Lights Out - Volume 3

Another volume of the weird from the master of the strange- Arch Obler.

WEIRD!

Great class classic sci-fi

I was very excited when I chanced upon these classic horror DVDs at a local electronics store (at a bargain price too) - I was mostly excited at the prospect of watching "The Veil",hosted by the great Boris Karloff. "The Veil" actually preceded Karloff's "Thriller" show and the format was quite typical for similar shows of the period - Karloff would be the host who introduced the story, and then the actual story was shown (with Karloff making an appearance in the story itself), Karloff would also appear at the end with some commentary on the story. From what I understand, this series was never actually aired - but some of the episodes were edited and made available for television in the form of feature length movies.As for this particular DVD - there are three series in here:Lights Out (1949-1952) was an early tv show which was based on dramatizations of the radio broadcasts of the 1930s. Writer/director Arch Oboler became a household name as a result of this series, and it was broadcast on network tv between 1949-1952. Unfortunately, the quality of the video and audio leaves much to be desired. There are two stories featured here - "The Passage Beyond" and "The Man with the Watch", and both are in B&W, the audio has a lot of background static, and the video is also very grainy, which affected my enjoyment of the stories. Of the two, I liked the Gothic feel of "The Passage Beyond".The Veil(1958) - I actually got this DVD for the stories featured in "The Veil", and of course because of Boris Karloff. Here, two stories are featured, i.e. "Jack the Ripper", where a clairvoyant named Walter tries in vain to get the police to take his claims of knowing when the Ripper will strike next seriously. The revelation of the Ripper's identity is quite interesting, and the acting is top notch. Interestingly, all the episodes in this series are supposedly based on true incidents, which made it all the more engaging (note: Karloff does not appear in the story itself)."The Return of Madame Vernoy" actually has a very young George Hamilton in it (just a little bit of movie trivia there). The story is set in India and is about reincarnation. Beautiful maiden Shanta beguiles young Rama who proposes marriage, but Shanta claims she is already married, in a previous incarnation, and has a grown son (Karloff plays a professor in this story).Video and audio quality on both episodes of "The Veil" are above average - clear audio, no background static/noise, and the picture (in B&W) is sharp.Finally, Witchcraft (1961) is a series that only had a pilot episode - "The Doll In Brambles" tells the story of hapless Louis who is prevented from marrying young Marie because of a curse placed upon him by a witch. The audio and video quality here is deplorable.Final verdict - worth collecting for fans of the genre and of old TV shows featuring tales of the supernatural.