If you’re looking for a horror film that’s equal parts bonkers, star-studded, and gloriously gooey, look no further than The Devil’s Rain (1975). Directed by Robert Fuest—the same man who gave us the deliciously campy Dr. Phibes movies—this supernatural oddity is a fever dream of Satanic cults, melting faces, not the least of which is the eyeless victims whose empty windows to the soul speak of agony and torture. And there’s some of the most committed overacting you’ll ever see. It’s the kind of film that, as Roger Ebert quipped, “spends so much time melting people, you’ll feel like an exorcised popsicle by the end.”
Let’s start with the cast because The Devil’s Rain is a veritable who’s-who of 1970s pop culture. William Shatner, in full post-Star Trek pre-Motion Picture mode, stars as Mark Preston, a man whose family is cursed by a centuries-old Satanic feud. Shatner brings his signature staccato delivery and wide-eyed intensity, especially when reciting the Lord’s Prayer at a coven of eyeless cultists. Ida Lupino, the legendary actress, and director, plays his mother, Emma, who spends much of the film either in distress or, later, shuffling around as a black-eyed, soulless minion of the Devil. Tom Skerritt shows up as Mark’s brother, Eddie Albert as a psychic researcher, and—blink and you’ll miss him—a young John Travolta makes his film debut as a robed cultist, his eyes as black as his future disco shirts.
But the real star here is Ernest Borgnine, who chews the scenery (and possibly the script) as Jonathan Corbis, the Satanic cult leader. Borgnine is clearly having the time of his life, whether he’s cackling maniacally, vanishing in puffs of smoke, or transforming into a full-on Goat God, complete with curly horns and a face that looks like it wandered off the set of a particularly wild Renaissance fair.
As one critic put it, “It’s a treat getting to watch Ernest Borgnine (Marty himself), and it’s an added kick seeing him in monster makeup whenever he summons up a goat-demon from the pits of hell.”
In Delbert Mann’s film Marty 1955, Borgnine not only was nominated for Best Actor but won the Academy Award. His Oscar winning character Marty Piletti is the antithesis of Corbis, who really gets into his diabolical revelry.
The plot? Let’s just say that coherence is not the film’s strong suit. The Preston family is being hunted by Corbis and his cult, who want a book of blood contracts that will give them dominion over the souls of the damned. There are flashbacks to Puritan times, psychic visions, and a Satanic church in the middle of the desert that looks like it was decorated by someone who’d just discovered Hieronymus Bosch’s art. The dialogue is often as bewildered as the audience—at one point, Eddie Albert’s character shrugs, “I don’t know, maybe the right moment. You’ll never find the reason.”
And honestly, you won’t.
Shatner is subjected to ritualistic torture and is chained to a cross-shaped altar as part of the Satanic cult’s ceremony. During the film’s climactic sequence, his character, Mark, is captured by Corbis and his followers. He is stripped, whipped, and tied to an altar that is cross-shaped, though the film doesn’t depict a full crucifixion with nails driven through his hands or feet. Instead, the imagery is meant to evoke sacrificial and religious overtones, emphasizing his helplessness and the cult’s power over him. Ultimately, Mark’s will is broken, his soul is transferred into a waxen image, and he becomes one of the cult’s eyeless, soulless minions, with his eyes hollowed out into black sockets. Even with no eyes, Shatner manages to invoke the ham within.
But what The Devil’s Rain lacks in narrative logic, it more than makes up for in atmosphere and spectacle. The film is shot in sun-bleached, dusty locations in Durango, Mexico, giving it a weird, otherworldly vibe- full of wide, empty landscapes and shadowy interiors, and the music by Al De Lory adds a layer of melodramatic doom.
The cinematography overseen by Alex Phillips, Jr. (Total Recall 1990 and Murphy’s Law 1986– two films that diverge like a rocket ship blasting off to Mars while a beat-up cop car’s axle falls off in a back alley.
And then there’s the special effects. Oh, the special effects. The film’s claim to fame is its nearly ten-minute “melting” finale, in which the cultists—having finally been doused by the titular Devil’s Rain—literally dissolve into puddles of goo. The effect was achieved by pumping colored methylcellulose, air, and smoke through prosthetics, resulting in a goopy, unforgettable spectacle that’s been called “absolutely the most incredible ending of any motion picture.” As Ebert noted, “If only they’d melted just a little, just enough to give us the idea. But no, they melt, and melt, and melt…”
The film’s production is just as wild as what’s on screen. Real-life Church of Satan founder Anton LaVey served as a technical advisor and even appeared in a cameo as a masked high priest. During filming, Joan Prather gave John Travolta a copy of Dianetics, leading to his conversion to Scientology—a bit of trivia as strange as anything in the movie itself.
For fans of cult cinema, the film’s strange hallucinatory atmosphere, impressively gloopy special effects, and unintentional hilarity have made it a beloved oddity.
So, if you’re in the mood for a horror movie where William Shatner gets his soul sucked out, Ida Lupino shuffles around with blacked-out eyes, Ernest Borgnine transforms into a goat demon while the cast melts for what feels like an eternity, The Devil’s Rain is your ticket to Satanic schlock heaven. Just don’t expect it to make sense—and don’t be surprised if you find yourself cackling right along with Borgnine as the Devil’s rain reigns down upon the screen with its nihilistic ending.
#49 down, 101 to go! Your EverLovin’ Joey, formally & affectionately known as MonsterGirl!
“We have half of the equation; we can turn matter into energy. But up there, they have the second half; they can turn energy into matter.”
Kronos is a film I’ll be talking about with more gusto for my series Keep Watching the Skies: The Year is 1957. Stay tuned! 🚀
Kronos is a 1957 is an above average, intelligent American science fiction film directed by Kurt Neumann with a script by Irving Block and Lawrence L. Goldman. In a decade strewn with unrelenting hogwash, Kronos’s heroical special effects should stand for something. The movie centers on a giant extraterrestrial energy accumulator, essentially it’s a machine that consumes power – called Kronos that arrives on Earth with a mission to drain the planet of its energy resources. I remember this movie really making an impression on me as a kid, with Kronos stomping its way through the desert, its electrical currents snapping and crackling between its antennae as it pounded the earth.
A colossal flying saucer mistaken for an asteroid crashes fo the coast of Western Mexico. Scientist Leslie Gaskell has been tracking an asteroid, with missiles sent to intercept it, its path is only altered slightly off course, nearly hitting New York. It finally plunges into the ocean off Mexico. Les, his fiancee and associate Vera (Barbara Lawrence), and fellow scientist Arnie (George O’Hanlon) travel to Mexico waiting to see what develops, certain that this asteroid has been thoughtfully guided by an intelligence.
Soon, a domed-like crown rises to the ocean’s surface, and it emerges from the bubbling Pacific as a monolith metallic cube with multiple tiers. Its purpose is to voraciously siphon off the Earth's energy, and bring it back to its own distant planet. As it greedily absorbs energy the cube undergoes a mesmerizing transformation as this extraterrestrial machine over a hundred feet tall continues to grow larger in scale. It also has the power to influence unwitting people to serve it.
Scientists and military personnel are perplexed by its presence and its relentless energy-absorbing capabilities. Dr. Leslie Gaskell (played by Jeff Morrow) takes charge of the investigation, and he and his team work tirelessly to find a way to stop the alien machine before it depletes Earth’s energy and devastates the planet.
As the story unfolds, Dr. Gaskell and his colleagues develop a daring plan to confront Kronos and prevent the impending catastrophe. The film blends elements of classic 1950s science fiction with Cold War-era anxieties about the potential threat of unknown forces from outer space.
Kronos is notable for its portrayal of an enigmatic and seemingly invincible alien entity and the efforts of humanity to overcome this existential threat. It is a classic example of the science fiction films of its era and is remembered for its imaginative premise and special effects. It also stars Barbara Lawrence as Vera Hunter, and John Emery as Dr. Hubbell Eliot who is taken over by Kronos – apparent by his menacing stare and the crackling ball of electricity that enters his body at the time he needs to pull the strings and make the Dr. do his bidding. Then there is good ‘ole Morris Ankrum as Dr. Albert Stern, and George O’Hanlon as Dr. Arnold Culver.
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The Killer Shrews is a 1959 low-budget science fiction horror film directed by Ray Kellogg. The story is set on a remote island, where a group of people becomes trapped by a hurricane. The island is infested with giant (small dog-sized giant), mutated shrews that are both aggressive and venomous due to a failed scientific experiment.
