Now available for the first time ever in any format, experience the complete series hailed as the most frightening ever created for television. Horror legend Boris Karloff (Frankenstein) guides you through 67 unforgettable episodes of suspense, murder and relentless terror from the minds of such masterful writers as Edgar Allan Poe, Robert Bloch (Psycho) and Cornell Woolrich (Rear Window) include a murderous cursed painting, a supernatural mirror, a demonic tailor's suit and much more! Now remastered and packed with hours of exclusive, fascinating extras, Thriller is the ultimate must-have collection for any horror or classic television fan.
I'm writing this as I'm about to insert the first disc of Thriller into my player. I know very little about this show, other than it's a horror show hosted by Boris Karloff. Over the years this is a show that many people on TVShowsOnDVD.com have wanted to see released, and their enthusiasm for the show has rubbed off on me; I'm extremely excited to see it. I love horror anthology shows, with the original Twilight Zone being among my favorites, so I'm curious to find out how Thriller will stack up. I know Image has gone to great lengths to put this set together, and I can't wait to start watching it.
This massive 14 disc set includes all 67 episodes:
Disc 1 (4:08:33)
The Twisted Image (49:54)
Child's Play (49:59)
Worse Than Murder (49:56)
The Mark of the Hand (49:03)
Rose's Last Summer (49:41)
Disc 2 (4:09:38)
The Guilty Men (50:00)
The Purple Room (49:54)
The Watcher (49:54)
Girl With a Secret (50:00)
The Prediction (49:50)
Disc 3 (4:09:19)
The Fatal Impulse (49:52)
The Big Blackout (49:53)
Knock Three-One-Two (49:53)
Man in the Middle (49:52)
The Cheaters (49:49)
Disc 4 (4:09:23)
The Hungry Glass (49:51)
The Poisoner (49:55)
Man in the Cage (49:54)
Choose a Victim (49:53)
Hay-Fork and Bill Hook (49:50)
Disc 5 (4:09:20)
The Merriweather File (49:51)
The Fingers of Fear (49:53)
Well of Doom (49:53)
The Ordeal of Dr. Cordell (49:54)
Trio for Terror (49:49)
Disc 6 (4:09:19)
Papa Benjamin (49:53)
Late Date (49:47)
Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper (49:53)
The Devil's Ticket (49:54)
Parasite Mansion (49:52)
Disc 7 (4:09:23)
A Good Imagination (49:53)
Mr. George (49:53)
The Terror in Teakwood (49:48)
The Prisoner in the Mirror (49:54)
Dark Legacy (49:55)
Disc 8 (1:39:42)
Pigeons from Hell (49:51)
The Grim Reaper (49:51)
Disc 9 (4:12:04)
What Beckoning Ghost? (50:23)
Guillotine (50:35)
The Premature Burial (50:23)
The Weird Tailor (50:24)
God Grante That She Lye Stille (50:19)
Disc 10 (4:11:39)
Masquerade (50:20)
The Last of the Sommervilles (50:20)
Letter to a Lover (50:19)
A Third for Pinochle (50:20)
The Closed Cabinet (50:20)
Disc 11 (4:11:03)
Dialogues with Death (50:16)
The Return of Andrew Bentley (50:17)
The Remarkable Mrs. Hawk (50:17)
Portrait Without a Face (49:54)
An Attractive Family (50:19)
Disc 12 (4:11:40)
Waxworks (50:21)
La Strega (50:23)
The Storm (50:19)
A Wig for Miss Devore (50:17)
The Hollow Watcher (50:20)
Disc 13 (4:11:35)
Cousin Tundifer (50:21)
The Incredible Doktor Markesan (50:09)
Flowers of Evil (50:21)
'Til Death Do Us Part (50:24)
The Bride Who Died Twice (50:20)
Disc 14 (4:11:40)
Kill My Love (50:19)
Man of Mystery (50:19)
The Innocent Bystanders (50:22)
The Lethal Ladies (50:22)
The Specialists (50:18)
Video
This show is 50 years old (or close to it, depending on the season), but the quality looks very good on DVD. I don't know about you, but when I watch something in Black and White, I'm under the assumption that it'll be flawed a bit, and I think my eyes are more forgiving. Yes, there's some dust and debris in the picture, there's grain, you'll notice a line or two running through a few scenes, but overall I found the picture to be really good, better than I was expecting. I think the opening of "Rose's Last Summer" on disc 1 is the worst the picture quality got, and it's still very good. There's a chapter placed after the opening of the show, but the opening is so quick you probably won't have a chance to grab the remote. The discs don't feature a "play all" option.
Audio
It shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that this release features a mono track - it is 50 years old. The track is good for most of the time, however I noticed a few instances of the music drowning out the dialog. That's most likely a problem with the original recording, but it could have been partially fixed with a subtitle track, which this release doesn't have, nor does it have captions.
Commentary Tracks
Though I didn't have a chance to listen to all the commentary tracks, the 4 I listened to were filled with lots of information, and comments on the episodes. Definitely worth listening to.
