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(More customer reviews)Although superficial similarities make it tempting to regard the Hal Roach Studios ten-episode series pilot THE VEIL as a sort of trial run for the later TV series THRILLER (a.k.a. BORIS KARLOFF'S THRILLER), that is really an inaccurate and unfair comparison. It's true that both shows are hosted by venerable horror star Boris Karloff and that he appears in several of the dramatizations--in fact, he appears in all but one dramatization on THE VEIL--and it's also true that both series deal with the supernatural. But unlike the stories presented on THRILLER--which are completely fictional horror stories, many based on previously published works by popular horror and science writers of the 1950s and early 1960s such as Robert E. Howard, Robert Bloch, August Derleth, Cornell Woolrich, and the like--the stories on THE VEIL are presented as "true" stories about real people who have had a brush with supernatural phenomenon like ghosts, reincarnation, psychic prognostication, and similar spooky irregularities. But true or not, the stories on THE VEIL are, of course, purely dramatic "reenactments" with no scholarly research or backup information provided to the audience, and it is therefore more accurate to see THE VEIL as a precursor to the more contemporary THE X FILES rather than as a dress rehearsal for THRILLER.
That said, THE VEIL is certainly an entertaining anomaly from television's golden era, and its high-quality production values makes one wonder why it wasn't picked up as a regular series. In fact, the show per se was never broadcast. However, in the late 1960s, 10 years or so after the original production, blocks of three or four episodes each were hastily stitched together--ironically, much like the Frankenstein monster character that originally made host Boris Karloff a star--and licensed to local TV stations for broadcast as movies on late-night TV. So this two-disc DVD from Something Weird video is likely the first time THE VEIL has been made available to the general public in the show's original 10-episode format, and Karloff fans, horror fans, fans of THE X FILES, and, yes, even fans of THRILLER should find the show very enjoyable, and most will want to add it to their DVD collections.
Whether due to restoration or just because the source material was rarely used, the picture and sound quality on the DVD set is just fantastic! The liner notes include a synopsis of each episode, as well as some interesting historical background material about the show. Bonus materials on the discs themselves include a few episodes of 13 DEMON STREET, a foreign-produced TV show in the same vein as THE VEIL and from the same era. That show was hosted by Lon Chaney, Jr., and the production quality is obviously not as high as that of THE VEIL. Indeed, the source used for the DVD transfer is washed and sometimes jittery, but the episodes are, if nothing else, interesting for their historical value.
This DVD set is a must-own for Karloff fans and for those who have a strong interest in or love for classic television. Fans of more contemporary shows like THE X FILES and MILLENNIUM may also enjoy THE VEIL, especially in light of the fact that shows like this are the true progenitors of the modern fare.
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