User Reviews

"The Veil", is a highly entertaining 1958 TV series which my fellow fans of Classic Horror/Mystery should enjoy, and which is especially recommended as it is hosted by none other than the immortal Horror-icon Boris Karloff. Karloff narrates a story about 'the unexplainable, which lies behind the veil' in each of the ten episodes. The individual episodes are all fun to watch, but they sure do differ in quality. This "Jack The Ripper" is the last and, as far as I am considered, by far the best episode of the series. I must confess that I expected this to be my favorite episode even before watching the series, and, even though this is the only episode in which Karloff played no role (other than that of the show host), it turned out to be by far. The story of grisly murders in the foggy London nights of 1888 has always been good material for adaptations in film and literature, and this is also the case with "The Veil". But even apart from the fact that the Ripper-case makes good Horror material, this is by far the best episode, both in storytelling and in chilling atmosphere. A kind-hearted London clairvoyant (Niall MacGinnis) is tormented in his dreams by visions of gruesome murders. Shortly later the first Ripper murders occur in Whitechapel... The only regret I have with this last "The Veil" episode is the fact that Karloff played no role other than the host. Apart from the lack of Karloff in the story, however, this has by far the best ensemble cast. Nial MacGinnis is a terrific actor and he delivers a great performance in the lead here. Dorothy Allison, whom Horror fans might know for her roles in films like "Blind Terror" or Hammer's "Dr Jeckyll & Sister Hyde" is great as his wife. The atmosphere is creepy from the beginning, the episode is very well shot and has some downright ingenious moments. Especially the dream sequence is arguably the highlight moment of the entire series. It could have been a bit more gruesome, but hey, let's not forget this is a TV episode from the 50s. Overall, "Jack The Ripper" is by far the greatest episode in the series, and highly recommended to all classic Horror fans. Too bad they only made ten episodes of "The Veil". I would have happily watched many more.

Professional clairvoyant Walter Durst (Niall MacGinnis, remembered by us horror fans for his great role in the classic British chiller NIGHT OF THE DEMON, filmed a year earlier) dreams of Jack the Ripper's Whitechapel prostitute murders a few hours before they occur. His wife Judith (Dorothy Alison) encourages him to go to the police because they could use the publicity for their business. Because of a bunch of phony psychics that show up at around the same time, Scotland Yard detectives (led by Clifford Evans as Inspector McWilliams) don't initially believe him until he's able to give non-published details about one of the crimes. Feeling he could only know what he does because he's actually responsible, they promptly lock him up, but another murder occurs while he's behind bars. He's then freed and the detectives enlist his aid in trying to capture the killer. Though the whole Jack the Ripper story has been filmed dozens of times for both TV and the big screen, the addition of the clairvoyant aspect, as well as the performance from MacGinnis, provide some additional interest for this particular adaptation.

Unlike the other nine episodes, this was NOT filmed especially for "The Veil," though it does fit in well with the others since the series is made up of tales supposedly based on actual occurrences and containing some element of the supernatural. It was made in England by director David MacDonald (DEVIL GIRL FROM MARS, ALIAS JOHN PRESTON) and was picked up for distribution in the U.S. by Hal Roach Studios, who included it as the tenth and final episode of this unsold series. I'm not really sure of this short film's origins, which runs less than 20 minutes minus the book-marking Karloff footage. Perhaps it was made for British TV, or could have easily been an unfinished feature-length project at one point. Unlike the others, where Karloff played both host and an additional role in each episode, Boris only appears as host here, providing his usual intro ("Good evening. Tonight I'm going to tell you another strange and unusual story on the unexplainable, from behind The Veil."), as well as an intermission and a closing. However, the presence of MacGinnis compensates for Karloff's absence.

"Jack the Ripper" was combined with "Food on the Table" (with Russ Bender), "Summer Heat" (with Whit Bissell) and "Genesis" (with Morris Ankrum) to play late night TV as an anthology feature under the title JACK THE RIPPER.