Captain Thorne Sherman (played by James Best) a scientist named Dr. Marlowe Craigis (played by Baruch Lumet) Dr. Radford Baines (Gordon McLendon) and Craigis’s daughter Ann (Ingrid Goude) must band together to survive the nightmarish ordeal. As the group struggles to defend themselves against the ravenous shrews, tensions rise, and they must find a way to escape the island before they fall victim to the deadly creatures who are running out of food.
“The Killer Shrews” is known for its low-budget production values, including the use of dogs dressed in shaggy costumes to portray the oversized shrews. Despite its limited resources, the film has achieved cult status for its campy charm. Close-ups of the giant shrews were filmed using hand puppets. The wider shots used dogs made up as the shrews.
Actor / co-producer Ken Curtis once commented that he had to force himself not to laugh during filming when the shrews attacked because they were basically just "dogsÂ
covered in shag carpet."
The man playing Dr. Baines is Gordon McLendon He was the uncredited executive producer and financier of this and its companion feature The Giant Gila Monster 1959. He owned radio stations and a chain of theaters in Texas.
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Kiss of the Vampire,a 1963 British horror masterpiece by Hammer that unfolds under the masterful direction of Don Sharp, with Anthony Hinds at the quill. While not part of the legendary Dracula series, this cinematic gem bears the indelible mark of Hammer’s signature Gothic horror.
The narrative elegantly trails a newlywed couple, the dashing Gerald Harcourt (Edward de Souza), and his enchanting bride, Marianne Harcourt (portrayed by the captivating Jennifer Daniel), as they embark on a European trip. Their idyllic journey takes an unexpected detour when their car breaks down near a remote Bavarian village, leaving them stranded.
Fortune intervenes as they are graciously invited to take refuge within a nearby chateau, an architectural marvel shrouded in both splendor and sinister secrets. The chateau’s enigmatic resident, Dr. Ravna (Noel Willman), reigns as the formidable leader of a clandestine cult of vampires. With beguiling allure, he ensnares the couple in his nefarious designs, with Marianne poised to join his unholy family.
As Gerald’s realization of their dire predicament dawns, he endeavors to rescue his beloved wife from the clutches of these ravenous vampires. In his quest for salvation, he seeks the wisdom of a local vampire scholar, Professor Zimmer ( Clifford Evans), forging a desperate alliance to rescue Marianne from Ravna.
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Kingdom of the Spiders is a 1977 American horror film directed by John “Bud” Cardos. The movie is set in a small rural town in Arizona and centers around the terrifying invasion of the town by an enormous army of aggressive and deadly tarantulas.
The story follows veterinarian Dr. Robert ‘Rack’ Hansen (played by the intrepid William Shatner) and entomologist Diane Ashley (played by Tiffany Bolling) as they investigate a series of unusual livestock deaths in the area. Hansen lives in Verde Valley an Arizona desert town, who is baffled by the death of Walter Colby’s (Woody Strode) prize calf. After he sends samples of blood to Arizona State University, entomologist Diane Ashley arrives with information about the calf’s death. It had been poisoned by a massive dose of tarantula venom.
As they dig deeper, they discover that there is a mammoth hill on Colby’s farm which is housing thousands of deadly spiders and his property is the epicenter of a colossal tarantula population explosion. As the creeping terror escalates, the townsfolk are thrust into a nightmarish world. Ashley is puzzled by the behavior as tarantulas usually don’t attack as a militarized group and are not usually aggressive to creatures that aren’t their usual prey. But these spiders are driven by a monstrous bloodlust.
They find themselves under siege as thousands of venomous tarantulas begin to overrun the town, attacking livestock, pets, and even humans. With the situation escalating into a life-and-death struggle, Dr. Hansen and Diane work together to find a way to combat the arachnid invasion and save the town from being consumed by the “kingdom of the spiders.”
Kingdom of the Spiders is a classic creature feature that capitalizes on our primal fear of arachnids and the idea of nature striking back against human encroachment. It’s known for its suspenseful and creepy atmosphere, as well as its memorable scenes of tarantulas swarming en masse. William Shatner’s portrayal of the determined hero adds to the film’s B-movie appeal among fans of a slightly above-schlocky 1970s horror cinema.
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Directed by Stephen Carpenter, Jeffrey Obrow, and Joseph Stefano (Psycho 1960 and The Outer Limits)The Kindred is a 1987 science fiction horror film that revolves around a series of dark and disturbing genetic experiments.
Genetic scientist Amanda Hollins (Kim Hunter) awakens after three years in a coma. Her son John Hollins (David Allen Brooks) is summoned to her bedside at the hospital where she urges him to destroy all her journals and anything that remains of her research and the mysterious endeavor that involved a long-lost brother of John’s she named Anthony.
John and company arrive at the abandoned country house with his girlfriend Sharon (Talia Balsam) and a few colleagues including the mysterious Melissa Leftridge (Amanda Pays). There at Shelter Cove, they discover his mother’s secret genetically engineered creation, a hybridization that still exists. Working against Dr. Hollins is the profoundly unhinged Dr. Phillip Lloyd (Rod Steiger) a competing geneticist who wants control of Anthony himself. Dr. Lloyd has planted Melissa as a spy and seeks her help to stop the destruction of Hollins’s work.
As they delve deeper into the labyrinthine mysteries of her work, they unwittingly awaken a monstrosity that lurks in the shadows"”an abominable creature – a hybrid human a deep sea creature with tentacles that has a taste for human flesh. Anthony has emerged from the very cells taken from John’s tissues. This grotesque, aquatic entity, referred to as “John’s brother” stands as a testament to the macabre nature of his mother’s experiments. A battle takes place between the ethical scientists, the mad scientist, Melissa who in fact also shares some marine life DNA, and Anthony’s little squid-like buddies who can latch onto people. In one squishy gory scene, an angry gooey fetus leaps out of a clogged drain and attaches itself to someone’s face. And then there’s the little horrible beastie that springs out of a ripe watermelon and wraps its tentacles around a shocked grad student while she’s driving.
With a cinematic nod to the 1950s sci-fi genre, the scene with the creature inside the watermelon in the backseat of the car – and she is attacked with its tentacles is a bit of nostalgia.
Creative horror screenwriter Joseph Stefano (Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho”) contributed to the screenplay, most notably the sequence involving the creature hiding inside of a watermelon.
Rod Steiger performed his own stunts in a scene that involved him being doused with a 55 gallon drum of methyl cellulose “slime.
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Killer Klowns from Outer Space 1988 (Photo courtesy: Trans World Entertainment)
Curtis Mooney “They took your wife away in a balloon? Well you don’t need the police, pal, you need a psychiatrist!”
Killer Klowns from Outer Space is a 1988 cult science-fiction horror-comedy film directed by the Chiodo Brothers. The movie is known for its quirky offbeat and often comical premise. Not to mention as a society our collective primal, morbid fear of clowns!
The story begins when a small town is invaded by extraterrestrial beings who resemble creepy, colorful circus clowns from outer space. Even the spaceship has the appearance of a circus tent. These alien clowns, however, are not here to spread laughter and joy but instead to harvest humans as a source of sustenance. They capture people by trapping them in cotton candy cocoons and use outlandish, clown-themed weaponry to cause havoc. Killer Klownsis seriously outrageous, demented, and hilarious!
Debbie Stone -We were up at “the top of the world” and we saw this shooting star and we decided to go look for it. But instead of finding the shooting star we saw this… this circus tent. And that’s when we went inside, and that is when we saw those people in those… those pink, cotton candy cocoons. Dave, it was not a circus tent. It was something else.
Dave Hanson What? What?
Mike Tobacco It was a space ship. And there was these things, these killer clowns, and they shot popcorn at us! We barely got away!
Curtis Mooney Killer clowns, from outer space. Holy shit!
A group of young people, including Mike Tobacco (played by Grant Cramer) and Debbie Stone (played by Suzanne Snyder), discover the bizarre and deadly threat and take it upon themselves to stop the Killer Klowns. As they face off against these colorful, goofy yet terrifying otherworldly foes, they must find a way to save their town from being completely devoured by the extraterrestrial circus. Busy character actors Royal Dano as Farmer Gene Green and John Vernon make appearances in the film. Both actors appeared in The Outlaw Josey Walestogether in 1976.
