Thriller (TV Series) The Terror in Teakwood (1961) User Reviews

Very Creepy "Thriller" Episode

[Witchfinder-General-666 · 8/10 · 17 November 2010]

Apart from a few cheesy episodes in the beginning, "Thriller" (1960) hosted by none other than Horror deity Boris Karloff is an excellent anthology Horror series featuring mostly creepy and highly atmospheric 50-minute tales of terror. "The Terror in Teakwood" (Season 1, Episode 33) is doubtlessly one of the truly creepy episodes.

Starring British Horror queen Hazel Court, "The Terror in Teakwood" tells the story of the brilliant but mad concert pianist Vladimir Vicek (Guy Rolfe), who is so obsessed with a late colleague and rival that he decides to desecrate the man's grave. He is obsessed with playing a sonata composed exclusively for his late rival's over-sized hands, and is therefore willing to adopt measures of extreme morbidity...

"The Terror in Teakwood" begins highly atmospheric and keeps getting eerier throughout the episode. This is due to a promising storyline, good direction and, not least, a very good ensemble cast. Hazel Court is, of course, always great to see. The supporting cast includes the sinister Reggie Nalder, who is probably best known for his role in the notorious 1970 exploitation classic "Hexen Bis Aufs Blut Gequält" aka. "Mark of the Devil", and who would appear in another great "Thriller Episode", "The Return of Andrew Bentley" in Season 2. Nalder plays a Graverobber here. The most notable performance arguably comes from Guy Rolfe, who is truly creepy in the role of the demented pianist. Rolfe is truly creepy and sinister in his role, which, of course, adds a lot to the atmosphere. As it is the case in many "Thriller" episodes, the score is great, the classical music is employed very cleverly in order to maximize the general eeriness. Overall, "The Terror in Teakwood" is a very eerie episode, and a definite must-see for every "Thriller" fan.

"You're working for a mad man lover-boy, did you know that?"

[classicsoncall · 8/10 · 10 February 2012]

Did anyone get the impression this might have been host Boris Karloff's favorite episode? He looked absolutely sinister in the opening monologue, and the lighting cast just the right amount of shadow over his face to portend a truly creepy story. The opening reminded me a bit of the 1941 Lon Chaney classic "The Wolf Man" with it's fog enshrouded cemetery and a scene that played out in a graveyard vault. That crypt keeper Gafke (Reggie Nalder) might have given the one out of "Tales From the Darkside" a run for his money.

I think the story offers a certain ambiguity with it's central plot element, the contents of the teakwood chest. I like to think of it as a casket myself, containing a dead man's hands, those of a former rival musician of the principal character, Vladimir Vicek (Guy Rolfe). Generally acclaimed as the master pianist, Vicek can barely contain his rage at the thought of his arch-rival Carnowitz having attained more fame during his career. So the idea that Vicek desecrates his grave and steals his hands plays almost as a tribute, and one wonders whether Vicek's ability to play a difficult sonata could only have been accomplished by using his rival's own pair of hands.

As for those hands, here's where I find myself a little conflicted. I know that scene with the crawling digits was supposed to be terrifying, but I couldn't help but find it quite amusing. Though the effect was done quite well for the era, it struck me as just plain funny. In fact, I had the same reaction to a similar scene in the 1960 flick "Tormented", which had some dubious similarities to this one. That picture's main character was also a pianist, and there was a similar scene where someone meets their death by falling from a high place. However the crawling hand in that one belonged to a jilted lover and not a rival musician.

So even though that whole business with the hands is a bit hokey, I think if you're the impressionable sort you might end up with a nightmare or two after seeing this story, especially with the way it ended. For his final performance, the last thing Guy Rolfe needed was for someone to give the man a hand.

The Hand Of Horror

[AaronCapenBanner · 7/10 · 30 October 2014]

Guy Rolfe stars as talented but ruthless concert pianist named Vladimir Vicek, who has bribed a cemetery caretaker(played by Reggie Nalder) to let him in to the crypt of a deceased rival for a most gruesome purpose. His wife(played by Hazel Court) begins an affair with an old flame(played by Charles Aidman) who helps him insinuate his way into Vicek's life as an assistant, and will discover the sinister reason behind that graveyard visit, one that may cost all three of them their lives... Well acted and atmospheric episode with fine classical music and unusual premise only suffers from too much talk in the middle, but does conclude things in style.