The Twisted Image - Arthur Hiller and Steve Mitchell
The Purple Room - Richard Anderson and Steve Mitchell
The Prediction - Gary Gerani and Lucy Chase Williams
The Cheaters - Gary Gerani
The Hungry Glass - Gary Gerani and Marc Scott Zicree
Well of Doom - Gary Gerani and David J. Schow
Trio for Terror - Gary Gerani and David J. Schow
Papa Benjamin - Ted Post and Steve Mitchell
Late Date - Larry Blamire and David J. Schow
Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper - Alan Brennert and David J. Schow
Parasite Mansion - Beverly Washburn and Steve Mitchell
Mr. George - Gary Gerani and Lucy Chase Williams
The Terror in Teakwood - Jon Burlingame and Steve Mitchell
Pigeons from Hell - Gary Gerani
The Grim Reaper - Ernest Dickerson, Gary Gerani, Tim Lucas and David J. Schow
The Premature Burial - Ernest Dickerson, Tim Lucas and David J. Schow
The Weird Tailor - Daniel Benton and Gary Gerani
A Third for Pinochle - Ron Borst and Jim Wynorski
The Return of Andrew Bentley - Gary Gerani and David J. Schow
Waxworks - Ron Borst and Gary Gerani
La Strega - Gary Gerani, Steve Mitchell and Craig Reardon
La Strega - Jon Burlingame and Steve Mitchell
The Storm - Larry Blamire and David J. Schow
A Wig for Miss Devore - Patricia Barry and Steve Mitchell
The Hollow Watcher - Larry Blamire, Gary Gerani and David J. Schow
The Incredible Doktor Markesan - Gary Gerani and David J. Schow
Man of Mystery - Larry Blamire and David J. Schow
Episode Promos
Promos on nearly every episode in season 1.
M&E Tracks
These "M&E" tracks, or "Music and Effects" for most people, allow you to listen to the great music composed by Jerry Goldsmith and Morton Stevens without all that dialog getting in the way.
The Cheaters - Jerry Goldsmith
The Poisoner - Jerry Goldsmith
Hay-Fork and Bill Hook - Jerry Goldsmith
Well of Doom - Jerry Goldsmith
Late Date - Jerry Goldsmith
Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper - Jerry Goldsmith
Parasite Mansion - Morton Stevens
Mr. George - Jerry Goldsmith
The Terror in Teakwood - Jerry Goldsmith
The Prisoner in the Mirror - Morton Stevens
Dark Legacy - Jerry Goldsmith
The Grim Reaper - Jerry Goldsmith
What Beckoning Ghost? - Jerry Goldsmith
Guillotine - Jerry Goldsmith
The Premature Burial - Morton Stevens
The Weird Tailor - Jerry Goldsmith
God Grante That She Lye Stille - Jerry Goldsmith
Masquerade - Jerry Goldsmith
The Last of the Sommervilles - Jerry Goldsmith
Letter to a Lover - Morton Stevens
A Third for Pinochle - Morton Stevens
The Closed Cabinet - Jerry Goldsmith
Dialogues with Death - Morton Stevens
The Return of Andrew Bentley - Morton Stevens
The Remarkable Mrs. Hawk - Morton Stevens
Portrait Without a Face - Morton Stevens
An Attractive Family - Morton Stevens
Waxworks - Morton Stevens
La Strega - Morton Stevens
The Storm - Morton Stevens
A Wig for Miss Devore - Morton Stevens
Cousin Tundifer - Morton Stevens
The Incredible Doktor Markesan - Morton Stevens
Flowers of Evil - Morton Stevens
The Bride Who Died Twice - Jerry Goldsmith
Kill My Love - Morton Stevens
Man of Mystery - Morton Stevens
Thriller Promotion with Boris Karloff (6:45)
A promotional video for the series.
Promotional Stills (1:50)
A number of promotional stills for the show.
Production Stills (8:15)
Lots of production stills play in a slideshow.
Summary
I'll admit to being extremely disappointed after watching the first few episodes. The stories weren't scary, and really weren't interesting to me at all. I didn't give up though, and the stories improved a lot. The thing I like the most about anthology shows is how varied the stories are. Some may be duds, while others are brilliant, you never know what to expect, and that's part of the fun. I didn't know what to expect when I sat down to watch an episode of Thriller, but I was usually happy with the episode when it ended.
Fans of the show will no doubt enjoy this release, and while I can appreciate the amount of time and care that went into putting it together, I was really hoping for a video piece that covered the series. I wanted to know the history of it, how Boris Karloff got involved in the show, how it's been handled over the years, and what impacts it's had on TV since. I'm sure some of that information is in the commentary tracks, and one day I hope to listen to them all, but the set was sorely lacking a good featurette on the show.
A big "thank you" to Image for putting this out, as I've finally been able to watch what people have been emailing me about for years and years. This is a very good set, as sure as my name is Gord Lacey.
