Double Dipping: 'The Weird Tailor' - Boris Karloff's Thriller

 Asylum is a surprisingly rich topic for content.

One of the Segments was called 'The Weird Tailor.'

Well, in 1961, it was also adapted into an Episode of Boris Karloff's Thriller.

With Robert Bloch writing both versions, how do they match up?
Let's see...

A drunk, young man waltzes into his Dad's Room, where he is doing a dark, possibly Satanic ritual.

He walks into the Circle and... dies...I guess.

I mean, I guess that makes sense...maybe?

Unlike the Film's version, we see more of the Tailor- played by famous That Guy Henry Jones- and he's...a drunk jerk.

Joy- I'm glad they fleshed him out here.

The rich guy- calling himself Mr. Smith- sees a Psychic to make his next move and she leads him to...a Used Car Salesman.

That guy sells him the Book for- wait for it- $1 million.  

That's ALOT!

Also the Psychic is blind, which is supposed to be a twist.

He finally goes to see the Tailor- who, to be clear, is not actually weird here- and everything plays out the same.

Make the Suit between midnight and 5 am.  Use only this material.  No buttons.

During all of this, we see that the depressed Wife keeps the old Suit Mannequin in a nearby Room (since it was damaged) and talks to it because she is so unhappy.

Fun.

In a slight change, the Tailor finds the body and thinks that the Dad killed the Son and, somewhat intentionally, stabs him off-camera.

He returns home and gets abusive, literally choking the wife.

The Mannequin- with the suit on it- comes to life and kills him, speaking to her.
The End.

I think that sometimes less is probably more.  There's probably not a bad Robert Bloch Story out there, right?

Even so, I like the cut down one better.

For one, they don't make the Tailor a bad person.  He's exasperated by being broke and under pressure.  When he kills Smith, it is the classic 'trying to wrestle the gun away' bit, so he's not an active killer.
He's also not awful and then killed (the latter because he has to be 'telling the story,' of course).

Likewise, there's far more mystery about Smith in Asylum as well.  We don't see how his son died, which is key.  We don't see him go to a Psychic- twice, no less! 
Seriously, that second appearance was filler, right?

We also don't know that he's spent all of his money, which is a nice twist to add when the Tailor comes for payment.

Again, I must ask- why is this called 'The Weird Tailor.'  He's a dick in this one, but that's, sadly, not that weird.

So, I won't say that the Thriller Episode is bad- not at all.  It's just a rare case of the shorter version hitting all of the right beats without adding the stuff we don't need.

Fun fact: Jones was the final Villain on Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea.  He was a Time Traveler who tried to betray America to the British and change history in their last Episode.

Asylum has the better, shorter version, but do check this one out too.  I mean, it's Thriller- it's always going to be pretty good.

Tubi Thursday: The Crimson Cult (aka The Curse of the Crimson Altar)

 If a Film is historically-notable, does that make it good?

I sure hope so in this case.  This is...

In a Cold Open, this man is surrounded by a bunch of weirdos- including a mostly-topless lady with a whip and a guy holding a goat-, signs a contract and then is branded by them.

Also this random lady dies.  
She's actually too random and disconnected to even count as a Poor Bastard of Cinema!

A man gets a strange letter from his brother, who's been missing for about a week.
Was it that guy in the Intro?

He starts a weird relationship with this lady, where she keeps telling him to 'go to his room' and he keeps trying to get invited into hers.

Ah, '60s...why?

After a good 15 minutes, one of our top-billed Stars appears.  It is Christopher Lee, who has disowned the Film many times and says that he thought that this would be his last chance to work with Boris Karloff.

He was right, mind you.

He's a Witch Expert, which explains the tiny Napoleon and Josephine figures...right?

The Town is celebrating the day that they burned a Witch- played by Barbara Steele.

What's really going on?

Another expert- a top billed Karloff in his final British Film- gives them the usual Exposition Dump about the Witch.

He's great, even if he's delivering cliché dialog in a wheelchair.

Weirdly, his appearance is teased in Dialog as the duo joke about the look of the House being 'out of one of those cheesy Horror Films' as they 'expect Boris Karloff to show up any minute.'

Weird choice for a Film that is not remotely-comedic.

As it turns out, you can't trust Christopher Lee in one of those Films.  Shocking- I know.

Also isn't that guy on the left from Undertale?

To find out the mystery, stream the Film now.

It's not bad.  It's not great.