Killer Klowns from Outer Space is known for its dark humor, imaginative and campy special effects, and the sheer absurdity of its premise. It has become a beloved cult classic, appealing to fans of both horror and comedy for its unique blend of genres.
Tidbits:
The scene in which a car is thrown over a cliff was initially intended to be far more spectacular – the car was to fly over the cliff and crash down to the ground. Unfortunately, the sling rope snapped because effects crew members neglected to remove the stoppers from underneath the car’s wheels. The result was what is seen in the final film, the car slowly tumbles over the edge and becomes caught on a tree.
The iconic Killer Klowns March was originally written by John Massair for his high school rock band, Crisis. The band members did not like it because the notes of the song spelled out an F major 7th chord which they felt sounded too much like Jazz.
Around the same time, MGM began production of two low-budget horror films, one of them being “Killer Clowns from Outer Space” and the other “Clownshouse” by Victor Salva. Both films are very different but with the concept of Killer Clowns. Salva creator of the controversial “Clownhouse” expressed that there was a certain rivalry between both productions to know who copied whom, but in the end the films were very different from each other.
Mooney’s (John Vernon) fate is foreshadowed early in the film when he says “Nobody’s going to make a dummy out of me”. A Klown winds up making him a human ventriloquist dummy.
Originally, Klownzilla was supposed to be made with stop motion animation. But due to production costs and limited time to shoot, they made a suit instead
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Aired December 11, 1973, as an ABC Movie of the Week.
“Beware the seal of Kah-ub-set, for he who dares to remove it will open the gates of Hell.”
The Cat Creature was directed by horror film icon Curtis Harrington— Night Tide (1961), Queen of Blood (1966), Games (1967), How Awful About Allan (1970) tv movie, What’s the Matter with Helen (1971), Whoever Slew Auntie Roo (1972), The Killing Kind (1973), Killer Bees (1974) tv movie, The Dead Don’t Die (1975) tv movie also directed by Curtis Harrington, Ruby (1977), Devil Dog: The Hound of Hell (1978) tv movie.
The Cat Creaturewas scripted by Robert Bloch based on a story by producers Douglas S. Cramer, Wilfred Lloyd Baumes, and writer Bloch himself.Â
From Nice Guys Don’t Work in Hollywood written by Curtis Harrington -talks about how different television executives’ mindsets for telefilms are than major motion picture executives.
Director/writer Curtis Harrington master at ‘horror of personality’
“I found out just how different on a television movie called The Cat Creature. The script was written by Robert Bloch, based on an old story he’d published in Weird Tales. In fact, he was one of the horror writers I had discovered in the pages of Weird Tales during my teen years in Beaumont. It was a nice pulpy story about a girl who is the reincarnation of an ancient Egyptian cat goddess. In casting the actress to play the modern incarnation of this beautiful goddess, I got my first nasty taste of TV executive thinking. I discovered that this new set of black suits was always very involved in the casting of leading roles in the network TV drama. Unlike movie executives whose primary interest was ‘box office appeal’ they were concerned with something they called TVQ” This meant the ratings the stars other television appearances had received. The connection between a star’s suitability for a role meant absolutely nothing, and this was the case of The Cat Creature… […] I recalled that Egyptian women supposedly used henna to dye their black hair red, so we put a dark red wig on Meredith Baxter, and she agreed to darken her eyes with green contact lenses… […] Bloch had written an important supporting role, the proprietor of a magic shop, for a man. I suggested that he rewrite the role for a woman and that we try to get Gale Sondergaard for the part. Sondergaard was an actress I remembered vividly from my childhood. She had been memorable as the sinister Oriental [sic] woman in The Letter and in the title role of The Spider Woman, a Basil Rathbone/Sherlock Holmes adventure in 1937…
“I had wanted the proprietress of the occult shop to be played as a lesbian to lend a bit of spice to the show. But Standards and Practices , the office of the network devoted to removing any element to a script that might offend Mrs. Grundy, sent a memo after that there must be ‘NO SUGGESTION WHATSOEVER THAT THIS CHARACTER IS A LESBIAN.’ However, my natural propensity toward subversion was given its due when Douglas Cramer allowed me to add a dwarf hooker to a scene in a cheap hotel where Stuart Whitman as the detective interview John Carradine, who plays the hotel clerk. The dwarf lady of the evening is shown seated on the counter in the hotel lobby. Swinging her short legs and batting her eyelashes, she says to Stuart, “How’s tricks, baby!” This was left in, and Cramer was very pleased when the incident was singled out for comment in a New York Times review of the show. It wasn’t the sort of thing they were used to seeing in the bland medium of television.”
William Shatner and Patricia Breslin star in Rod Serling & Richard Matheson’s screenplay Nick of Time airing November 18th, 1960 for classic televisions The Twilight Zone- Image courtesy of Getty Images-CBS Archives
Here’s to one of my all-time favorite episodes! Nick of Time aired November 18th, 1960-starring William Shatner, Patricia Breslin & that Jointy little Devil with the diamond eye!
Don and Pat are fresh scrubbed Midwestern newlyweds who wander into a stuffy little off the street sandwich shop, where the wheat toast is stale and the water tastes like swamp!
On their way to New York to find out if Don is going to be the next Office Manager/Accountant in his firm, the couples car breaks down and so does Don’s superstitious will when he can’t seem to move, after getting too many eerie answers from the Mystic Seer napkin holder…
Only a penny to learn your fate! It’s a tense and well thought out philosophical dilemma that only William Shatner could play to the hilt!
Got a penny, try your hand at fate!
You’re EverLovin’ MonsterGirl saying — Whether the answer is Yes or No.. Make up your own mind, it’ll see you free!
As much as I am passionate about Boris Karloff’s anthology television show THRILLER, I throw my enthusiasm to all things science fiction & fantasy toward the 60s series that brought to life some of the most memorable monsters and thought provoking story lines that was The Outer Limits.
As a kid I remember how the shivers of excitement ran through my veins as soon as the control voice began to usher in a new segment as the wavy white lines trembled on the screen. The voice was odd, yet familiar like an intimate stranger who could read your thoughts and knew your deepest fears.
I knew I was in for something majestic and beyond the realm of belief. While THRILLERtapped into my core fears of things that lurked in the shadows of this earthly domain, somehow The Outer Limits managed to propel my fears into the outer reaches of the universe. Still the things that go bump in the night, but more like the night sky.
And so I fondly assign a few of my favorite stories here at The Last Drive In, with follow ups to some more down that unknowing wavy road of life. If you’re not already a fan of this uniquely mind broadening show, then do yourself a favor and a try and catch an episode or two. You’ll see some favorite actors I’m sure, and I bet a Zantiunder your bed… if you’re not even moved just a little by it’s poignant– strange and at times grotesquely whimsical way of painting a fantastical moral with some gorgeous visual cues and dynamic acting style to drive the message home and articulate thought provoking & philosophical themes.
The ground breaking postmodern metaphysical world of science fiction & fantasy from the brilliant mind of executive producers Leslie Stevensand Joseph Stefanowas far ahead of it’s time. Created by Leslie Stevens. Story consultant Lou Morheim and transcendent musical score by Dominic Frontiere(first season from 1963-64 ) The heavenly awe inspiring music never fails to make my chest heave, as the celestial melody creates the mood of a living breathing universe expanding, a near religious experience of the magnitude of awe that Science Fiction evokes in the hearts of dreamers.
The music for the second season was scored by Harry Lubin. There were 49 episodes in total….
Perhaps the first television show that was truly pioneering, unprecedentedly radical, inventive and even sociological in it’s contribution to the genre. It boasted some remarkable visual effects, and still remains a memorable collection of thoughtful plays that stretch the boundaries of imagination.
The Outer Limits could be considered Science Fiction/Fantasy genre, An anthology series created by Leslie Stevens and narrated by Vic Perrin who was the voice behind the Control Voice. Similar somewhat to The Twilight Zonewith more of an earnest tone given rise to more Science Fiction oriented stories
A Daystar Productions–Villa DiStefano. United Artists Television originally aired on ABC with a run from September 16, 1963 "“ January 16, 1965
The show used writers like Leslie Stevens, Donald S Sanford, Lou Morheim, (The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms 1953) Harlan Ellison, and Seeleg Lester.
With cinematography by Conrad L.Hall, (American Beauty 1999, Marathon Man 1976, In Cold Blood 1967, Cool Hand Luke 1967, Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid 1969) You can imagine the vision that framed the stories behind the camera from the genius of Hall’s cinematic eye. John M Nickolaus (House of the Damned and The Day Mars Invaded Earth 1963 both very unique films partly due to the way they were lensed by Nickolaus) and Kenneth Peach.
