The Veil

"The Veil", a 1950's pilot series introduced by and starring Boris Karloff, concerned itself with ghostly tales and psychic phenomena. Although it was never taken up as a full series by a major network it still was quite entertaining. It is worth watching because of Karloff's own unique acting style and also because of the topics covered. One gets the impression that if it had been given a run then "The Veil" would have developed into a long running series investigating topics so well covered by future shows such as "The Twilight Zone" and "The X Files". It is a short series that a public television company would find useful in running in order to capture for a time a loyal viewing audience interested in ghostly tales or psychic phenomena. One of its best shows was the one about Jack the Ripper which will certainly get its viewers once again reading up books on this topic. A series well worth watching.

I'll be brief, "The Veil" is fine fun, especially if you're a Karloff fan. Too bad it was never finished, but then if it had been we would have probably seen it all a million times by now. Nice to see old Boris on the small screen chewing the scenery in his indomitable style. It is all trying to find what Twilight Zone would do in a very polished style with much tighter writing and higher production values a few years later, with another great host. I miss Karloff and Serling, but am glad to have come across this nugget. Grab yourself a cup of tea, put your feet up and watch one or two. They are only twenty-five minutes each and not frightening merely intriguing. The stories remind me of an old story collection called "Strangely Enough" which my friends and I used to read to each other by flashlight after dark. And, after-all, they are hosted by "Karloff the Uncanny", listen to that classic voice and baby that's rich.

"The Veil" is a 1958 TV series which consists of only 10 episodes, and which is hosted by none other than the ultimate Horror icon, the incomparable Boris Karloff himself. As a huge fan of Classic Horror in general and Karloff in particular, I was looking forward to seeing the episodes quite a bit. Overall, I must say that I was neither disappointed nor exceptionally stunned. The series sure was a neat idea, and it is superb entertainment and great fun that I highly recommend for all my classic Horror buffs. And yet, expectations should not be too high. The episodes are entirely entertaining. They differ in quality, however, and while this is referred to as a 'Horror' series, it could be labeled 'Fantasy' and 'Mystery' just as well.

The episodes always behind in a highly likable manner, with a short introduction from Karloff, who is sitting next to a fireplace in what is presumably a castle hall. The stories narrated are supposedly based on true events, which Karloff always manifests in his introductions. As stated above, the particular episodes differ in quality. While episodes such as "Jack The Ripper", "Summer Heat" or "Girl on the Road" are eerie and intelligent little stories that deliver everything possibly desirable in only 25 minutes, some other episodes, such as "Genesis" or "The Return Of Madame Vernoy" are only enjoyable for sentimental reasons, as the entertaining, camp fun they are. Two of the episodes, "Jack The Ripper" and "Destination: Nightmare", were also released as TV-films in the same year. Additional to being the show's host, Boris Karloff can be seen in (sometimes small, sometimes bigger) roles in all episodes but one (the final episode, "Jack The Ripper" which nonetheless remains the best episode in my opinion). Karloff is, of course, superb as always, the performances from the other actors differ, but they were entirely decent. Out of more recent shows, "The Veil" could probably most adequately be compared with "Beyond Belief: Fact Or Fiction", with the difference that this show got a higher cult- and entertainment value, and the great Boris Karloff as a host. So, don't expect to be scared out of your pants by the mysterious little stories presented here, but prepare for several episodes of vintage fun with the greatest host imaginable. Recommended to lovers of enjoyable classic spooks, and particularly to my fellow Karloff-fans.

Such a shame this mini-series never aired but luckily it is available on video. It is well worth seeking out - and not just for fans of Boris Karloff but for fans of mystery and horror. There are actually 12 episodes in all but "The Vestris" and "Peggy" are released under the title "Tales of the Unexplained".

These tales are all horror but strongly a part of the mystery genre as well - at least I them to be.

Karloff is in quite a few of these and not just our host of the show - which makes them even better. As usual he's a bit scary in most of them and good as always.

This is a series a would recommend highly for fans of Murder, Mystery, Horror and of Karloff.

9/10

Back in 1958, some folks decided to make a series about the supernatural that was both narrated by Boris Karloff and acted by him (he appeared in all but one episodes). Now here's the odd part--instead of just a pilot episode, they made 10--only to find that they didn't have a buyer. Because of that, the series fizzled and only a short time later, Karloff made another and more successful foray into television--the show "Thriller".

Fortunately for us, these ten episodes are available for download or viewing at archive.org--and they are well worth your time. The show are well-acted and made extremely well--too good not to have been given the go-ahead. See them for yourself and see what you think. Was the series prematurely and unfairly buried?