Shockingly, picking Films mostly at random doesn't yield consistently-good or bad results.  I can't believe it!

Crimson has some neat ideas.  It doesn't exactly do much with them, but that's still something.  Like Witchcraft, it just doesn't have much going to to feel original.  Like The Black Sleep, it has some good, name Actors in it with little to do.  Seriously, look who's here...

Barbara Steele
Christopher Lee
Boris Karloff
Michael Gough

There's not much to say here, really.  The Film is fine.  It looks nice in HD.  It has good Acting.  It just doesn't have a really good Twist to justify the pretty-nothing Plot.  The most you get is one guy you think is evil turning out not to be.

At least I got a reminder of the fact that you can't keep a good Alfred down.

A perfectly-watchable Film, but nothing more.  It has so many great Actors...and so little to offer otherwise.

Once-Lost TV: The Veil (with Boris Karloff)- 'The Return of Madam Vernoy'

 Another week and another look at this long-lost Show.  Let's look beyond...

In 'The Return of Madam Vernoy,' a man in India wants to marry his dream girl.

There's just one problem- she's gained the memories of her past life and wants to meet 'her husband.'
A simple 'no' would suffice!

He thinks that he can get her to abandon this craziness and joins her on the trip to see the Husband.

If she's crazy, how does she know where he lives?

The Husband- who lost her 20 years ago- and the Son are joined by his Professor friend (Karloff).  They plan to send the Son to America...but can't tell him that they are broke.

So let's address the elephant in the room- the Son is played by *sigh* George Hamilton.

No, really.  What in the what, 1950s?!?

Ahem.

Alright, anyhow, she shows up and tells her story.  He doesn't believe her.

The Husband, Karloff and the 'Wife' try to work things out.

She loves him.  He doesn't know her.
She knows all about him.  He sees her as a confusing stranger.

He tells her that he can't love her, all things considered.

She mournfully accepts that, but gives him a parting gift- revealing where he hid the jewels that once belonged 'to her.'  Now he can pay for his...Indian Son to go to America.  The End.

An interesting Episode...if you can ignore the obvious issues.  

Yes, George Hamilton is playing (at best) a Half-Indian Man.  

The Mother is played by an Austrian Actress (see her super-complex name in the Stinger below).  

I'm 99% sure that the Actress who played Santha and the Actor who played Rama aren't remotely Indian (or anything close).  

Weird coincidence: both of them only have 3 Acting Credits (counting this).  

So yeah, this is not the place to look for Representation.  

Ignoring that for a moment, we get an interesting story that feels like something from One Step Beyond.  There's still like 80 more Episodes of that Show I haven't covered- FYI.  

The Acting is pretty good.  I don't believe a word of this story as far as it being 'based on a real event' (obviously), but they back up the narrative well.  How does she know all of this stuff?  It makes you wonder- again, only in the context of the story.  It would have to be some pretty crazy coincidences for her to know all that she does.  

Speaking of coincidences, the Actor who played 'Armand' (the Husband) was in Funny Face and so was the lady that played the Mother.  To make matters extra funny, her character name was 'Armande.'  Random trivia!  There are no monsters or freaky things in this one- just a strange tale of reincarnation.  Hey- not everything has to be scary in October, right?  

I mean, if you want something scary, imagine being named 'Iphigenie Castiglioni' when you were a small child and being asked to spell your name for the Class!

Is it worth covering more of this Show?  It's all on YouTube and like (apparently!), so let me know if you think I should.

Once-Lost TV: The Veil (with Boris Karloff)- 'Jack the Ripper'

 In lieu of a new piece on The Boys, it is a Horror Anthology Show with Boris Karloff as the Host.
2020- the Year of Disappointments.

I joke, but this one is kind of interesting.  It is...

The Veil was a 1958 Horror Anthology Show that never actually aired.  It couldn't find a Network or buyer, so sat unreleased until the 1990s.

Now it is Public Domain and on random Discs like the one I got for a whopping $2.99.

Naturally, it is ANOTHER Jack the Ripper Story...

In this 1958 Episode, a Medium has visions of murder.  I wonder if that will be important.

He's pushed by his Wife to go to the Police, so he does.

However, the murders bring out all the 'crazies'...who manage to not be in the wide-shot and then magically appear in an insert shot.

Movie magic!

He has another vision and is, again, pushed to go to the Cops.  This time, he has a detail not given in the Papers.

Instead of proving his powers, however, this...

…lands him in a Holding Cell.