Utilizing some of the greatest directors like Byron Haskins (Arsenic and Old Lace 1944, War of the Worlds 1953, Robinson Crusoe on Mars 1964)John Brahm (The Lodger 1944, The Twilight Zone, Boris Karloff’s Thriller) Laslo Benedek(The Wild One 1953), Leslie Stevens, Gerd Oswald, Paul Stanley, John Erman, Robert Flory, James Goldstone, Leonard Horn, Felix Feist, Charles Haas, Alan Crosland Jr. and Abner Biberman
Featuring some of the greatest character actors like Martin Landau, Sally Kellerman, William Shatner, Cliff Robertson, Jacqueline Scott, Sidney Blackmer, Robert Culp, Geraldine Brooks, Donald Pleasence, David McCallum, Jill Hayworth, John Considine, Shirley Knight, Jeff Corey, Harry Townes, Harry Guardino, Gary Merrill, Salome Jens, Ed Nelson, Martin Sheen, James Shigeta, John Anderson, Scott Marlowe, Ed Asner, Kent Smith, Joan Camden, Mark Richman, Nina Foch, Phillip Abbott, Gladys Cooper, Ralph Meeker, Jay Novello, Michael Tolan, Bruce Dern, Olive Deering, Henry Silva, Carroll O’ Connor, Barry Morse, Miriam Hopkins, John Hoyt, Marsha Hunt, Don Gordon, George Macready, Neil Hamilton, Walter Burke, Simon Oakland, Ruth Roman, Alex Nicol, Tim O’Connor, Warren Oates, Luane Anders, Gloria Grahame, Nellie Burt, Russell Johnson, Nick Adams, Nancy Malone, Marion Ross, Macdonald Carey, Sam Wanamaker, David Opatoshu, Joyce Van Patten, Signe Hasso, Allyson Ames, Leonard Nimoy, Robert Duvall, Vera Miles, Barbara Rush, Cedric Hardwicke, Malachi Throne, Peter Lind Hayes, Joan Freeman, Abraham Sofaer, Eddie Albert, June Havor, Howard DaSilva, Marianna Hill, Warren Stevens, Robert Webber, Michael Constantine, Crahan Denton, Grant Williams, and Peggy Ann Garner to name some of the acting highlights.
Cliff Robertson appears in the shows first The Galaxy Being…
The Control Voice: There is nothing wrong with your television set. Do not attempt to adjust the picture. We are controlling transmission. If we wish to make it louder, we will bring up the volume. If we wish to make it softer, we will tune it to a whisper. We can reduce the focus to a soft blur, or sharpen it to crystal clarity. We will control the horizontal. We will control the vertical. For the next hour, sit quietly and we will control all that you see and hear. You are about to experience the awe and mystery which reaches from the inner mind to… The Outer Limits.
Much of the episodes could be considered stagey and theatrical, with the acting a bit dramaturgical or heavy-handed for a science fiction/ fantasy television drama, but as writers David J Schow and Jeffrey Frentzen say in THE OUTER LIMITS: The Official Companion “… the embroidered quality of their performances. At times the dialogue seems hammy and intemperate, but since good theatre is not a reflection of the world, but a mirror distortion of its exaggerated for-point-making purposes, the bigger-than-life nature of the players is fitting.
First, let me say that I’m a huge fan of Robert Culp! So naturally this episode is very special to me. Culp appeared in a few more episodes of the series, this one being my favorite. At times his performance went beyond sublime. Directed by Byron Haskin with Conrad Hall as director of photography. Dominic Frontiere’s gorgeous score.
One of the most compelling of all The Outer Limitsepisodes. Allen’s dilemma is torn between his love and devotion to his wife Yvette and the scientific ideals he adheres to. Out of hubris –These misguided scientists trying to do a good thing for humanity, make huge mistakes and wind up destroying one of the blessed things about the world… a family (Yvette finds out she is pregnant right before Allen fakes his death) who has a right to life and love.
The Cast- Robert Culp as Allen Leighton, Geraldine Brooks as his wife Yvette, Leonard Stone as Dr. Phillip Gainer, Martin Wolfosn as Dr. Herschel
Is this the day? Is this the beginning of the end? There is no time to wonder, not time to ask, “Why is it happening, why is it finally happening?” There is time only for fear, for the piercing pain of panic. Do we pray? Or do we merely run now, and pray later? Will there be a later? Or is this the day?
An altruistic group of scientists theorizes that in order to unite all the people of the earth, there must be a common enemy! Sounds feasible right… So they re-configure in larger size an alien being called a ‘Thetan’ rhymes with Cretan…
To unify all the nations around the world against a frightening invasion of extraterrestrials. Essentially, they design to manufacture a ‘scarecrow.’ After pulling names out of a bowl to see which one of the scientists will undergo the grueling intensive physiological transformation by surgical transplantation, reassignment, and exposure to environmental conditions similar to that of the planet Theta so he can be turned into a larger version of the little Thetan they keep in a cage. Although the creature is mostly seen in shadow, the sound it makes is hilarious and yet compelling at the same time. Somewhat as if you put a gag on a nasty muppet…
Physicist Allen Leighton (Robert Culp) gets to be the lucky guy. Once transmogrified into an alien, he will pilot a spaceship that will land in front of the UN while in session to confront the General Assembly with a laser gun…
Allen-“You know what we really need to stop fighting among ourselves. Something else to fight, Somebody else. Really something else has to come along that will scare us all out of our skins!” Yvette–“We stop fighting each other, we start fighting a scarecrow"¦ that's a gorgeous solution" Allen-"Well we don't exactly fight it, but we fear it"¦ So we unite against it. And if the threat continues long enough we gradually become used to being united. We actually grow to like it. Yvette-"Some scarecrows don't even scare"¦ crows!" Allen-"One might."“Mark against Evil.”
Allen goes off on a tangential soliloquy induced by the wrong reaction to the drugs he’s been given. He mentions Prometheus… how fitting that these mad scientists are creating a modern-day monster by playing God..."Listen there's more to this levitation than just the physical. I'm really able to fly. Are you aware of that? No, you're no Phil Gainer, Professor Gainer, Dr Gainer. Hello Dr. Gainer, allow me to present (in a german accent) these mad doctors here. Constant as you are of the space-time continuum. There's globules of solid (cackles in a whisper) propellant To send me on my long journey"¦. through the underworld or the "”listen you gotta put pegs on my eyes Phil tells him to lye down According to ?'s law ( makes like his hands like ray guns and shoots"¦) laughing “I see you all, you got fat faces you know that. Baby eyes over baby pouts. Come on. Skidder along on your little rats’ feet. I am Callahan, Callaban.(he chuckles to himself) with a Ph.D. Ba Ba Black Sheep Have you any krell upstairs, downstairs in my baby's nightshade? All around the town crying through the lochs how the children in their beds know it's 8'O'Clock Stay back, stay back you think your putty little hands can hold Prometheus Odysseus Tycho Star…”
Of course, the idea is that every nation will band together to fight this one enemy, but ahhh often the best-laid plans of mice and men often go astray… Allen’s ship accidentally lands by the United Labs facility, and as he moves through the woods, with his oversized scaly arms, giant head, bug eyes, and backward -jointed bird-like clawed feet he is a lumbering monstrosity with a tube up its mouth breathing in nitrogen. He uses his laser gun to disintegrate a station wagon to scare a pack of hunters and their dogs. The men wind up mortally shooting him.
First, the group fakes Allen’s death, whose wife is not only a little psychic but deservingly cynical about the facts surrounding her husband’s plane crash. Yvette insists on hanging around the research lab. She has a special psychic link with Allen and feels sympathetic pangs when he is near. In a touching scene in the beginning the two have a gesture they share where Allen uses his fingers to mark her forehead “Mark against evil”
In the end when Allen finds his way back to the lab, Yvette again feels her husband’s presence and his pain. She runs to the lab where she finds him dying. Just before the monster, he makes the ‘mark against evil’ on her head. This very special ritual confirms that this was her husband.
Scarecrow and magic and other fatal fears do not bring people closer together. There is no magic substitute for soft caring and hard work, for self respect and mutual love. If we can learn this from the mistake these frightened men made, then their mistake will not have been merely grotesque. It will have been at least a lesson-a lesson at last to be learned.
