User Reviews

For reasons that don't become clear until the very end, this story is bound to confound the viewer as talk of murder, vampires and cannibalism is dealt with fairly off-handedly by the principals, Charlie (Tom Poston) and Ros (Elizabeth Montgomery) Denham. As a couple on their 'second honeymoon', the Denhams break down on a dark and stormy night right at the very door of what appears to be the house from "Psycho", so right there the set up gets you ready for an hour of creepy terror. The Psycho connection is made even more prominent once inside, as there seems to be an awful lot of stuffed birds around, and John Carradine now that I think about it, looks like he would have made an exceptional Norman Bates.

So as you're watching, you wind up asking yourself just what were the folks from Thriller going for here. It's something like comedy, and something like a horror flick, and when we get to the old woman (Dorothy Neumann) chained to the wall inside of a jail cell, well, I just didn't know where any of this was going to end up. Oh yeah, the slaughtered hog in the closet was a nice touch too.

Timed to air the night before Halloween back in 1961, this could have been the sequel to 'Pigeons From Hell' had it not been done with all that tongue in cheek silliness provided by Poston and Montgomery. Everything's finally brought home in the closing minute when the big reveal is made to close the lid on the story. I won't give it away here; let's just say the title of the episode says it all.

Many of these series would throw in a comedic episode once in a while. This one with Liz Montgomery and her husband (Tom Poston of all people) is quite engaging although the story line is disjointed. There is no suspense because the main characters have the world by the butt. If one knows the ending and looks back, it would seem odd for the characters to use the dialogue they use, especially when alone. Even the arrival at the old Psycho house seems odd because it would appear they already had plans for it. There did seem to be a chemistry between the two characters. Poston, who started on the Steve Allen Show and later played George Utley on Newhart is the most unlikely love interest for Montgomery. She is so pretty and engaging and their byplay is really funny. Could have used a much better script to give it a bit of direction.

The popular "Thriller" series hosted by horror legend Boris Karloff ran from Fall 1960 to Spring 1962 on NBC and made an impact on lots of kids during its day, including a young Stephen King, who has called it "the best horror series ever put on TV." Unfortunately, of the 60+ episodes that were made, only six of them were officially released. This, along with "The Grim Reaper," "The Incredible Doktor Markesan," "The Prediction," "The Premature Burial" and "The Terror in Teakwood" were all issued (separately) on VHS in 1996 by MCA/Universal. And sadly, that was it. Even though some (bootleg) sites offer the entire series on DVD-R, this has yet to see the legitimate box set release it deserves. "Masquerade" (episode 6 of the second season) was directed by prolific TV director Herschel Daugherty, who seemed to specialize in westerns but also directed 16 episodes of the "Thriller" series and even more episodes of "Alfred Hitchcock Presents." He would also bring back Elizabeth Montgomery (the female lead here) to star in a made-for-TV terror film called THE VICTIM (which was released on VHS as OUT OF CONTENTION).

Writer Charlie Denham (Tom Poston) and his sarcastic wife Rosamond (a brunette Montgomery) are spending their second honeymoon somewhere in the deep South, get caught in a thunderstorm and then decide to seek shelter in a spooky old home advertising rooms for rent. There they meet the very bizarre backwoods owner Jed Carta (profilic horror vet John Carradine), who jokes around about vampires, and his equally strange grandson Lem (Jack Lambert). Not only spooked by them, there are also bats flying around in the living room, a dead hog hanging upside down so its blood can be collected in a bucket, strange cackling coming from somewhere in the home, bars on the windows, secret passageways and other signals they'll be in for a rough night. Investigating upstairs, Charlie and Ros find a deranged old woman, Ruthie (Dorothy Neumann), chained to the wall in a room. She cons them into setting her free, then runs off. Soon after, Lem's body is found dead with puncture wounds on his neck. Will Charlie and Ros be able to get the key and get out before they become the next victims?

"Masquerade" mixes up old dark house and vampire movie conventions fairly well, with good performances, plenty of comedy and a truly surprising (and amusing) twist ending. It's also noteworthy for using the PSYCHO (1960) sets, including exterior shots of the familiar house.

I get it: A takeoff on the "old dark house" theme. A witty sendup. Which "Masquerade" totally fails to be. I can only conclude that Donald S. Sanford's horror expertise didn't extend a micromillimeter into the realm of comedy. This simply isn't remotely amusing, and since (spoiler) Poston and Montgomery are creatures of the night, why on earth is Liz spooked by any and every detail of the ancient house? Only to casually dispatch the objects of her terror come showdown time? For comedy to work, people should behave in character, but here we have two neck-biters shuddering in fear over cobwebs, bats, and murderous goons. Are they simply ACTING scared for their own amusement? Did Sanford figure, "Hey, let's have two vampires spooked by the DARK! That'll be a laugh riot." Who knows? The stilted repartee throughout is worthy of Ed Wood, Jr.. and almost as non sequitur in character. For once, we can be happy "Thriller" didn't see a third year: Sanford apparently planned a follow-up to this lame exercise in horror-comedy.