Overnight, two more Murders happen in Whitechapel and now the Police believe him.

He leads them to where he 'knows' the killer lives.

He's a Socialite that is part of the RCS (Royal College of Surgeons).

At first, it seems like he is dead, but he's actually given himself to an Asylum...which somehow makes him 'outside of the Police's jurisdiction.'

Is that how things worked?!?  Whatever- it is better than him being a Time Traveler or Immortal.
The End.

A nice twist on very, VERY familiar territory.  

Another Jack the Ripper story- what else can you do?!?  

Well, to be fair, this was made in 1958, far before nearly all of the previous examples I've covered here.  

Karloff does double-dip on the matter- with Thriller- but he's not actually *in* either Story.  

Speaking of not in the Story, this was not actually made for The Veil, so Karloff doesn't appear in the feature himself.  

Presumably, he'd have played the Doctor at the end- just a guess.  This was actually made by someone else and then bought to connect to The Veil and pad out its potential sale.  

As noted, that sale never happened.  

David MacDonald is not a household name, but he Directed numerous TV Shows and Films like Devil Girl From Mars and The Moonraker (no relation to the Bond Film).  

The Episode itself looks pretty good, is nicely acted and has a pretty good resolution.  

As people will note, this Story does ignore the final Ripper Murder from 2 months later...which I guess is just a copycat to them.  It hurts the flow of the story to give it the actual ending, huh?  

Regardless, this once-lost Show- it only appeared on DVD in the '90s after 30+ years in limbo- is pretty good, even if it randomly cuts from Karloff standing to sitting for no good reason to get this shot....

A good, solid Episode that maybe isn't the most accurate representation of the Show.  Even so, they made Jack the Ripper feel kind of fresh, so kudos.

Old School TV: Boris Karloff's Thriller- 'The Twisted Image'

An Episode with a notable Guest Star and a clear influence on Pop Culture for Decades to come.

This is...

The eyes have it!  We're promised that this one will be a Thriller...as sure as his name is Boris Karloff.

I mean, it's not.  His name was actually William Henry Pratt- just FYI.

Our Lead is...Leslie Nielsen?!?

Back in his straight man days, he played a Corporate Executive with one big issue...

This obsessed lady.

She literally just kept staring at him every afternoon for a month before she finally talked to him.  He politely dismisses her advances, but she clearly misreads everything.

On top of that, there's a wannabe Executive in the same Office (who works in the Mailroom).

He does what he can to look the part, but he's nothing special- at least that is what his mean-spirited Sister tells him!

His obsession with being like Nielsen eventually leads him to meeting up with the woman, who is obsessed with BEING WITH Nielsen.

He tries to make her fall for him- since he's 'just as good'- but that doesn't end well for one of them...

In the aftermath, the man manages to somewhat-successfully frame Nielsen for the crime and goes full-on delusional as he 'returns home' to see Nielsen's wife and child.

He ends up taking the latter and standoff ensues.

Nielsen manages to get the kid back as the Police arrive and the man engages in some not-so-subtle symbolism.  Do you get it?!?  The End.

A strong, personal-feeling Episode.  This one is interesting for having pretty much no supernatural element.  Others I've reviewed featured magic mirrors, visions of the future or at least implied mysticism to keep one alive for Decades longer than normal.  This one- just people with clear emotional and psychological issues.  I mentioned at the beginning how it seemed to be a big influence on Pop Culture.  The obvious example would be American Psycho.  Nielsen is emulated by a person who wants to literally become them, aided by the fact that they look somewhat alike.  The Book and Film are full of similar-looking guys for obvious, thematic reasons.  On top of that, you have Films like Single White Female and The Hand That Rocks the Cradle that definitely feel similar to this.  That said, I'm not claiming that the Writer of the original Story (adapted here) necessarily *invented* those ideas.  It is just interesting to see something that feels more recent than it is on a Show from 1960.  Seeing Nielsen play things 100% seriously is nice too and he does a good job.  The Writing and Acting tend to veer to the melodramatic, soap opera-y at times though.  It's not bad- just on the nose sometimes.  All in all, Twisted Image is a strong Thriller Episode.  As a bonus, it included a role for a person of color...kind of...

After covering all of the Episodes I have on hand, let's take a break from Thriller.  More Anthology Shows to cover, so keep your eyes peeled.

'70s Trash: Isle of the Snake People (1971)

It is better to die a hero than to live long enough to become the villain.  

