| Author | Message | ||
     Seanmcd (Seanmcd) Username: Seanmcd Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 86.151.243.114 |
http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Thriller-Press-Release/12892 | ||
| Stephen Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 82.17.255.28 |
Sweet Jesus!! But will it be available over here...?  | ||
| John Llewellyn Probert (John_l_probert) Username: John_l_probert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.10.250.234 |
I have never seen this programme or even heard very much about it - should I be excited? Is it on a par with Twilight Zone or the original Outer Limits? | ||
| Seanmcd (Seanmcd) Username: Seanmcd Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 86.151.243.114 |
John, I haven't seen any of these myself. I've only heard about this show through word of mouth and various review sites,etc. Touted as being certainly every bit the equal of The Outer Limits and perhaps even better. The first dozen or so episodes of season 1 were straight crime based stories to compete with the Alfred Hitchcock Presents show (equally brill) but after those it opted for pure horror for the remainder of its first and all of its second season.That's over 50 atmospheric horror tales adapted from stories by Bloch, Lovecraft, Matheson,etc. It has since taken on mythical proportions in my feverish little fanboy mind. A situation only heightened by it's shameful lack of availability on DVD or British TV. I believe our American cousins have reruns so maybe they can confirm if I should be as excited as I am ? Check link below for episode lists and synopsis without spoilers of course ! http://www.thrillerguide.net/index.htm | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 81.96.240.106 |
The only eisode I've seen is the "Pigeons from Hell" one, when I was very young. All I remember is that I enjoyed it, and it was very scary. | ||
| Carolinec (Carolinec) Username: Carolinec Registered: 06-2009 Posted From: 82.38.75.85 |
Yes! Sean has this series summed up perfectly. The crime ones aren't too interesting (well, not to me anyway) but the horror ones were superb. And with my all-time favourite - Boris Karloff - introducing every one (and even starring in a couple), I'd love to get my hands on a DVD of this. I wonder if it will be available in the UK in the right format? I pop over to the official Karloff website (run by his daughter) sometimes. I'll pop over there and see if there's anything on there about it. Will report back if I find any more news ... | ||
| John Llewellyn Probert (John_l_probert) Username: John_l_probert Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 88.202.210.68 |
Caroline - as a Karloff fan have you got the latest Karloff-Lugosi boxset with Frankenstein 1970, The Walking Dead et al? The Curtiz film is excellent - a horror noir. The others aren't that great - Zombies on Broadway features Lugosi, and You'll Find Out features Lugosi & Karloff in a movie so irritating I couldn't make it past the first ten minutes! | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.181.11.80 |
Never seen "Thriller", but I used to have a DVD set of all ten episodes of "The Veil", which was made a couple of years before "Thriller". Looking forward to this new release though. | ||
| Seanmcd (Seanmcd) Username: Seanmcd Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 86.151.243.114 |
I have 'The Veil' box set Mick. And very good it is too. Amazing to think that this short series of just 10 atmospheric episodes was never even broadcast! I just love how Boris introduces and closes each story in front of a blazing log fire in one of those huge ornate fireplaces. Just creates the right ambience on a cold winters night with a glass of your favourite wine at hand. Also included is a great bonus disc containing 4 or 5 sample episodes of a very rare Swedish horror series called '13 Demon St' starring Lon Chaney ! | ||
| Carolinec (Carolinec) Username: Carolinec Registered: 06-2009 Posted From: 82.38.75.85 |
John - no, I haven't really got into DVDs of any kind. I've got a few, like Beasts and some Night Gallery ones, but no Karloff on DVD at all. Ages back, I went through a phase of recording (on video) any Karloff film or series that was on TV, so I have a large collection of those (including Thriller). I really ought to start to build up a collection of Karloff on DVD. Mick, Sean - that box set of The Veil sounds like it might be my starting point for a Karloff DVD collection! I hadn't realised it had never been shown (not even in the States?). One of the above-mentioned off-TV videos I have was from when they showed a film of The Veil (3 or 4 stories - can't recall which). I'd never heard of it before then. Hmmm .. might have to start writing my Christmas present list.  | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 218.168.180.203 |
