The Veil

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.

Boris Karloff hosted(and sometimes acted in) this ten-episode series that dealt with ghosts and psychic phenomenon. Never aired because the studio went bankrupt, this is still an entertaining series, due to the talent Of Boris Karloff, an acting legend. Episodes included titles like: 'Vision Of Crime', 'Girl On The Road', Food On The Table', 'The Doctors', 'The Crystal Ball', 'Genesis', Destination Nightmare', 'Summer Heat', 'The Return Of Madame Verney', & 'Jack The Ripper'.(the best of the bunch). Often overlooked by "Thriller", also hosted by Karloff, this can also be compared to "One Step Beyond", and can be viewed on DVD. Worth seeking out for fans of Boris Karloff.

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?

Available complete on dvd, with magnificent picture and sound quality. This quite old anthology tv series of nine episodes plus an extra borrowed from British tv, is quite watchable. The acting styles are a little wooden, but there are some interesting early appearances- Robert Hardy, Patrick MacNee, Harry Bartell and so on.

Supposedly based upon real reports of paranormal reports this certainly predates the X Files. The approach is pure drama with no explanations.

A good addition to any classic tv collection - although it never was shown on tv.

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