Terrific but familiar

[searchanddestroy-1 · 18 August 2015]

Since the first minutes of this terrific episode, I thought of other great classic horror films where it was also question of pianists and their hands. I thought of HANDS OF ORLEAC, MAD LOVE and the likes of BEAST WITH FIVE FINGERS...Such a surprise that no one user had mentioned it. Guy Rolfe is of course outstanding in this episode, a sort of fiend character in the line of the one he showed in MR SARDONICUS, one of the many Bill Castle's masterpieces gems. What could I say more, to fill the enough lines required?...Well, I agree to say that it is one of the best of the series so far. A pure terror tale for sure. Paul Henreid proves here that he also was a good director, effective if not the greatest. He made many materials for the TV.

Powerful, expertly wrought drama--until the end.

[lrrap · 9/10 · 28 March 2020]

Hard to believe that you're watching a 60-year old show that was cranked out weekly; this episode is beautifully made, from the very first shot -- which looks as if it was filmed at Hell's gates.

Guy Rolfe - Imperious, regal, cold, statuesque; a truly impressive performer.

Hazel Court - babe, and an elegant and talented one at that.

Aidman-- does his low-key, naturalistic, Actor's Studio thing throughout, and very convincingly.

Vlad Sokoloff-- a real bonus in this show, and perfectly cast.

Alain Calliou's screenplay is first-rate; I was literally hanging on every word when re-watching this show. And what other show would allow Reggie Nalder to really display his acting chops, spouting all of that high-flown rhetoric in a junk-strewn alley?

Great tension in the dialogue scenes throughout; Aidman and Court, Aidman and Sokoloff, Aidman and Watkins in her office; Aidman and Nalder, Rolfe and Nalder; the tension builds beautifully to the big concert night, with Watkins pacing around outside the stage door like a hyena waiting for the kill. Oppressive, almost suffocating tension as Guy Rolfe slices off Aidman's shirt/collar buttons; Aidman looks like he's about to burst out crying in this scene. Then the stunt doubles are turned loose for the big fight.

Composer Jerry Goldsmith outdoes himself, with a score featuring mostly brass and those awful-sounding, Herrmannesque low woodwinds. I think the very opening clarinet melody is a styilzed easternEuropean/gypsy thing that connects with Gaafke and the graveyard, and those bizarre, low metallic sounds heard throughout are made by scraping the heavily-miked low piano strings; pretty cool idea-- to represent the demented Vicek by distorting and "perverting" the sound of a grand piano on the soundtrack.

The only unfortunate element in this show, for me, is the HANDS effect. After such an incredibly powerful, expertly wrought build-up...from the very first shot....it's a real bummer to have the ending undermined by the big effects scene at the climax. It's not even the crawling effect which, though primitive, is still pretty creepy. It's the design of the hands THEMSELVES, which look like somebody ran down to the hardware store and grabbed a pair of work gloves, painted them with those funky stripes and started filming. And yes, I can appreciate the hokey-ness and "charm" of such things in early TV production, but not in this case; the entire show up 'til that point is SO DAMNED GOOD that its' hard to take. They could have at least altered the fingers of the gloves to resemble those huge, magnificent, freakish, slender digits that we keep hearing about throughout the show. Too bad.

LR

The Terror in the teakwood box

[kevinolzak · 8/10 · 13 May 2009]

William Castle's 1961 shocker "Mr. Sardonicus" would feature two actors in this horrifying episode, Guy Rolfe and Vladimir Sokoloff (who died in 1962). Beautiful Hazel Court stars as Leonie, wife of master pianist Vladimir Vicek (Rolfe), who fears for her husband's life and asks help from an old friend (Charles Aidman, previously seen in "Knock Three-One-Two"). What neither of them know is that Vicek was so obsessive about the abilities of a rival composer that he desecrated the man's grave and is now being blackmailed by the caretaker (Reggie Nalder) who witnessed the act. Sokoloff would reappear in "Flowers of Evil," while the always memorable Reggie Nalder would play the title role in "The Return of Andrew Bentley." Linda Watkins previously did "The Cheaters," and would go on to do "A Wig for Miss Devore." Hazel Court retired in 1965 and died in 2008.

