September 1, 2010 THE VILLADOM TIMES II & IV • Page 19 Exceptional TV series of Gothic tales now on DVD by Dennis Seuling Horror and TV were not the best of companions in the early 1960s. A couple of anthology series, “Alfred Hitchcock Presents” (1955-1965) and “The Twilight Zone” (1959-1965), made occasional forays into the macabre, but network television, the only game in town before cable TV entered our lives, usually steered clear of horror because of its intensity. One series, not widely known today, featured tales of terror, and employed such writers as Robert Bloch, the author of “Psycho,” to pen the episodes. “Thriller” was a one-hour anthology series aired by NBC from 1960 to 1962. It was the brainchild of Hubbell Robinson, a TV pioneer and executive who produced “Climax,” “Studio One,” and the prestigious “Playhouse 90” in the 1950s. He recognized that, since the characters changed from week to week, the show’s continuity would have to be provided by a regular host. For this allimportant role, he made a fortuitous choice: screen legend Boris Karloff. “Thriller: The Complete Series” (Image Entertainment) features all 67 re-mastered episodes on 14 DVDs. Karloff was born William Henry Pratt in England in 1887. He worked for years as a stage actor in Canada and the United States and took on mostly bit parts in silent pictures. His big breakthrough came in “Frankenstein.” Karloff’s daughter, Sara Karloff, recently provided this reviewer with a person interview. She described her father as the “antithesis of roles he played: a lovely human being as well as a wonderful actor.” Growing up in Beverly Hills, being the child of a celebrity was nothing unusual, but when Ms. Karloff attended a private girls’ school in San Francisco, she “had to learn to cast (her) own shadow.” Although her famous father is associated with “Frankenstein,” most people don’t know, explained Ms. Karloff, that her father made 80 films before “Frankenstein.” “Thriller” started its TV run as a schizophrenic anthology. Some involved with the show thought thrillers should be crime or suspense dramas. To others, the term suggested horror or fright tales. So the first season presented a combination of the two kinds of stories. It was the horror tales, however, that boosted the ratings and gave the show its identity, especially those set in distant periods, such as “Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper,” a variation on the serial murderer of the 1880s, and “God Grante That She Lye Stille,” about 17th century witchcraft and vampirism. Other tales, such as “The Cheaters,” presented prologues set in the past and then showed their effect on present-day folks. Ms. Karloff noted, “Dad hardly ever brought his work home, but this (“Thriller”) was one piece of work he was proud of.” The scripts were good and featured gifted actors of the period, including William Shatner, Elizabeth Montgomery, Cloris Leachman, Hazel Court, John Carradine, Jo Van Fleet, Mary Tyler Moore, Leslie Nielsen, Richard Chamberlain, and others. Stephen King, no stranger to tales of the macabre, once referred to “Thriller” as “probably the best horror series ever put on TV.” Boris Karloff not only hosted every episode of “Thriller,” he appeared in five Boris Karloff stars in ‘The Incredible Dr. Markesan,’ one of 67 episodes contained in the DVD set, ‘Thriller: The Complete Series.’ installments. “The Prediction” was the first to star him. He played a mentalist who performs a stage act and is eventually involved in murder. “Dialogues of Death” contains two stories. In the first, Karloff plays Old Pop Jenkins, a morgue attendant who carries on extended conversations with the recently deceased. In the second, he chews up the scenery as Col. Jackson Beaureguard Finchess, who has to point out to a couple of visitors that they are, in fact, dead. “The Incredible Doktor Markesan” is the frightening story of a man who has discovered a method of reviving the dead. Karloff’s makeup in this episode is particularly ghastly. In “The Premature Burial,” based on stories of Edgar Allan Poe, he plays a physician who is not quite convinced that his deceased patient is, in fact, dead. This episode drips with suspense and ranks as one of the series’ most memorable episodes. “’Thriller’ is the Holy Grail of my father’s television work,” stated Ms. Karloff. There was always a “twinkle in his eye” as he introduced each show, she recalled. “It was most important not to insult the intelligence of the audience, but to invite their participation and anticipation.” Karloff was one of the first name actors to embrace the medium of television, appearing as a guest star on variety shows spoofing his bogeyman image, as “Colonel (continued on Crossword page) ������������������ Celebrating 21 Years �������������������������������� ������������������������������������������ ������������������������������������������� ������������������������������������������� C • O • R •T• I • N • A R I S T O R A N T E “A HIDDEN GEM” Fine Dining For Lunch & Dinner Lunch Starts at $7.00 • Monday-Friday 11:30AM–2:30PM Dinner Starts at $12.00 • Monday-Thursday 5:00PM–9:30PM Friday & Saturday 5:00PM–10:00PM Friday, 9/10 at 8pm • Joe Zisa and Friends. 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