Thriller (TV Series) The Storm (1962) User Reviews

Tense and thrilling until the anti climatic ending

[d_m_s · 8/10 · 17 April 2019]

A woman arrives home in a taxi cab in the middle of a raging storm. Plenty of atmosphere, as there always is when a storm is raging on screen.

The set up is good as creepy taxi driver helps the woman into her house and doesn't seem to want to leave, saying he'd rather a cup of coffee than payment and offering to drive her to a friend's house given the storm and she is on her own. It's an effective red herring as I spent the rest of the time thinking it was a Duel-esque scenario whereby the protagonist had inadvertently offended someone, who has then decided to wreak revenge.

Shortly after the taxi driver leaves, said woman experiences a series of events that suggest someone is either in the house or trying to get in and is playing a bit of a game & trying to freak her out as much as possible. The thing is, a lot of the noises etc can be put down to the effects of the storm so is she just being paranoid?

Eventually it leads to the woman being down in her cellar and finding a dead woman in a trunk. Very shortly afterwards her husband arrives home and it's revealed he's the killer (though it's not really clear why and is a bit far fetched) and is seemingly intent on killing her too. She runs off into the storm, god knows where because she's miles away from anywhere. The husband, for no reason, takes an age to chase after her, meaning she gets a heck of a head start and disappears, leaving him shouting in the rain. A real let down of an ending. It should have gone the Duel-esque route I thought it was taking, it would have been a lot more interesting.

Some genuinely tense and almost scary moment make this potentially worth a re-watch.

Wind, rain, wickedness and terror = The Storm

[classicsoncall · 9/10 · 3 March 2012]

Well Thriller had it's share of stories dealing with the supernatural (The Hungry Glass), selling one's soul (The Devil's Ticket), voodoo (Papa Benjamin), and tales from the dark side (Dialogues With Death). But when you come right down to it, sometimes the most terrifying stories have to deal with confronting one's one fears in a completely natural setting. That's what this episode sets you up for, as a woman returning home has to wait out a fearful storm in the dead of night, and has to deal with all of those bump in the night distractions that we're all familiar with when we find ourselves in complete solitude. Of course, the dead body in the basement is no bonus, so right there you can't fault the Mrs. if she completely loses it.

Now if I had to bet, the black cat Baba was making a return appearance in this episode. Just the week before in the series run, a black cat figured prominently in 'La Strega' but in a much smaller role. Apparently it made an impression on host Boris Karloff, because he introduced the feline by name in the opening segment. If I were the cat I would have gotten a new agent because for the second time in a row, Baba didn't get a cast credit.

What might leave you a little baffled by the story is the way it ends considering all that went before. With his affair exposed, husband Ben Wilsom (David McLean) doesn't get to close the deal with wife Janet (Nancy Kelly) who simply runs off into the night. I can't imagine where she thought she was going, even as her husband envisioned a new storm coming.

Quite Intense Movement Behind the Storm

[Hitchcoc · 9/10 · 7 December 2016]

A woman, married for only a year and a half, arrives at her house in a storm. The taxi driver is really weird and seems to pose a threat. She gets rid of him; apparently he is some local character. She wasn't supposed to arrive for a day or so. She is calm at first but then begins to hear things. Many prove to be effects of the storm, but in time she realizes there is someone out there. In searching the house, she finds a woman's body. At the beginning we see a beautiful young woman murdered by an unknown man. This is obviously the victim. She keeps trying to put two and two together. Things begin to happen. She puts the cat out, but it somehow gets back in. She finds an envelope, but it disappears. This is quite a good episode.

Rain & Wind

[AaronCapenBanner · 8/10 · 1 November 2014]

Nancy Kelly stars as a young newlywed named Janet who arrives home early and awaits the imminent arrival of her husband Ben(played by David McLean). She was bothered by a strange cab driver(played by James Griffith) but shrugs him off, though that only begins a night of fear when a storm knocks out the power, and when she goes to the basement, finds the body of a young woman in the trunk(shown in the prologue). Can Janet survive both the raging storm and an unseen killer, or will the arrival of Ben make no difference? Most effective episode creates a fine eerie atmosphere, with a solid performance by Kelly and a most ironic twist ending.

Suspenseful 3 character entry

[kevinolzak · 7/10 · 20 May 2009]

It is a dark and stormy night; wife (Nancy Kelly, sister of Jack) returns home to an empty house, anxiously awaits the return of her absent husband (David McLean), hoping he can make it back through the terrible storm. Hearing noises in the cellar, she discovers the corpse of a young woman in her trunk, and begins to fear for her life. Solid crime entry with only one other character, a strange cab driver (James Griffith, previously seen in "Parasite Mansion") who makes unsuccessful advances towards the wife before dropping her off at her home. Nancy Kelly played the mother of "The Bad Seed"(1956), while the craggy David McLean appeared in 1977's "Kingdom of the Spiders," perhaps best known as the Marlboro Man in those TV commercials. The actress who plays the murder victim in the trunk appears unbilled but there are no other characters present unless one counts the voice of the telephone operator.

Just three characters...plus the phone operator's voice.

[planktonrules · 5/10 · 22 October 2018]

While IMDB lists David Janssen in the credits, he's no where to be seen in the show. The program consists of three actors and a voice actor...and that's all. No Janssen...none.

The story is very simple. A newly married woman has been visiting her sick sister. She then leaves for home to see her husband. Once at the house, she begins to hear and see evidence that someone is on the property and may even be inside the house. Later, she even finds a dead body in the basement! What's this all about and who is responsible and is the wife safe??

While this is a very tense episode, it has one HUGE problem...there is no resolution to the story. When the film ends, you still have no idea if the lady will survive or not....and WHO would leave a story hanging like this?!

Baba

[Kirpianuscus · 27 September 2022]

The cat is more than the witness of tension and truth but the main character , in an episode defined by wise craft of tension using only three actors, a discover in cellar and the storm. Nothing special but just inspired used.

Nancy Keller proposes a great portrait of isolated woman, expecting her husband, front to propositions of cab driver and a terrible discover.

A great portrait of crime, step by step, a simple story with powerful effect, a beautiful definition of characters and, no doubts, the admirable Baba as axis of tensions, murder, fears and the result of tensioned atmosphere.

In short, impecable work.