The monster suit created a huge outpouring of fan mail for the show. Byron Haskin brought in a Hungarian stuntman and acrobat named Janos Prohaska to play the alien. He used stilts that raised him up nearly two feet off the ground. Within the costume, he gripped armatures inside the elbows, he balanced himself to look like a man leaning forward on his crutches. The giant head was designed by Wah Chang and included functional eyelids, pulsating veins, and a bellows mouth all propelled by air cylinders. Prohaska was literally sealed inside the rubberoid skin, then situated forward on his stilts- he was able to see out of the nose!
Everyone at Projects Unlimited contributed to the costume, though Byron Haskin designed it.
SILVER SCENES IS HOSTING THE UNIVERSAL BLOGATHON! SO I THOUGHT I’D BRING OUT THE UNIVERSAL TELEVISION PRODUCTION OF BORIS KARLOFF’S ANTHOLOGY… LET ME ASSURE YOU, IT’S A THRILLER!!! VISIT SILVER SCENES AND CHECK OUT ALL THE WONDERFUL CONTRIBUTIONS TO THIS HALLOWEEN CELEBRATION!
“I think the title leaves the stories wide open to be based on melodrama not violence or shock. They’ll be stories about people in ordinary surroundings and something happened to them. The whole thing boils down to taste. Anybody can show you a bucket of blood and say-‘This is a bucket of blood’, but not everyone can produce a skilful story”–Boris Karloff (1960)
At the bottom of this feature, you will find links to my older Thriller posts. Some of my favorite episodes- as well as 4 newly covered episodes in brief for the MeTV Summer of Classic TV Blogathon!-Masquerade, Parasite Mansion, Mr.George, and The Purple Room!
From the show’s opening iconic musical score, you know something deliciously sinister is about to occur. The word THRILLERappears against a fractured white web-like graphic title design quite a bit in the style of Saul Bass. The discordant piano and horn stabs of modern jazz already bring you into the inner sanctum of menacing storytelling. As Boris would often say as a precursory welcome, “Let me assure you ladies and gentlemen, as sure as my name is Boris Karloff, this is a thriller.”
Thrillerwas filmed on the same network and sound stage as Alfred Hitchcock Presents. Producer Writer & Director Douglas Benton claims though not hearing it directly that Hitchcock resented Thriller, as he considered Hubbell Robinson encroaching on his territory.
Benton states, “Actually we weren’t doing the same thing he was, he was doing some very sophisticated ‘twist’ material. Hitchcock was doing the sort of thing that they started out to do on Thriller… We {Frye, Benton et al} came along and improved the ratings considerably and got a tremendous amount of press and Hitchcock didn’t like the competition. I don’t think he ever came out and said ‘get rid of ’em’ but he did allow them to enlarge his show from -a half hour to an hour, and that made it more difficult for us to stay on.” {source: Boris Karloff-More Than A Monster The Authorized Biography by Stephen Jacobs}
The series was developed by Executive Producer Hubbell Robinson program director and then executive vice president at CBS who was responsible for dramatic shows like Studio One & Playhouse 90 and produced Arsenic and Old Lace (tv movie ’69) with Lillian Gish & Helen Hayes. Boy oh boy would I like to get my hands on a copy of that!
Lillian Gish, Helen Hayes with Bob Crane rehearsing for Arsenic and Old Lace ’69
In 1959 he left CBS to start his own production company, Hubbell Robinson Productions. Robinson had said “Our only formula is to have no formula at all,” endeavoring that each week’s episode would not be like the week before, bringing viewers one-hour feature pictures that were“consciously and deliberately striving for excellence. {…}Each plot will be unique, unusual.” –Robinson {source: Boris Karloff-More Than A Monster The Authorized Biography by Stephen Jacobs}
Also on board were producers William Frye, Fletcher Markle & Maxwell Shane (The Mummy’s Hand ’40, Fear in the Night ’47) who added their vision of a superior mystery & horror anthology for MCA’s Revue Studios which would conform to the trend of anthology series’ featuring a host to introduce each week’s story.
The format had somewhat ambivalent themes, leaving the show’s narrative straddling both genres of crime melodrama and tales of the macabre. But… either of these atmospheres created by some of the best writers, directors, and players delivered a highly intoxicating blend of both, remaining a powerful anthology with uniquedramatic flare.
Karloff loved the title for the show, “It’s an arresting title. And it does not tie you to one type of show. You can have suspense and excitement, without getting into violence {…} There will be none of the horror cliches on this programme {…} we will deal with normal people involved in unusual situations.”
Boris Karloff was very critical of horror for the sake of horror, during Thriller’srun,“We’re in an era of insensate violence. Today it’s shock, so-called horror and revulsion. I think the idea is to excite and terrify rather than entertain. The story is muck for the sake of muck. The over emphasis of violence on screen and tv has reached the point of being utterly absurd… That’s one thing you won’t find on Thriller-violence for the sake of violence, shock for the sake of shock.”{source:Boris Karloff-More Than A Monster The Authorized Biography by Stephen Jacobs}
Not only was there an unmistakable atmosphere to each of Thriller’s episodes, the stories themselves were lensed in a unique way that was very ahead of its time. The actors brought a serious attitude to their characters and the plot development and didn’t treat them as merely short pulp stories as fodder for the tv masses. This was an intelligent show, and the presence of Boris Karloff added a charming and cerebral primacy to the show’s narration. It was like being tucked in by your remarkable grandfather who loved to tell a good spooky tale to you right before bedtime. I’ve said this plenty, I wish Boris Karloff had been my grandfather. Everyone who has ever worked with Karloff had nothing but glowing praise for the great and gentle man. He exuded a quiet grace and was the consummate professional taking every part seriously and extremely generous with his time even as he suffered from his physical limitations. Karloff had been getting on in years and his grand stature was riddled with arthritis causing his legs to bow.
Actress Audrey Dalton said, “Just the perfect gentleman. A terribly British, wonderful wonderful man.” Actor Ed Nelson who was dying to work with Karloff said, “He was a very gentle man” Douglas Benton had said, “Boris Karloff-God, what a lovely man.”
Karloff as Clayton Mace the phony mentalist in The Prediction
While filming The Prediction the scene at the end when he must lie down in the pool of rainy water and die, Karloff asked director John Brahm “Is this the best way for the camera?” who said, “Yes, it is but good lord you don’t have to lie there and have gutter water coursing up your britches like that!” Karloff replied, “Oh yes I do! This is my work. I insist.” {source: Boris Karloff-More Than A Monster The Authorized Biography by Stephen Jacobs}
Every installment of the show offered us a chance to see Karloff as he enters the Thriller stage as a sage Fabulist delivering us the evening’s program with a refined articulation of philosophy and captivating storytelling encapsulated in a compelling little prologue, often infused with its own brand of dark humor.
Released on November 18, 1960 Rod Serling’s Twilight Zone episode Nick of Time starring the inimitably expressive William Shatner, Patricia Breslin and that diamond eyed bobble head devil The Mystic Seer.
Yes or No are we at the mercy of our fate, or do we choose our own path? One of my favorite episodes of the show. Featuring the song ‘Queer’ off my album Hunting Down The Ceremony Volume One.
Directed by Herschel Daugherty and adapted by Robert Bloch from a story by Harold Lawlor it concerns a 19th-century painting and its fatalistic legend The Grim Reaper created by a morbidly obsessed painter Henri Radin. Radin who hangs out in graveyards and paints “still lifes” at the morgue, creates this cursed painting and then proceeds to hang himself. Again, much like with “The Cheaters”, whoever the painting falls into the hands of seems to doom them to a tragic or violent death.
The wonderful Henry Daniell plays Henri Radin’s father who comes looking for his son, only to find that he’s hung himself, leaving his morbid portrait of death behind.
Fifi D’Orsay and Henry Daniell open The Grim Reaper.
“last month he did a painting at the morgue His model was a corpse he called his painting… -still life-“
Pierre Radin-“His last picture… and he finished it” Toinette-“Perhaps the picture finished him.”
Boris Karloff presents the evening’s tale of terror standing in front of the infamous painting.