You know your insane don't you

[sol1218 · 6/10 · 16 July 2013]

****SPOILERS**** Sick and tired of living in the shadows or being second fiddle to the world renowned pianist Johann Carnowitz the by now deranged Vladimir Vicek, Guy Rolfe, decided to pay the deceased Ivory tickler a visit at the local cemetery. Not to to pay homage to his life and works but together with his grave digging associate Gafke, Reggie Nadler, steal the very instruments that made the late Johann Carnowitz world famous: His unusual large and sensitive pair of hands!

It's later at the city's concert hall that Vicek was to preform the Carnowitz seventh piano concerto that only he, with his unusual pair of hands, was able to play and no one else was able to imitated. With everyone expecting a total meltdown by the hyperventilating and sweaty Vicek he in fact did the impossible! Vicek played with fantastic finger movement the Carnowitz seventh piano concerto as good or even better then Carnowitz ever played it! Of course it wasn't exactly Vladimir Vicek who was playing the piano it was Caronwitz's hand attached to his own, like a pair of gloves, that did the job for him.

****SPOILERS**** As it soon turned out Vicek's basking in the fame or hands that he stole from the master piano player Johann Carnowitz didn't last that long. First he was confronted by the enraged grave digger Gafke, whom he murdered, who wanted to get paid for his work in digging up Caronwitz's grave and amputating his hands that Vicek used in his electrifying performance. Then it was the by now totally inane Vicek himself completely freaking out and ordering the hands to murder his wife Leonie, Hazel Court, who was having an affair with his valet and personal gofer Jerry Welch, Charles Aidman. What in turn happened is that the hands somehow, even though they didn't have any brains in them, figured out that Vicek was nuts as well not in their best interest and together they both did a number on him instead!

Gotta "Hand" It To Him--He's Good

[Hitchcoc · 8/10 · 22 November 2016]

A concert pianist faces madness as he tries to compete against his own shortcomings. He is actually quite good, but there is someone else who is better, who can compose and play music beyond anyone else. His wife is very concerned about him and engages an old boyfriend (actually more than a boyfriend) to keep an eye on him. We find out that the composer has died and here's where things take off. The title refers to a box made of teakwood that contains something that is beyond the pale. The musical performances are really quite good and the acting also. The problem is that this plot has been done many times, so there is little originality to it. Craziness ensues and we must ask the question whether the result is worth it. Perhaps for some, the answer would be "Yes!"

The beast with ten fingers.

[mark.waltz · 9/10 · 16 October 2019]

Desacrating a dead piano player's grave to get the cast of his dead rival's oversized hands, piano player Guy Rolfe finds out that the cost is not only his life, but his soul. He's able to repeat the magnificence of the dead man's most well remembered concerto, but his vanity and vengeance set him up for a great fall, just like the blackmailer he murdered.

Co-starring in this episode are Hazel Court as Rolfe's wife and Linda Watkins who shows up as a scandal seeking music journalist who wants to see Rolfe fail. Charles Aidman is an admirer of his wife's who figures out the truth. Watkins is unforgettable in a showy performance, complete with a hat that looks like lettuce. Appropriately eerie, this ends abruptly, perhaps its only real flaw.

Just plain stupid.

[planktonrules · 2/10 · 19 October 2018]

The old TV anthology series "Thriller" was, like many anthology shows, highly uneven. At first I thought all the shows were average or below average, but recently I've seen some really good ones....just NOT "The Terror in Teakwood". I'd consider this among the worst...and I can only assume you'll feel the same if you watch it.

The story is about a concert pianist who is obsessed with playing a piece of music considered impossible for anyone but the HUGE handed writer to play. But the guy who wrote the music is dead...and the pianist breaks into the corpse's grave. Why? See it....if you care...frankly, I wouldn't. The ending is just stupid and ruins the long wait. The only reason I gave the show a 2 is that some of the music is nice. Otherwise...yuck!! Slow, talky and VERY dumb over all.