Voxitype
Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.
Lidia Draper
Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.
Allison Davies
The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.
Maddyclassicfilms
Thriller is a good series that I highly recommend to other fans of series such as The Twilight Zone or One Step Beyond. This is an American anthology series filmed in black and white and hosted by horror film icon Boris Karloff.Thriller aired in 1960 and lasted for two years. The series is a mixture of horror and suspense stories. Some of the creepiest episodes are The Grim Reaper, The Devil's Ticket and Pigeons From Hell.In my opinion all the episodes should have been horror tales, they are the best of the series. There are too many episodes that are thrillers and the trouble is when a series is known as a horror series that should be the content of all the episodes.The horror episodes are the best of the series but the others are all worth a watch too.
Artimidor Federkiel
Never judge a book by its cover, and the same applies to TV programmes as well. Because what we've got here is not so much thriller fare in the traditional sense - this only applies to the early and mostly poor episodes of this 60s anthology series. From then on pure Gothic horror reigns, it's all about magic, mystery and supernatural happenings at their very best, typical thriller stuff just makes up the seasoning for the remainder of the show. And as a real treat it's all hosted by the great Boris "Frankenstein" Karloff himself, horror icon of the first hour - back then in the 30s, the golden age of horror, when Universal invented the monster movie. Karloff is also the reason why executives eventually went for the U-turn and gave the audience what they really wanted: sinister suspenseful drama in haunted castles, dubious figures crossing foggy moors, cemeteries that become alive, strange encounters in spooky old houses, skeletons in the closet all inclusive. Monsters, wizards, witches, ghosts, murderers, demons, even the devil and the grim reaper have gathered to send some shivers down your spine... The whole package comes in crisp black and white cinematography, complete with eerie shadows, thunder and lightning, and it's all about mood and atmosphere.With all these tasty ingredients for an exquisite horror show at hand the likable grandfatherly Karloff himself isn't satisfied with just presenting, but joins the cast on several occasions. With him on the show starring in several episodes is one of the greatest unsung villains in film history, Henry Daniell, among other things in an unforgettable pairing with Ted "(Addams Family's) Lurch" Cassidy, also William Shatner shines twice, as does John Carradine, and there's always the character actor in perfection Edward Andrews to name just a few prime examples of audience favorites. In short: "Thriller" became a show inspired by the fans of classic horror, with everything that represents it, as is also made clear by listing some writing credits: Robert Bloch ("Psycho") contributes no less than ten episodes, there's Cornell Woolrich ("Rear Window") in the mix, Richard Matheson and Charles Beaumont (both writers along with Serling on the "Twilight Zone"). Furthermore included are adaptations of classic Poe tales or e.g. another version of James M. Cain's classic "Double Indemnity". Head musician of the show and thus crucial for sustaining atmosphere is no other than the legendary Jerry Goldsmith in absolute top form. Sounds thrilling? It is! Guess in a way the title is not that misleading after all...
tostinati
My favorite episode right now is probably The Purple Room, wherein Rip Torn must agree to spend the night alone in an old Louisiana mansion, if he is to inherit it. But I love The Incredible Doktor Markesan, The Remarkable Mrs. Hawk, Guillotine, The Cheaters, Kill My Love and La Strega. All the episodes are, at very least, expertly-crafted, with good use made of music and good, atmospheric B&W cinematography. I wrote Universal years ago asking why they don't go to DVD with this property, and predictably perhaps, I received no reply at all. A site says that when this series was offered to local stations (as opposed to cable stations, which can break the mold in many ways) several years ago, there was not one taker. That shook me. Armed with that figure, the people at Universal will probably never DVD the series. But since there's evidence that they have an audience ready and waiting for this series, and with money to buy it if it was available, the studio seems to keep blowing it. The internet auction sites have had the complete Thriller for a song for several years now, which edges into the copyright holder's potential market. But it isn't too late to do this package right and offer something the off-air recorders and resellers can't offer, like commentaries or a well-researched and serious documentary on the series. But they need to move on it. The people who care about this series, were involved in it in some way, however distant, or are authoritative on it are not increasing in number, nor are they getting younger. Universal really needs to give this the full treatment, and NOW. So what's the hold-up?
daler218
Amazing how many of you remember the "Hungry Glass" episode. I was only about 9 years old at the time, and still vividly remember it as the scariest TV show I ever saw. What astounds me is that, with all the cable channels and all the JUNK programmed on them, they don't seem to find a slot to rerun these Thriller classics. It's a shame.
