Thriller Season Two - Part Five

COUSIN TUNDIFER
(1962)
Dir - John Brahm
Overall: MEH

 

Comedic character actor Edward Andrews continues his typecasting as an unassuming and mild mannered suburbanite who wants to get rid of a relative because money in "Cousin Tundifer", his third and final Thriller appearance.  The shtick is worn-out at this point, both that of Andrews' nebbish performance and the gold-digging premise where a family member needs to be bumped off in order for someone to get a hold of their inheritance, but at least the means by which the story delivers that shtick is unique.  Here it is the living room of a house which inexplicably transports Andrews back a century, (he also looks exactly like an evil ancestor, whatever that signifies), though Boris Sobelman's teleplay is wishy-washy with the details.  The comeuppance finish is satisfying if goofy, but it fits the lighthearted tone that playfully dances around the macabre.

 

THE INCREDIBLE DOKTOR MARKESAN
(1962)
Dir - Robert Florey
Overall: GOOD

 

The final Thriller episode where Boris Karloff appeared in a role besides that as the host, "The Incredible Doktor Markesan" is a solid contender as the best of them.  More to the point, this has one of the horror icon's finest performances as the mysterious, solemn, and sinister title character.  Rarely was Karloff given the chance to convey such cold and aloof evilness, and just as he did in several of his earliest horror roles, he proves how commanding he can be with little dialog.  Also on board is Dick York and Carolyn Kearney as the near-penniless couple that intrude upon their weird uncle's unwilling hospitality, gradually discovering a dark secret that is just as weird.  Based on a short story by August Derleth and Mark Schorer, it has traces of old dark house and mad scientist motifs, yet the outcome is delightfully singular.  Loaded with atmosphere and a memorable finale, it is as good as the program ever got.

 

FLOWERS OF EVIL
(1962)
Dir - John Brahm
Overall: MEH

 

A skeleton that occasionally screams or cackles seems like ideal fodder for a horror tale, but Thriller's "Flowers of Evil" stagnates due to a few reasons.  One, the Hugh Walpole source material features the premise of someone murdering their spouse so that they can spend that sweet inheritance money with their lover, done here for the umpteenth time on the program.  Neither Luciana Paluzzi nor Kevin Hagen turn in charismatic performances as the conniving couple, and the same can be said for Jack Weston who also emerges to throw a monkey wrench into their adulterous scheme.  Also, the supernaturally-charged skeleton is wasted, with its only memorable activity happening in the opening scene where it morphs into the form of Paluzzi's recently murdered husband.  Stale and underwhelming, it fails to live up to its potential.

 

TIL DEATH DO US PART
(1962)
Dir - Herschel Daugherty
Overall: MEH

 

Characters in Thriller episodes do be murdering their significant others.  Henry Jones makes his second appearance on the program here, offing not one but TWO of his spouses as he keeps chasing another lady to ride off and start a new life with.  Clearly these assholes never learn.  Though noted author Robert Bloch wrote the teleplay and the results contain his patented form of clever use of comeuppance, the Western "Til Death Do Us Part" is unremarkable elsewhere.  The biggest issue is the redundancy of the plot, as it is difficult to become invested in yet another weaselly and wimpish husband with interchangeable nagging wives and an impatient mistress on the side.  Jones is unlikable in the lead as he is meant to be, yet nobody else on screen fares any better, so watching everyone go through only slight variations of the same motions that we have seen many characters go through on the show just leaves too much to be desired.

 

THE BRIDE WHO DIED TWICE
(1962)
Dir - Ida Lupino
Overall: MEH

 

Set in an undisclosed Latin American country, "The Bride Who Died Twice" has some swell performances and a sensationalized plot, but it is not one of Thriller's better, well, thrillers.  Scripted by Robert Hardy Andrews, (who penned five total episodes of the program), it pits a ruthless Colonel against a Governor, the later being successfully threatened to surrender his only daughter for marriage once he is also forced to send her fiance off to certain death on a futile military mission.  As the title would dictate, Mala Powers has other plans than to be married to an evil Joe De Santis, but no supernatural element is introduced and instead we have some death-faking shenanigans that are easily seen through.  It is fine as a melodramatic yarn and again, everyone on screen does their due diligence, (particularly Da Santis and Eduardo Ciannelli as his unwilling rival), but the plot is predictable and it never arrives anywhere interesting.