Product Details

• Actors: Gary Collins, Donna Mills, Robert Powell, Pamela Franklin, Joanna Pettet
• Format: NTSC
• Number of discs: 4
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0002VF642
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #405,011 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Thriller" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Not to be confused with the 1960s American anthology series with Boris Karloff, this Thriller is a British anthology program that ran from 1973 to 1976 and the brainchild of writer-producer-director Brian Clemens, best known for The Avengers. A cult favorite in its native country (though frustratingly difficult to see for the last two decades), the show aired briefly in United States through the ABC Mystery Movie, which repackaged the episodes with new introductions and titles.

Though A&E's boxed set packaging presents Thriller as a horror classic, the ten stories (each running 65 minutes) presented in the Season One set lean more heavily towards suspense in the Alfred Hitchcock Presents vein, though some stories feature distinct supernatural elements: "Spell of Evil" has Diane Cilento as a witch preying on widowed businessman Edward De Souza, while "Someone at the Top of the Stairs" stars Donna Mills (Knots Landing) and Judy Carne as tourists in a boarding house with a terrible secret, and "A Place to Die" addresses pagan rituals. The rest of the episodes generate their chills from distinctly human subjects: "Lady Killer" pits cold-blooded con men Robert Powell and The Avengers' Linda Thorson against naive Barbara Feldon (Get Smart), while "The Colour of Blood" has an attorney's secretary mistake an escaped serial killer for a client. Uniformly well-acted by a solid cast of British and American talent, Thriller: Season One is a taut ten-pack of television frights, delivered with class and skill by Clemens and a talented group of directors. The four-disc set features interviews with Clemens and directors Shaun O'Riordan and John Cooper; Clemens also provides amusingly morbid introductions to each episode à la Hitchcock. --Paul Gaita

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

105 of 120 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not the Karloff series, August 30, 2005

By 

someone "jonnycarson" (Indiana USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Thriller - The Complete Season One (DVD)

I have not seen this DVD set, but I thought I would inform everyone since the listing details are minimal, that this is the English television series Thriller that came out in the early 70's, and not the Karloff Thriller that came out in the early 60's.

42 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 3.5 Stars. Leave it to the British with their evil, supernatural or otherwise, October 30, 2006

By 

jammer "jammmer" (Laramie, Wyoming United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Thriller - The Complete Season One (DVD)

Seeing so many 5-star ratings, this reviewer is reminded of the Los Angeles area movie critic some years back on TV who, with a 10-star-maximum rating system, rated so many average movies highly that he had no room left when something better came along, hence resorting to superlatives like "10-plus stars" or even "11 stars." In a 5-star-maximum rating context, 3.5 stars seem reasonable for this package: These episodes have mostly pretty good plots with excellent acting throughout, though in this much screen-time one must expect an occasional plot-hole.

These ten 61-to-67 minute episodes (totaling about 655 minutes, plus 2-3 minutes of Clemons' introduction for each episode) are each divided into three 20+ minute parts (DVD chapters) separated by breaks (e.g. "End of Part 1" ... "Part 2"...):

1. Lady Killer - 3 stars; A marriage set-up and murder-for-money scam, with a Hitchcock-ian twist.

2. Possession - 3 stars; Creepy old mansion; bodies in the basement; psychotic finger-snapping, whistling murderer; and a medium with supernatural powers.

3. Someone at the Top of the Stairs - 3 stars; An apartment "too good to be true;" two "marvelous" and "pretty, pretty girls"; steepled index fingers; and supernatural, satanic evil.

4. An Echo of Theresa - 2.5 stars; Mind-altering dual-personality deja-vu ghosts are triggered by the London Times and 20-year-old espionage activities. The ending is marred by Dinsdale Landen's (as Mathew "Earp") over-the-top melodramatics, ending an interesting episode with a farce. Re-edited into 1973 British TV movie "Anatomy of Terror." Minor sound glitches occur at 33 minutes.

5. The Colour of Blood - 3 stars; Convoluted plot with a red carnation killer on the loose, mistaken identities, trains, depots, befuddled police, missing 40,000 pounds, and two isolated mansions.

6. Murder in Mind - 3.5 stars - A murder already done, or still coming up? That the lady is a cowering, weeping wimp detracts!

7. A Place to Die - 3.5 stars - Dr. Nelson and wife Tessa (a very sweet Alexandra Hay) take over apparently idyllic country community medical practice. But all is not as seems with lots of limping about on bandaged feet and canes; the mysterious death of predecessor Dr. Sharp; mysterious disappearances of young blonde girls; strange gifts of fetishes, flower and herb bouquets; garlic cloves; crucifix; effigy doll; talk of a full moon coinciding with "Lady Day;" and "the expected one."

8. File It under Fear - 3.5 stars - Near classic murder mystery. Scene: the public library; there's Liz Morris, the 29-year-old prudish librarian who lives at home with her mother; George Bailey, the assistant librarian who feels denigrated and humiliated by women; Mr. Stubbs, the library's "lounge lizard;" Airman Sgt. Jerry Masters who checks-out murder mysteries and moves mysteriously about; and Steve, the lodger staying with Liz and her mother. Then there are the serial murders of fair young girls over the past 10 months "down by the canal" and starting shortly after Steve got estranged from his wife.

9. The Eyes Have It - 1.5 stars. Gunmen stage their assassination lookout at a home for blind students along the parade route. After living there who knows how long, the students only just discover the dumb waiter by an errant breeze? (Come on now!). Then there's the ditzy, naive girl sent out for rescue. It's rabbits-out-of the-hat time on this one. Guess every such series has to have one clunker.

10. Spell of Evil - 3.0 stars; Supernatural succubus witchcraft, with a few motive plot holes but a memorable performance from Diane Cilento.

BTW, this reviewer did not see "Bob Hoskins, Patrick Magee, Helen Mirren, Hayley Mills and Stephen Rea" in any of these episodes; maybe in Season 2? The DVDs are nicely packaged in four thin-style keep-cases, contained in one slip-case. TV picture is fine, sound occasionally muffled. Episode average: 2.95 stars. Add .55 stars for the (typically British) acting excellence and superior packaging.

25 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best description for Thriller created by Brian Clemens, July 23, 2006

By 

Téléfan - See all my reviews

This review is from: Thriller - The Complete Season One (DVD)

Thriller is a unique and ultimate collection of heart stopping,
pulse-pounding,spine-chilling tv series and episodes ever made
for tv. Each episode of Thriller is razor-sharp stories full of
suspense,some are supernatural.In Thriller you will find the
macabre,the menacing and nail-biting tension and more.

Each episodes has top international stars and guest stars
making of Thriller one of the best tv series produced in the
U.K. The creator of the serie Brian Clemens has won the Edgar
Allan Poe Award for the best television thriller. Do not
miss the chance to have great viewing.Lovers of mystery,
suspense and horror will enjoy Thriller a quality anthology
series which will bring exciting hours of viewing.