Thriller wasn't uniformly excellent, but it had some good episodes. 'Pigeons from Hell' (as Gary mentioned already) was a standout, based on the Robert Bloch story. There was at least one episode starring William Shatner, and at least one (that I remember) based on an August Derleth story ('The Incredible Dr. Markesan'). All in all it's definitely a worthwhile series for fans of this kind of thing (i.e. us lot). I have quite a few of the episodes on VHS somewhere, and someone sent me the whole series a few years ago on disc (not an official release). | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 218.168.180.203 |
Lord P - have you watched The Hanging Woman yet? I would be interested in hearing your verdict! | ||
| Carolinec (Carolinec) Username: Carolinec Registered: 06-2009 Posted From: 82.38.75.85 |
Thinking about Karloff series that have never been released on DVD, does anyone remember (or are you old enough to remember) Col. March of Scotland Yard? I remember seeing this when I was a kid - loved it. For anyone who doesn't know, I guess this series could be considered a prequel to Jonathan Creek as it involved Col. March (Karloff, complete with eye patch) going round explaining seemingly inexplicable occurrences. To my knowledge, it's never been released on DVD either. It's about time some of these amazing Karloff series were released on DVD. I wonder if his daughter, Sara, who runs the website and is in charge of his estate, has for some reason blocked release of some of these things? | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 218.168.178.68 |
Caroline, I too wish that more of this stuff would be made available. I was just thinking about the Vincent Price audio readings I used to enjoy back in the eighties (he had a wonderful voice). It would be nice to have more of it released on CD/DVD. | ||
| Seanmcd (Seanmcd) Username: Seanmcd Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 86.151.243.114 |
I love all this old stuff Caroline. They relied on atmosphere and the creation of tension. There's just too much gloss and CGI on TV horror today (with a few exceptions) and not enough for our perfectly capable imaginations to do. That's why I'm all for movies like 'Paranormal Activity' and 'The Blair Witch'. Col March was just before my time though but it sounds right up my alley as I also loved the 'Jonathan Creek' shows. I'm a huge fan of those 'locked room' mysteries and have collected all of Agatha Christie's books. But that's all for another thread. I can't get enough of these old series on DVD and hope Santa will be extra nice to me this year(Alfred Hitchcock Presents series 2 and 3) if I'm good. | ||
| Carolinec (Carolinec) Username: Carolinec Registered: 06-2009 Posted From: 82.38.75.85 |
>>I was just thinking about the Vincent Price audio readings I used to enjoy back in the eighties (he had a wonderful voice). It would be nice to have more of it released on CD/DVD.<< Is that The Price of Fear, Huw? I have an old audio cassette of some of those stories which I picked up in a market for about £3. Nice. I think they've been doing some of those on BBC Radio 7 recently. Can you get that where you are? Probably not. :/ Sean, what you say here is so true: "They relied on atmosphere and the creation of tension. There's just too much gloss and CGI on TV horror today (with a few exceptions) and not enough for our perfectly capable imaginations to do." That's just why I adore the old films/TV stuff so much. | ||
| Stevenw (Stevenw) Username: Stevenw Registered: 10-2009 Posted From: 80.47.222.80 |
I remember Thriller being on Channel 4 in its very early days. I loved watching it in bed on my B&W portable TV. I shall be buying this set for sure. | ||
| Stephen Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
So it actually has been broadcast on British TV!! Never knew that and surely increases the likelihood of a release over here. Then again I'm still waiting on 'Sgt Bilko' to get a proper DVD release... when, oh when!? | ||
| Carolinec (Carolinec) Username: Carolinec Registered: 06-2009 Posted From: 82.38.75.85 |
>>So it actually has been broadcast on British TV!!<< Oh yes, I remember watching it when I was quite young - don't know which channel though. The ones I've recorded from a few years back were when they were showing it on the SciFi channel every day around lunchtime. | ||
| Stephen Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
Like Sean this show has acquired mythic proportions for me ever since first reading about it in Stephen King's 'Danse Macabre'. For me television doesn't get any better than the original 'Twilight Zone', 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' & 'Outer Limits' so if this show belongs in that company... say no more! |