DVD The Veil

Quite a Surprise

1. The prints are very high quality, especially considering that this was a 1950's made for TV series.

2. The series was never broadcast. This is amazing considering that the episodes could have easily been in One Step Beyond or Twilight Zone if you blinked and missed the opening credits. More to the point, The Veil predates both of its more well remembered cousins.

3. They made 10 episodes as opposed to a pilot and one or two other shoots. As such, there is enough material here to really give the viewer a feel for what this series would have been had it been picked up by one of the networks at the time.

4. Appearances by actors you know. For example, Patrick Macnee (later of Avengers fame) plays a constable in one episode.

5. Karloff's range in the various roles. Having only really having seen Boris in Frankenstein and a couple of Thrillers, I didn't realize how deeply talented he was. You get to see him in a variety of roles here, and when he needs to look menacing, he does, usually through facial expressions and body language. But it left me with the opinion that he was a brilliant actor.

Bottom line is that if you like Twiliight Zone, One Step, even X Files, this is a must have. You''ll never get to see it on TV, and it's a fun DVD to watch with the family.

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or four episodes each were hastily stitched together--ironically, much like the Frankenstein monster character that originally made host Boris Karloff a star--and licensed to local TV stations for broadcast as movies on late-night TV.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.