“Yes the painting did finish its morbid creator but I can assure you that our story is not finished. Oh no"¦ it’s only just begun"¦ (He walks over to the painting and swipes the scythe getting blood on his hands) Blood!"¦ think of that, this painting is over a hundred years old, and yet real blood still glistens on the scythe of the Grim Reaper. Which by no mere coincidence is the title of our story for tonight. How strange indeed that the immortality sort by our mad artist should assume the form of death. But even stranger are the fearful consequences to these others"¦ whenever the grim reaper’s scythe drips blood"¦ You’ve seen the harbinger of evil. Someone is in mortal danger as sure as my name is Boris Karloff.” “Ah… stay where you are, I’ll join you”
“Is everything alright Aunt Bea?”“Isn’t it the ever lovin’ end (referring to her hearse) the only one who drove it was a little old corpse from Pasadena.”‘let’s not let all the fresh air into the house”
Fast forward to the present-dayNatalie Schafer"Lovie Howell" from Gilligan's Island plays famous mystery writer Beatrice Graves who has a penchant for the dramatic, drives a hearse, and lives at Grave's End, a Charles Adams-style mansion she uses for publicity. She purchases the cursed painting in order to garner some attention from the press. She also has a preference for lecherous husbands and has now married her 6th, a smarmy actor Gerald Keller (Scott Merrill) 20 years younger who is constantly chasing her after Bea’s lovely secretary Dorothy Lyndon (Elizabeth Allen) who looks like a Hitchcock blonde in this episode.
William Shatner plays Bea’s nephew Paul Graves who reads about his eccentric aunt obtaining the cursed painting. He arrives hoping to convince her that she's in mortal danger, having made the fatal error of bringing this cursed monstrosity into her home.
In actuality Paul is plotting to kill her and blame her death on the painting~ His eccentric Aunt Bea is a lush who waves him away as if swatting a fly and dismisses him for being “the world’s oldest eagle scout.” In reality, Paul is setting everyone up using the legend of Radin’s painting to cover his murderous plans to become the recipient of Beatrice Grave's inheritance until the painting decides to hold court and wield its bloody justice with its scythe. There are some authentically chilling aspects to this episode. The subject of Stigmata is injected into the plot, as part of the legend holds that the painting bleeds whenever someone has been chosen to die. Dorothy understands Stigmata to be a religious phenomena Paul tells her “No it’s not a religious painting unless the man who painted worshiped death.”
Paul tries to warn Bea about the curse-Bea tells him-“That old story about the curse has been running in the Sunday supplements for years.”
Natalie Schafer is wonderful as Aunt Bea modulating between being a sympathetically fragile, sensually self-destructive, and tragic character then she emerges as vitriolic and sulfurous as the great Medusa quite imposing as a figure of the Monstrous Feminine.
“Here’s to you old buddy buddy”
Many of Thriller’s female characterizations were very complex and well-developed. Medusa as an archetype has historically been seen as the archetype of “the nasty mother” Bea Graves having wed a man young enough to be her son. While Medusa symbolizes sovereign female wisdom and female mysteries Bea being a “mystery’ writer, understands her predicament and walks into the flames of desire anyway. She is universal Creativity and Destruction in eternal Transformation. She rips away our mortal illusions. Bea has no illusion that her husband loves anything more than her millions but she desires him anyway. In this case, Bea knows that she is on a self-destructive path and seems to embrace it willingly. “To me, death is no more than a business partner.”
We never see the actual Reaper step out of the painting, in the way he was used in the literal sense inFritz Lang’s 1925 masterpiece Metropoliswhere you see him step forward swinging his scythe. With this episode’s adaptation of the myth, It’s the sound and glimpse of his scythe cutting through the air in volatile swipes that create the slashing, nightmarish effect.
“In English lore, death is often given the name the “Grim Reaper” and shown as a skeletal figure carrying a large scythe, and wearing a midnight black gown, robe or cloak with a hood, or sometimes a white burial shroud Usually when portrayed in the black-hooded gown, his face is not to be seen, but is a mere shadow beneath the hood.”
In some cases, the Grim Reaper is able to actually cause the victim’s death, leading to tales that he can be bribed, tricked, or outwitted in order to retain one’s life. Other beliefs hold that the Spectre of Death is only a psychopomp, serving only to sever the last tie from the soul to the body and guide the deceased to the next world and having no control over the fact of their death. image at bottom ; dance of death. psychopomps”
The origins of the Grim Reaper go back far into the past and he was known by many names. In old Celtic folklore, he was known as L'Ankou, sometimes called Father Time. To the Greeks he was known as Cronus and the Romans called him Saturn.
Don’t be grim, I’ll be back with more Thrilling episodes! MonsterGirl
“A beautiful face in the mirror, a pitiful old face at the door, could they have been one in the same” ” And sometimes its better not to see too deeply into the darkness behind our mirror; For there live things beyond our imagination as sure as my name is Boris Karloff “
The Hungry Glass aired Jan 3, 1961 ~
Written and Directed by Douglas Heyes (Kitten With a Whip ’64) from a short story by Robert Bloch (Psycho) with music by Jerry Goldsmith & Pete Rugolo.The episode stars William Shatner and Joanna Heyes (wife of Douglas) as Gil and Marsha Thrasher. Russell Johnson and Elizabeth Allen as Adam and Liz Talmadge Donna Douglas (Ellie May Klampet-The Beverly Hillbillies) as Young Laura Bellman and Ottola Nesmith as Old Laura Bellman. Heyes also directed the iconic Twilight Zone episode Eye of the Beholderwhich also featured Donna Douglas as the ‘ugly’ girl.
At first, we see the young and audaciously cute Donna Douglas as young Laura Bellman, fanning herself like a peacock in the myriad of mirrors. There is a themed waltz accompanying her, which reprises itself later on in the episode, a delirious little melody that merely hints at dementia. Then, a sea captain with a hook for a hand comes rapping on the door with his metal claw, in the company of several of the town folk, “I know she’s in there, she’s always in there with her cursed mirrors!”
“Oh leave me alone won’t you, leave me alone… with my mirrors!”
Once the door is open only partially to reveal the very grotesquely painted face of Old Laura Bellman, wearing white gloves, her lips smudged in presumably bright red lipstick, as she had just drank the blood from a freshly killed carcass. The exaggerated outline distorts her already sagging and wrinkled mouth.“Oh leave me alone won’t you, leave me alone… with my mirrors!”
Boris Karloff once again steps in to introduce the evening’s story dressed in a black cape and top hat in front of a very ornate mirror holding a lantern.
“A beautiful young face in the mirror"¦a pitiful old face in the door"¦could they have been one and the same? Some people say that mirrors never lie"¦others say that they do, they lie, they cheat, they kill"¦.some say that every time you look in one"¦you see death at work. But most of us see only what we want to see"¦and perhaps it's best not to see too deeply into the darkness behind our mirrors"¦for there live things beyond our imagination as sure as my name is Boris Karloff"¦”
William Shatner gives a very compelling albeit high-strung performance as a photographer Gil Thrasher who, with his wife Marcia (Joanna Heyes) has purchased a house that is purported to be haunted by the locals–(Aside from the various made for tv movies and B movies he appeared in around the 1970s and his iconic Captain Kirk in Roddenberry’s Star Trek legacy it’s easy to remember Shatner as airplane passenger Bob Wilson in Twilight Zone’s Nightmare at 20,000 Feet-10/11/63 or his superstitious Don Carter trapped in a small Midwestern diner at the mercy of a bobblehead diamond eyed devil napkin holder who serves out 1 cent per question fate in… Nick of Time -18 Nov. 1960 one of my favorite episodes in the series).
The previous owner of the house was Old Laura Bellman, played as the quintessential hag byOttola Nesmith, (The Wolfman 1941 & Mrs Lowood, Highcliff Headmistress in Val Lewton’s 1946 The 7th Victim) who locks herself away in the house and spends all her time gazing at her own reflection in her palace of mirrors.
Ottola Nesmith photo of seated, Ottola Nesmith in Lewton’s The 7th Victim with Kim Hunter far right.
“And it never struck you curious to find nary a looking glass in all of it?”
After having met the caustically provincial locals of Cape Caution New England, who warn the couple “that tarnation property comes full equip with visitors, nary a looking glass in the whole of it” Gil and Marcia move into the house on a very stormy night. Soon, they and their two new friends Russell Johnson and Elizabeth Allen Adam the realtor, and wife Liz Talmadge who sold them the place at a suspiciously low cost, begin to see apparitions in various windows of the house. There are no mirrors when they first move in because they’ve been removed and secretly hidden away and padlocked in the attic. Seems the local superstition holds that not only is the house unlucky but the Bellman place has had its share of nasty accidents all having to do with broken mirrors, and a couple of people were killed by shattered glass. Adam Talmadge explains that the locals have worked themselves up to believe that these people were actually murdered by the mirrors with malice of forethought.
