Thriller

Quite campy but enjoyable screenwriting. Unexpected actors from both sides of the pond makes it fun!

At last Brian Clemens' wonderful 1970s anthology series has been released in it's entirety in 16 disk Mega DVD set in the UK. This is a Region 2 release and also contains a number of tantalising extras

43 unrelated - but remarkably consistent - hour long thrillers from the fertile mind of Mr Clemens stand testament to the claustrophobic feel of studio taped television drama where the skill of the actor basically decides the pace of the piece in conjunction with the skill of the director using a multi camera set-up (an art probably destined to disappear altogether in another generation).

So many themes, so what to recommend? Well there is hardly a "dud" in there. One "K is for Killing" is rather incongruously a comedy and should really be treated as separate to the main mood of the remaining stories, which take in supernatural tales (especially in the first series), espionage stories and all variants of general crime from psychopathic scheming to killers on the run. It's is hard to isolate the "cream of the cream", the general standard being very high - however there are some that are classics from first viewing and remain forever so ... to my mind these comprise the following stories: (in chronological order)

The Colour Of Blood, The Eyes Have It, I'm The Girl He Wants To Kill, Death To Sister Mary, In The Steps Of A Deadman, Come Out, Come Out Wherever You Are, Nurse Will Make It Better, A Killer In Every Corner, Where The Action Is, The Double Kill, The Crazy Kill and The Next Voice You See

Agree with previous comments. Anybody in the UK around 40 - who remembers that haunting theme tune and the blood red fish-eye logo will get a tingle when the word Thriller is mentioned. I remember vividly watching episodes of this fine series with my twin brother while wolfing down our Nan's "cheesy chips". Remember the assassins in the blind school?!!!!!! The series is available on DVD at last and there are plans to release a Series 2. Episodes comprise: 1. Lady Killer 2. Possession 3. Someone At The Top Of The Stairs 4. An Echo Of Theresa 5. The Colour Of Blood 6. Murder In Mind 7. A Place To Die 8. File It Under Fear 9. The Eyes Have It 10. Spell Of Evil. DVD is UK format only - and retails at around £18-00. Buy it! - it will bring back glorious memories of Saturday evening viewing in the 70's and though some episodes are more dated than others - all have something to recommend them.

I have happy memories of this series, which was on late-night television where I lived in the states. I thoroughly enjoyed the episodes, which usually had one American TV star, i.e., Barbara Feldon, Donna Mills, etc. and a predominantly English cast. Most of the series, if not all, was written by Brian Clemmens. My favorites were "Coffin for the Bride" and "Lady Killer." Both of these were fabulous. "Coffin" featured a bravura performance by Helen Mirren and "Lady Killer" was a great story with a twist, starring Barbara Feldon and Robert Powell. I had the pleasure of interviewing Barbara Feldon, and she said it was absolutely freezing cold and that in one scene, when she's running while wearing her bathrobe, the wind opens her bathrobe and she had all kinds of clothes on underneath! I have both of those on video, but would love to see the other episodes someday.

I watched this on television as a kid and it scared the hell out of me. Now that i've seen the whole series i know why. If you have a sense for the macabre and eerie you'll find 90 % gold here. The stories are brilliantly plotted, the acting, though sometimes a little bit stagey is superb and most of all: brian clemens, the creator of this mini-series knew how to trigger an unsettling and creepy atmosphere most big-budgeted movies of the genre never approached.The topics range from assassins raging havoc in an institution for the blind to satanic rites, witchcraft, serial killers and haunted houses. A real gemstone with maybe the best soundtrack since "The fearless vampire killers". Don't you dare to miss it.