(1962)
Dir - Herschel Daugherty
Overall: MEH
Robert Bloch's "Waxworks" differentiates itself from the usual Mystery of the Wax Museum clones, even if it still takes its characters until the last scene to figure out what audience members have likely put together already. That said, there is an effective enough twist to close things out after Oscar Homolka's tortured wax artist/museum curator explains everything in an expository dialog dump to a police detective that he intends on murdering. Because bad guys be doing that. Sadly, the story only comes alive in these closing moments, (the final shot of a melting skull being one of the program's finest), with the majority of it revolving around a humdrum investigation into a batch of murders that revolve around Homolka's place of business, as well as a time-stretching scene where French-accented Antoinette Bower goes on a date with one of the cops to a Chinese restaurant. How exciting.
(1962)
Dir - Ida Lupino
Overall: MEH
NBC's Thriller takes a stab at Italian horror with "La strega", literally translated to "The Witch", as is appropriate. Though set in an undisclosed time in and undisclosed village, (with an international cast to boot, including Argentina-born Alejandro Rey, the heavily made-up and accented American Jeanette Nolan, and Swiss bombshell Ursula Andress), it has a deliberate Euro feel that leans into rural superstition and melodrama. While Nolan makes a striking impression as the cackling old hag of the title who curses Rey into madness and tragedy, Andress gets little to do besides look wet and gorgeous while crying. Also, the obligatory sabbat sequence is nothing more than professional dancers in leotards lightly groping each other while flashing jazz hands, coming off as ridiculous instead of enhancing any kind of occult atmosphere.
(1962)
Dir - Herschel Daugherty
Overall: GOOD
This McKnight Malmar short story adaptation essentially boils down to Nancy Kelly scaring the shit out of herself in her house during a dark and stormy night for upwards of fifty minutes. Thankfully, frequent Thriller director Herschel Daugherty keeps up a tense pace in "The Storm", even if it arrives at a predicable conclusion and follows a strict structure where every commercial break ends with a loud soundtrack cue and Kelly finding something startling, usually to come right back to her relaxing since what she saw was not what she thought she saw. Atmospherically speaking, the episode is a triumph with wailing winds and an incessant downpour accompanying the single location where the power is also out, to add insult to injury. Also, cat lovers will be pleased that a feline both plays prominently in the proceedings and also survives.
(1962)
Dir - John Brahm
Overall: GOOD
One of the more clever Thriller episodes that also happens to have a ridiculous-on-paper premise, "A Wig for Miss Devore" manages an effective rug-pull after host Boris Karloff provides his introduction, setting things on a course that the opening scene could never broadcast. August Derleth's source material finds Patricia Barry playing a delusional Norma Desmond-type prima donna who gets her shot at a Hollywood comeback via the supernaturally-charged hair device of the title, (which is the silly part), and what transpires is a wonderful tweak on curses, showbiz sleaze, vengeance, and the lengths that adoration-seeking women will go to in order to stay relevant. Barry's performance is wonderfully hammy, and the unsettling hold that her sinister wig has on her affords several teasing death sequences that have a gruesome payoff in the finale.
(1962)
Dir - William F. Claxton
Overall: MEH
Some faux-Irish folklore finds its way into the Thriller installment "The Hollow Watcher", which is a story that should be more engaging considering that its primary monster is a seemingly sentient scarecrow. Also, Warren Oates is here, which is always a good thing. Playing an emasculated husband to Audrey Dalton's conniving immigrant wife, Oates' sheepish hillbilly performance eventually boils over into rage once Dalton's "brother" Sean McClory shows up from the homeland. Jay Simms' script plays off of some small town Western motifs as well as superstitious villagers ones, yet it does so ineffectively. Most of the emphasis is on three-way squabbling of the leads, (two of which are once again after some dead relative money, that tired ole gag), with the supernatural elements of the genuinely creepy title scarecrow thrown in more as an afterthought.
No comments:
Post a Comment