The four get into their station wagon and amuse themselves while speculating about the lack of mirrors meaning the house was previously owned by vampires, superstition, and a series of mysterious accidents
“That old bird inside had us thinking the place was built by vampires.”Gil says to Adam “The truth now"¦the people who built that place"”where were they from?” Adam answers, “The Bellmans? Pennsylvania, I think"¦” “You sure it wasn't Transylvania?” Adam tells him “The mirrors"¦so that's what the old coots were bending your ears about” Gil says “Now, look"¦I'll admit that you warned us that the roof leaks and the cellar floods and the shutters go bang, but what's this about no mirrors?” Adam jokes, “Didn't I tell you why you got the place so cheap?” Gil responds, “Yeah, you said the local characters think the place is unlucky” Adam earnestly, “Well, unlucky because of the broken mirrors. Gil, you have no idea how these people can build up a story. Seems that there were some nasty accidents up there years ago. A couple of people killed by shattered glass, so now the yarn's been worked around to where they actually murdered by the mirrors… with malice aforethought"¦” Marcia pipes in, “Seems logical"¦” Gil says, “Sure"¦some mornings when I'm shaving, the guy in the glass looks pretty deadly, especially with a razor in his hand” Adam gets out of the car, “Well, I hadn't thought about it, but, I'd better get you some sort of mirror, at least until you get settled,” Marcia tells him, “Never mind, there's one in my traveling case” Gil teases, “Oh, Marcia couldn't live without her mirrors” Marcia replies, “What woman could?”Adam-“Didn’t I tell you why you got the place so cheap?”Gil-“You said the local characters think it’s unlucky”Liz-“Well oh well.. early mausoleum.”
The jovial couples arrive at the Bellman house which in the dark of the storm still appears to be a showplace with the vastness of the ocean view as the center attraction. The Thrashers start to imagine all the things they will do to fix up the grand old house, Marcia is a decorator. Suddenly Liz catches sight of an apparition, a ghostly figure reaching for Marcia in the window. Liz screams and startles Adam into dropping the celebratory bottle of champagne, the broken glass cutting his hand, a small homage to the history of the odd accidents that plague the Bellman place.
“When you let out that blasted howl… I cut my hand.”
Adam annoyed at Liz for harping on the incident says “Oh Liz drop it"¦ She tells him “But he had a hook, a hook for a hand”
Once the visions start, Korean war vet Gil is driven half crazy by suspicion and fears that it’s his post-traumatic stress disorder, “When I had the fever in Korea, I saw things you wouldn’t believe… They said I was delirious -but what I saw was real!”
Or thinking that maybe it was the power of suggestions brought on by the collective hysteria of the local superstitious gossip. Various incidents occur where Gil, Marcia, and even Liz see ghostly images floating in the glass, but everyone keeps justifying it somehow. Although Marcia feels very unwelcome in the house and Gil truly knows that something is not right, they decide to stay and try and make it work, regardless of the bogeyman in the looking glass.
Until one night while Gil is down in his darkroom developing some film. he actually captures the image of a little girl who we find out later, had gone missing while playing by the house years ago.
The Hungry Glass, dealt with themes that were so ahead of their time for that era on television~ Shatner’s character is struggling with a form of Post Traumatic Stress disorder from the effects of war, and the idea of narcissism as a devouring entity that can feed on itself. A life force. like the classical myth that vanity = death and is capable of sucking you into a mirrored void is absolutely chilling.
The effectively imposing New England house on the cliff that no one will rent, somewhat like the house in 1944’sThe Uninvited.The idea is that a woman could manifest an actual malevolent life force because of her obsession with her youth and beauty. The haunting as it were, works on so many levels in this episode. There’s a claustrophobic quality, in terms of feeling like everything is hurling towards being sucked into the mirrored void, the voyeuristic quality of feeling like you’re being watched by the ghostly inhabitants of the reflective world that gazes back at us.
Mirrors are usually used to create gateways or portals or for divination purposes. When a mirror breaks it can symbolize such things as a loss of beauty or innocence, foreshadowing a loss in general, or a spell or dream being broken. In the case of Old Lady Bellman, her tragic obsession with her beauty created a conduit between life and death. Her loss of youth, the end of life.
“Well Well now Marcia, you’re not afraid of mirrors are you? Why should you be, you have nothing to fear, not yet anyway. Not for a few more years”
While Gil is looking at his child specter in print through a magnifying glass, Marcia is exploring the attic when she stumbles onto the padlocked door. She breaks it open and discovers dozens of mirrors that had been hidden away. They stare back at her like thousands of eyes from an insect’s gaze flashing at her. This is where Laura Bellman’s waltz motif begins to play again. Marcia has opened Pandora’s box. She starts an outer monologue “Well Well now Marcia, you’re not afraid of mirrors, are you? Why should you be, you have nothing to fear, not yet anyway. Not for a few more years”
Again, the emphasis is on the loss of youth and beauty. Gil finds her in the attic amidst all the mirrors. She tells him it’s like a funhouse. Well, it sort of is, since everything about the idea of looking at yourself is distorted in this episode. Gil tells her he doesn’t even like to look in one mirror let alone fifty, and Marcia tells him
“That’s because you’re not a woman, mirrors bring a house to life ” Gil responds, “Well you ought to know you spend half your life in one” Marcia says “Alright I’m vain, foolish, and female and I like mirrors” Gil– “And they like you, baby.”
In the story of The Hungry Glass the legend that circulates amongst the locals is that Jonah Bellman built the house to be a showplace, he said he’d make it a jewel box (again a reference to symbolism often used in paintings where the theme is Vanity) As retold by Adam Talmadge–
“He’d pull the sunlight and silver off the sea. He built it for the most beautiful bride, the most desired woman in New England. He was madly in love with her, she was madly in love with herself. It was more than Vanity though it was a tragic sickness. She didn’t belong to him, but only to her own reflection. He died of a broken heart and so the years passed and the house and servants grew old, but Laura never grew old, at least not in her mirrors. She was very old and very ugly painted and powdered like a bad job of embalming. Her nephew brought a doctor to the house who said she belonged locked away in a madhouse. but her nephew decided to keep her there, locked in her room away from her mirrors. She was still able to find herself in the window glass. One night she danced herself right through it. That is how she died. But the story goes that she still lives on in her mirrors; because there had more of her living there than in her own body.”
This is where I leave off… I won’t spoil the story for you by giving away the ending… this time.
The symbolism of vanity
The idea that mirrors are a living realm unto themselves and yet another thread running through The Hungry Glass is the idea that narcissism and Vanity are not only inherent in women but isolated to the female gender, and certain male’s assumptions that women are fixated on their own image~ I find it an odd contradiction that The Narcissus myth was a male gazing at himself in the water!
Suggesting an intertwinement between life and death.
All is Vanity by Charles Allan Gilbert carries on this theme. An optical illusion, the painting depicts what appears to be a large grinning skull. Upon closer examination, it reveals itself to be a young woman gazing at her reflection in the mirror.
Some excerpts are taken from Wikipedia Vanity ;
During the Renaissance, vanity was invariably represented as a naked woman, sometimes seated or reclining on a couch. She attends to herself in the mirror. The mirror is sometimes held by a demon. Often, vanity is portrayed by the figure of death himself.
Seven Deadly Sins. Hieronymus Boschdepicts a bourgeois woman admiring herself in a mirror held up by a devil. Behind her is an open jewelry box. A painting attributed to Nicolas Tournier, which hangs in the Ashmolean Museum, is An Allegory of Justice and Vanity. A young woman holds a balance symbolizing justice; she does not look at the mirror or the skull on the table before her.
Vermeer’s famous painting Girl with a Pearl Earring 1665 is sometimes believed to depict the sin of vanity, as the young girl has adorned herself before a glass without further positive allegorical attributes.
The Narcissus Myth as portrayed by Waterhouse is a reflection on the nature of intimacy and Vanity.
In many religions, vanity is considered a form of self-idolatry in which one rejects God for the sake of one’s own image and thereby becomes divorced from the graces of God.
Given all these different references to Vanity, The Hungry Glass, with its focus on the female gaze and the correlation with beauty, obsession, life, and death, is a very layered concept within a very simply haunting story on the surface.