Sadly, that is not the case with today's Film.  Isle of the Snake People is a 1971 Horror Film that comes from a combination of Los Angeles and Mexico.  

I'll get into that whole mess later.  

Here's what you need to know: Boris Karloff was still taking work in his latter years and, sadly, wasn't too picky about it.  

When approached to do FOUR Films for Jack Hill, he said 'yes.'  There was a catch though- he couldn't exactly travel to Mexico to Film due to a combination of lung issues (he had one removed due to Cancer and also had pneumonia) and other physical issues (his legs were in braces).  

The strange solution: just shoot all of Karloff's footage in Los Angeles (where he lived) and film the rest in Mexico, where it was cheap to do so.  

I should also note that these were shot in 1968 (his parts, at least), but the Films were released in a truncated manner.  

That's how Karloff appears in two Films in 1971, even though he died in 1969.  

Lastly, I should also note that there is a Film from 1968 with Karloff called The Snake People, but it has zero relation to ISLE OF The Snake People.  

With that in mind, this Film is often listed as The Snake People, including on a DVD I just saw today.  Confusing, no?  Phew.  

When I have to spend this much time on back story, you know that the Film must be a real gem!  The Plot involves voodoo, an older Cop looking to restore order, a teetotaler and lots of unfortunate animals.  

Is Karloff's 2nd to last Film (I'll cover the last one at some point!) worthy of his name?  To find out, read on...

In a Cold Open, we see a bunch of vague, PG-13 Voodoo stuff.  There's a little person, a chicken getting its head cut off, random dancing, lots of drums and no semblance of cohesion.

I don't know where I am, who they are or why I should care (in spite of the Film's lone bit of narration).  Great start!

The gist of the Plot is this...

A new Cop comes to Town.
The old guard are lazy drunks.
Voodoo is rampant.
Corruption is even more rampant.
Boris Karloff plays a rich guy who is clearly not the Villain.

Between Scenes of the Plot, we get more random Scenes of this lady doing snake dancing.  

She has 3rd Billing, so I guess it makes sense.

More Plot as we learn that Karloff is trying to stop to new Cop from making trouble with the Voodoo Worshippers.  He says that it is for the benefit of the Village.

Yeah, that's it.

The woman also has a tentative romance with the younger, drunker Cop.  

It goes nowhere.

The Head Priestess and her little companion break into the woman's room and make her have a weird dream.

It involves a copy of herself that likes to teleport and reappear 2 seconds later in the same location, her briefly making out with...herself and this oh, so subtle symbolism.

Oh and we get payoff late in the Film for that intro.  The guy there has a Zombie Woman as his 'Bride.'

That's it.  I hope you're happy.

It all ends in a big ceremony with the true Master coming forward and *gasp* it is Karloff.

Curiously, he dies when a snake bites the Cop's hand and 'makes him' shoot him.  His Voice and Body Double are sad.

The Cops seem to clear out the Voodoo Cult and all is right...I mean, save for all of the dead people and the collapse of their infrastructure.  The End.

 A pretty forgettable and unfocused Film.  

In its best moments, Isle has the Voodoo Priestess and some nice visuals.  

Sadly, those seem to be secondary to the overall Plot.  

It is worth noting the other disconnect between parts of this Film.  Hill Directed Karloff and company in the Los Angeles parts, while Juan Ibanez did the stuff in Mexico.  

For contrast, Hill has a number of notable credits, including Spider Baby, The Big Dollhouse and Coffy.  Ibanez, on the flip side, has these 4 Films and... nothing that really warrants much of an IMDB page (and also half as many Credits overall).  

It kind of shows, for the most part.  

The Plot stuff has this weird thing where it sometimes feels like boring filler, while the actual filler tends to be more interesting.  

It's kind of like stuffing a cheap hot dog with fancy cheese, rare herbs and spices.  I couldn't ever tell you how important those Voodoo Scenes were, but I could at least stay awake easily during them.  

The whole thing builds up to an obvious reveal for anyone who's seen any Movie ever.  I wonder if the previous Snake People Film has actual Snake People, as opposed to just people that like snakes.  

The Plot is nothing special and the Pacing is odd.  The Film has a cheesy appeal, but it is less accessible for that kind of thing than I was hoping.  I do hope at least that she's in the next one.  

After all, based on that haircut, she must be Seth Rollins' Mom, so that's neat.

***Like Mother, Like Son***

Next time, I try to finish off that DVD by the TV.  I can only hope that the final Film is passable at this point.  Stay tuned...