In an earlier edition of the Halloween Challenge, I had watched and reviewed TALES OF FRANKENSTEIN, an intriguing Universal/Hammer collaboration starring Anton Diffring. I was under the impression this was a one-off program, but now I learn it was actually the Pilot episode to a proposed but unsold series and bore the official title THE FACE IN THE TOMBSTONE MIRROR! Anyway, before the project was definitively scrapped, a second (and actually superior!) effort was made: incidentally, as explained in the prologue, the themes were not to be restricted to the exploits of Baron Frankenstein but would revolve around characters who went against nature in some form or another. The criminal life of Jack The Ripper, therefore, was a logical progression – one that was often dealt with by cinema, including a contemporaneous effort curiously scripted by Hammer regular Jimmy Sangster! Here, the figure of the notorious serial killer only appears as a silhouette in the prophetic dreams of a clairvoyant (played by Niall MacGinnis, who had just scored as the villainous Karswell in Jacques Tourneur's superlative M.R. James adaptation NIGHT OF THE DEMON {1957})…only to be revealed at the end to have been committed to an insane asylum, while passing him off as deceased to the outside world(!), by his own wife. Bizarrely, the animal cruelty that is said to have preceded his meticulous disembowelling of prostitutes echoes a chain of such heinous acts that has been making complete fools of the local authorities for the past two years, the latest of which occurred on the very night I watched this!! Clifford Evans, another Hammer alumnus, is the Scotland Yard Inspector on the case who, disturbingly, comes across as no more perspicacious in averting a foretold transgression than the Malta Police Force! On a final note, I have just learned that this particular episode was indeed broadcast back in the day, as a one-off addition – not starring Boris Karloff and, for obvious reasons, not filmed in Hollywood – to his TV series THE VEIL…which means that that the horror icon would get to grips with The Ripper once more (though, again, not personally) in his subsequent more popular show i.e. THRILLER (1960-62), an entry which I also managed to track down and watch for the current Halloween Challenge!

I am not sure about all the background for this, but instead of the usual pilot episode, "The Veil" went as far as making 10 episodes--yet was not, apparently, picked up by the networks as a series. Many of these original shows are available for free download at archive.org (a site often linked to IMDb). I've seen most of the shows and enjoy them--but this one has an unusual difference. Boris Karloff ONLY appears in this one to introduce and close the show--he does not act in the show itself (which he did in the other nine). I think this is because this particular episode was not really part of the series but was bought from the British production team that made it.

When the show begins, you know that several of the Jack the Ripper murders have already occurred. Walter Durst, a so-called 'clairvoyant' (i.e., a psychic who sees the future) begins receiving visions of the murders and can help the police locate him. At first, the police ignore him. Then, after they realize how much he knows, they arrest him and think HE is the Ripper! However, while he's incarcerated, another grisly murder occurs--and the police decide to use Durst to locate the killer.

This episode CLAIMS it's all true and based on real records of the time. However, my research into Durst as well as the name of the man they CLAIM was the Ripper came up with nothing. Clearly the show is total fiction but they did a nice job of making it seem plausible. All in all, very interesting...but blarney.

Women have been murdered on the East End of London. Their bodies have been mutilated, in some cases beyond recognition. The police have name the murderer Jack the Ripper. They have no clues and the publicity has made their jobs much tougher. A man who makes his living as a clairvoyant has dreams where he actually observes the victims before their deaths. Of course, he is treated as a nut when his wife talks him into going to Scotland Yard. For his troubles, he is locked up as a prime suspect. I'd be interested to know if the names used in this tale have any connection to what we do know about the Ripper. All in all, except for its brevity, this episode is quite well done. The principle character is a man of integrity which makes his gifts form palatable.

The basic virtue of this episode is the beautiful job of Niall MacGinnis. The bad one, maybe the absence in one of roles of Boris Karloff.

The Whitechapel murders of 1888 remains a temptanting subject. In this case , the solution is one more inspired. A simple man, with a special gift, offers help to the Scotland Yard to find the killer. And he has just right in great manner, grace to precognition and a special gift to feel the presence of assasin.

The last part is just admirable. It gives and not gives the answer about identity of Jack the Ripper but it propose a just seductive hypothesis. This is the fair way to give the best answer to the expectations of the viewer.

So, one f great episodes of the series.