MonsterGirl- Beware of mirrors and their contents!
From the show’s opening iconic musical score, you know something deliciously sinister is about to occur. The word THRILLERappears against a fractured white web like graphic title design quite a bit in the style of Saul Bass. The discordant piano and horn stabs of modern jazz already bring you into the inner sanctum of menacing story telling. As Boris would often say as a precursory welcome,“Let me assure you ladies and gentlemen, as sure as my name is Boris Karloff, this is a thriller.”
The series was developed by Executive Producer Hubbell Robinson and producers William Frye, Fletcher Markle & Maxwell Shane for MCA’s Revue Studios. The format was somewhat plagued by two ambivalent themes, leaving the show’s narrative straddling both crime melodrama and tales of the macabre genres. But… either atmospheres created by some of the best writers, directors and players delivered a highly intoxicating blend of both.
“I think the title leaves the stories wide open to be based on melodrama not violence or shock. They’ll be stories about people in ordinary surroundings and something happened to them. The whole thing boils down to taste. Anybody can show you a bucket of blood and say-‘This is a bucket of blood’, but not everyone can produce a skilful story”-Boris Karloff (1960)
Karloff starred in five episodes: The Prediction, The Premature Burial, The Last of the Somervilles, Dialogues With Death, and The Incredible Doctor Markesan.
Many of the stories were based on writing taken from Weird Tales and scripted by that magazine's contributors such as Robert Bloch (author of the novel Psycho) who wrote one of my favorite episodes The Cheatersas well as adapting his story The Weird Tailor.
THRILLERhad an incredible line up of serious dramatic players.Leslie Nielsen, Mary Astor, Rip Torn, Patricia Barry, Richard Anderson, Martin Gabel, Cloris Leachman, Fay Bainter, Victor Buono, Audrey Dalton, Alan Caillou, Elisha Cook, Robert Lansing, Mary Tyler Moore, Beverly Garland,Warren Oates, Werner Klemperer, Harry Townes, Jack Weston, Paul Newlan, Ed Nelson, Mildred Dunnock, Phyllis Thaxter,William Shatner, Elizabeth Allen, Guy Stockwell, Susan Oliver, Nehemiah Persoff, Torin Thatcher, Marlo Thomas, Robert Vaughn, John Ireland, Pippa Scott, Jeanette Nolan, Guy Rolfe, HazelCourt, Lloyd Bochner, Brandon DeWilde, Sidney Blackmer, George Macready, Tom Poston, Constance Ford, Elizabeth Montgomery, John Carradine, Edward Andrews, Estelle Windwood, Bruce Dern, Jo Van Fleet, Jane Greer, Richard Long, Ursula Andress, Lillian Bronson, Reta Shaw, Dick York, Howard McNear, Richard Carlson, Nancy Kelly, John Fiedler, Linda Watkins, Martita Hunt, George Grizzard, Robert Middleton, Natalie Schafer, James Griffith, Bethel Leslie, Patricia Medina, Richard Chamberlain, Sarah Marshall, Conrad Nagel, Reggie Nalder, Henry Jones, Russell Johnson, Natalie Trundy, Diana Millay, Philip Carey, Kathleen Crowley, Susan Oliver, J. Pat O’Malley, Judith Evelyn, Tom Helmore, Robert Vaughn, Virginia Gregg, Scott Marlowe, Judson Pratt, Marion Ross, Antoinette Bower, Jocelyn Brando, William Windom, George Kennedy, Abraham Sofaer, Monte Markham, Patricia Breslin, Charles Aidman and so many other great character actors.
Ida Lupino directed Last of the Summervilles, The Lethal Ladies, The Bride Who Died Twice, La Strega, The Closed Cabinet, and What Beckoning Ghost? Guillotine, Mr. George, and Trio for Terror
The series drew much of its artist edge because of the directors who contributed their stylistic observations of the storytelling like Robert Florey, a French Screenwriter who was responsible for contributing to The OuterLimits, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and The Twilight Zone as well as assistant director on Murders In The Rue Morgue and the 1946 film The Beast With 5 Fingers yet another take of the Orlac saga. John Brahm directed the 1944 version of The Lodger and Hangover Square. Much of the overall tone of the series combined elements of film noir and classical horror. The shadowy gray-toned cinematography created so much of the atmospherics for some of the most memorable episodes in the series. Pigeons From Hell is yet another story adapted fromWeird Tales Magazine. This episode was directed by John Newland of One Step Beyond, a television series consisting of half-hour episodes that were purported to be based on true paranormal events. Some other notable directors who contributed their work to the series were the ever-versatile Ida Lupino, Arthur Hiller, Lazlo Benedak, (The Wild One ’53) Hershel Daugherty,Paul Henreid, Douglas Heyes, andJules Bricken.
THRILLER’S musical compositions seemed to be sculpted perfectly for each episode, underscoring the haunting and poignant quality of each story in such an evocative way that the music itself became integral to the narrative. The subtly intrinsic emotional quality in each of the arrangements help forge a climate of the distinctive theater of dramatic and unearthly chills.
Henry Daniell, who in addition to his marvelous face, had a wonderfully theatrical voice, plays the 17th-century reincarnation of his ancestor Vicar Weatherford in God Grante She Lye Stille.He condemns the witch Elsbeth Clewer to be damned to the fires of hell and burn at the stake. Memorable is his invocation “God Grant That She Lye Still.” in that measured and lucidly flowing tone of his.”Thou shall not suffer a witch to live!”
Henry Daniell in God Grant That She Lye Stille.
Daniell would inhabit several striking characters in the series, including Dirk van Prinn the alchemist in The Cheaters.
Henry Daniell as the cruel headmaster in Jane Eyre 1943.
I’ll be writing about some of my favorite episodes in depth because THRILLER was so ahead of its time in terms of the serious and artful risk-taking of the various directors on board, the incredibly spellbinding storytelling and dialogue, inspired set & art design, experimental cinematography, dramatic performances, and evocative musical scoring.
Together the confluence of all these elements contributed to a show that often pushed the boundaries of what you might expect from a 1960s television series. Its moody, compelling, and haunting quality, has not been duplicated on any other anthology series of its type to date. Although I also feel passionate about The Outer Limits for much of the same reasons, a show philosophizing on morality with a very science fiction lens. I plan on covering that series in depth as well. Alfred Hitchcock Presents & The Alfred Hitchcock Hour was a fabulous mystery series that also merged noir with suspense. This is another show I’ll be talking about in the future. Yet THRILLERholds a special fascination for me, partly due to my enduring love for Boris Karloff.
Somehow THRILLER seemed to encapsulate its own Gothic methodology and mythos.
The sets had a uniquely eerie landscape and their own vitally uncanny, bizarre, and shadowy environment. Not unlike the way Val Lewton seemed to create his own unique cycle of supernaturally themed shadow plays for RKO.
The show still evokes chills and Gestalt responses in me even after having watched these episodes a hundred times over.
Also notable isJack Barron’smake-up on the series, including The Incredible Doktor Markesan~
So please stay tuned as I journey back to Boris Karloff’s Thriller and wander through some of my most treasured episodes I’d love to share with you!
Also notable is Jack Barron’s make-up on the series, including Doktor Markesan
a few scenes from a most groundbreaking & thrilling series!
A Wig for Miss Devore – Patricia Barry & Linda Watkins.The Storm-Nancy Kelly.What Beckoning Ghost?-Judith Evelyn.Fingers of Fear- Robert Middleton.Mr.George- Virginia Gregg and Lillian Bronson.Masquerade – John Carradine, Tom Poston, and Elizabeth Montgomery.Rose’s Last Summer– Mary Astor.Parasite Mansion- James Griffith and Jeanette Nolan.Pigeons From Hell– Ottola Nesmith.Prisoner in the Mirror – Lloyd Bochner. The Cheaters- Mildred Dunnock.The Ordeal of Doctor Cordell-Robert Vaughn.The Grim Reaper– himself.The Hollow Watcher– Audrey Dalton.The Hungry Glass– William Shatner and Joanna Heyes.The Premature Burial- Sidney Blackmer.The Purple Room.The Remarkable Mrs. Hawk– Jo Van Fleet.The Weird Tailor- Sandra Blake & Hans the Mannequin.The Incredible Doktor Markeson – Boris Karloff.Doktor MarkesonThere are 2 episodes listed that never made it to the screen- A Secret Understanding and The Black-Eyed Stranger.
