag! With what I heard about it, it may be worth it. I definitely won't be buying it upon initial release though. I'll wait for the price to go down first.

I have never seen 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents" either to be honest though Psycho was BRILLIANT as you assured me it would be, Marky :D Do you recommend it as well?


I'd never heard of this one before. I have been searching for a good horror/sci-fi series for some time. I finished the original Twilight Zone series a couple of years ago and enjoyed it. The 1980s version hasn't quite measured up, so that's been sitting on my shelf for a while. I've had The Night Gallery sitting on my Amazon wish list for over a year now. Can't seem to convince myself that it would be worth seeing though. I've read a lot of mixed reviews. I'd heard rave reviews about The Outer Limits, so I bought it, but cannot stand it. The stories are lame and the effects are bad even, it seems, for its time. The cast of actors on Thriller interests me though and I do prefer horror to sci-fi. Thanks for bringing it to our attention.

Hmmmm Night Gallery was kinda hit and miss for me, Minx. It's defintely not the Twilight Zone which (with the exception of Season 4's hour-long episodes) I thought was amazing. I don't know why the hour-longs didn't do it for me. I found myself growing bored about halfway through. Night Gallery usually did a few stories in the hour so that is probably why it didn't affect me as the hour-long Twight Zone episodes did.

Ugh, I'm glad I'm not the only one who hated The Outer Limits. Both you and Marky feel the same. I would often fall asleep and had to REALLY struggle to finish it.

[SnarkyOracle!]

I'd never heard of this one before. I have been searching for a good horror/sci-fi series for some time. I finished the original Twilight Zone series a couple of years ago and enjoyed it. The 1980s version hasn't quite measured up, so that's been sitting on my shelf for a while. I've had The Night Gallery sitting on my Amazon wish list for over a year now. Can't seem to convince myself that it would be worth seeing though. I've read a lot of mixed reviews. I'd heard rave reviews about The Outer Limits, so I bought it, but cannot stand it. The stories are lame and the effects are bad even, it seems, for its time. The cast of actors on Thriller interests me though and I do prefer horror to sci-fi. Thanks for bringing it to our attention.Yeah, you'll notice I said "yuck!" about OUTER LIMITS. It mostly doesn't work. It's just a bunch of space monsters that the special effects can't support.

The problem with NIGHT GALLERY is that Rod Serling didn't have creative control over it as he had with TWILIGHT ZONE (he once complained that the network "just wants MANNIX in a cemetery" for 'NG'). It's hit-and-miss, for sure.



Wow, quite a price tag! With what I heard about it, it may be worth it. I definitely won't be buying it upon initial release though. I'll wait for the price to go down first.

I have never seen 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents" either to be honest though Psycho was BRILLIANT as you assured me it would be, Marky :D Do you recommend it as well? ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS is an anthology show, too, from that era (ran 10 years, in fact) but it doesn't have the relative focus of TWILIGHT ZONE. Some are good, some are not. Of course. But you're talking about hundreds of episodes. If it's expensive, I'd catch a few --- or a bunch --- on TV first.




Hmmmm Night Gallery was kinda hit and miss for me, Minx. It's defintely not the Twilight Zone which (with the exception of Season 4's hour-long episodes) I thought was amazing. I don't know why the hour-longs didn't do it for me. I found myself growing bored about halfway through. Night Gallery usually did a few stories in the hour so that is probably why it didn't affect me as the hour-long Twight Zone episodes did.

Ugh, I'm glad I'm not the only one who hated The Outer Limits. Both you and Marky feel the same. I would often fall asleep and had to REALLY struggle to finish it.In 1959, Serling had originally wanted TWILIGHT ZONE to be a full hour, but because most TV series dramas at the time were only 30 minutes, that's how long "TZ" was. But by the time the drama series were expanding to 60 or even 90 minutes in the early-1960's, Serling was now convinced that 30 minutes had been exactly the right length.

CBS cancelled "TZ" in 1962, so, bowing to network pressure, Serling expanded "TZ" to 60 minutes in order to be renewed, and the show quickly became a padded soap opera. Serling complained and it was mercifully cut down again for Season 5 as of Fall 1963.

[dynastyfalcon]

So happy this series is finally being released and with the royal treatment! Have to buy when I have money again, as I have to pay for the car and other stuff.

[minx]

By Borys Kit

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - There was an age in television where spine-tingling and spell-binding anthology shows ruled the air. "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" and "The Twilight Zone" scared the little boys who would grow up to become the Stephen Kings and Steven Spielbergs we know today.

One of those shows was "Thriller," an anthology show hosted by Boris Karloff. It lasted only two seasons, from 1960 to 1962, and split its episodes into themes of crime and terror.

Some of the episodes were eventually made available on VHS, and there were bootleg DVDs, but never was the series compiled definitively. This week, Image Entertainment released the complete series, comprising 67 episodes on 14 DVDs. The collection also includes 24 hours of audio commentaries and 31 hours of isolated music and effects tracks.

The episodes tackled stories by such notables as Edgar Allan Poe, "Psycho" writer Robert Bloch, and "Conan" creator Robert E. Howard, and featured future stars William Shatner, Leslie Nielsen, Ursula Andress and Richard Chamberlain. Each episode featured an intro by Karloff, who gave the proceedings a stage-like, one-night-only performance feel. He even acted in some of them, which gave audiences who were accustomed to him playing Frankenstein's monster something else to remember.

Not all the episodes work, and the transfers can be a bit grainy. But when they do -- the strong shadows living in the black and white, the awesomely overwrought score by composers Jerry Goldsmith and Morton Stevens (if only they had music like that again), the storytelling not using gore and cheap scares as crutches -- the results are genuinely goosebump-inducing.

A particular favorite is "The Grim Reaper," which stars Shatner and Natalie Schafer, who never escaped the fame of playing Mrs. Howell several years later on "Gilligan's Island." The Bloch story centers around a painting of a scythe-wielding Reaper whose legendary curse dooms its owner; the latest owner is Schafer, playing a mystery author, and Shatner is her nephew desperately trying to warn her of the curse.

The episode also has a great commentary track from cinematographer-director Ernest Dickerson among others, and a music-only track highlighting the Goldsmith score.

Occasionally, some show will try to capture the spirit of "Thriller" or "The Twilight Zone" -- several seasons of which Image will release in the fall -- or put a modern spin on them, by creating some character arc throughline in "X-Files"-"Supernatural"-"Fringe" fashion. But one thing these collections do is slap a big "Schooled!" sticker on us and show us how it's really done.


I bit the bullet and ordered these dvds as I have nothing to watch until the next "Mary Tyler Moore" season comes out in October. Everything I've read about this series has been positive, so I'm feeling rather optimistic about it.

[Afton]

I've started it, Minx. It's actually quite good.

[jrs]

oh this is interesting...love Boris Karloff

Im also a fan of the old Universal films...with Karloff and Lugosi

I have boxset of Hammer horrors which although some are pathetic..there are some real classics....love Cushing and lee

[Don Howard]

That theme music rocks! Great to see this show now each Sunday on ME-TV following Columbo

[SnarkyOracle!]

I still haven't bought the DVDs because of their price -- but I've been watching some of them again on broadcast TV recently.

There's a crispness to the show, a kind of point blank edginess (for the time). I just think it's very well-produced.