User Reviews

Personally, I have become quite a fan of the 60s Horror TV series THRILLER (aka. BORIS KARLOFF'S THRILLER) hosted by none other than the inimitable Boris Karloff. DARK LEGACY (Season 1, Episode 35) is particularly interesting to cult-cinema fans as it features the great Henry Silva, who is best known for playing badasses in Italian Crime flicks of the 70s, in a supporting role. While this is not one of the absolute greatest episodes of the series, it is an interesting and atmospheric one. The unsuccessful sideshow magician Mario Asparos (Harry Townes) inherits a book on black magic from his uncle, a warlock. The influence of the book does not merely turn his magic show into a big success, but also changes his character...

DARK LEGACY is an average quality episode, but in case of THRILLER, the average is very good. As usual, the episode is atmospheric and eerie, and the performances are very good. Especially leading man Henry Townes, who plays a double role, is excellent. My only regret is that Henry Silva, of whom I am a big fan, and who is predestined for sinister characters, has the role of the friend and 'voice of reason' here. However, it is also refreshing to see a young Silva in a role so different to his usual tough-guys and villains. The supporting cast includes Alan Napier, who would later play Butler Alfred in the 1960s BATMAN TV series. Overall, one of many atmospheric and highly entertaining THRILLER episodes.

Possibly the most underrated THRILLER episode,"Dark Legacy" is among the most atmospheric and one of the few genuinely frightening examples of this show..The Harry Townes character feels compelled to use his ancestor's book black magic to call forth a demon from the beyond. There are some truly disturbing scenes.. The apparition of the demon is pretty chilling and convincing. And some shots make reference to Film Noir (director John Brahm made several Noirs). Harry Townes is very good as usual, this is one of his best TV appearances. Also excellent is Henry Silva as a skeptical friend. Unlike many THRILLER episodes, this one doesn't get bogged down in dialog. An above-average episode.

In this installment of "Thriller", actor Harry Townes plays dual parts....Radan Asparos and his nephew, Mario. At the beginning of the story, Radan dies and his will is soon read...and his family is mostly concerend with his book, not his fortune. He apparently has a Necronomicon-type book that is filled with all sorts of incantations and hidden knowledge....and it falls to Mario. Mario's lady, however, begs him NOT to use the book as it's evil and only bad will come of it. But Mario wants to go from being a second-rate magician to the best...and he knows the book will help him achieve his dream. What will come of him and his crazy dream?

Nothing in this episode is particularly surprising or earth-shattering. The end, also, is pretty predictable. Yet, it is interesting and worth your time....just don't expect too many surprises and you'll enjoy it well enough.

Two episodes in a row pit a man against forces that he just ignores. The previous involved entering a mirror that contained the most evil man on earth and unleashed him into the real world. In this one, a two bit magician inherits a book of spells from a sorcerer uncle. Of course, he can't resist dabbling with the devil and soon calls up a demon. Despite the efforts of his wife and friends, he becomes crazed and obsessed, endangering those he loves for a period of success. This is a highly atmospheric episode. The themes go back to Marlowe and Goethe and we know what happened to their characters. Still, it works reasonable well. There is quite a bit of overacting. The wife is quite insufferable, screaming and whining. Our hero is a bit over the top. But there is still a lot to recommend it.

Dark Legacy is a well above average episode of the Thriller TV series that could have been a classic of its kind with a better script and one major change in the casting. The opening is one of the best of the entire series. It's a dark night at the castle, with distinguished players Richard Hale, Doris Lloyd, Harry Townes as guests, and spectral Milton Parsons on hand as the butler. Magician Radan Asparos (also played by Harry Townes) is preparing to die, summons up unholy spirits to help him to prepare for death and make some last minute decisions as to what to give the members of his family.

The episode never gets better than the first act. Radan wills a book of black magic to nephew Mario, a second rate magician who truly has no new tricks up his sleeve. We even get to see part of his nightclub act, and it's terrible. It's no wonder that his boss is threatening to let him go. As things turn out the book teaches Mario how to really put on a show, but at a price, by dancing with the devil, called Astaroth in the story, which changes Mario's personality considerably, inspiring him to conjure up tricks that appear to defy not only God but the laws of physics, and of nature in general.

Mario is having problems with his wife, who wants no part of her husband's increasingly bizarre magic act; and an old friend of the couple a former magician himself, who knows the tricks of the trade and doesn't like what he sees, is also involved, and he urges Mario to turn his back on his newly acquired powers. By this time, in the episode's second half, it begins to veer away from horror toward soap opera; and yet the horror is still there, alive and well, returns in full hurricane force, in the final scenes. Director John Brahm works wonders with the story; and the production values are superb, especially early on. The mixture of seedy nightclub antics and Gothic horror is in itself novel, and this adds to the story's effectiveness.

Sadly, those wonderful players whom we see early in the episode do not turn up later. Harry Townes, an excellent actor, is miscast as Mario. He was too refined as a type to play such a seedy character; and he lacked the larger than life quality to convincingly play a magician. Of the actress who plays his wife, the less said the better. Henry Silva, in the ex-magician turned psychology student (!) part, also seems miscast. His somewhat diabolical presence would have made him better casting as Mario, but no matter. As a mood piece, Dark Legacy works wonders. The Lovecraftian premise is an intriguing one, and the elder gods makes their presence felt.

Harry Townes stars as both Radan and Mario Asparos; Radan is a dying warlock who leaves his book of evil spells and magic to his nephew Mario, a struggling magician with a failed night club act that decides to use the book to liven up his stage tricks, which works remarkably well, but his assistant and wife Monika becomes alarmed by its perceived evil, and she enlists the help of old friend and former magician Toby Wolfe(played by Henry Silva) to stop her husband, but he refuses to heed all warnings, and instead invokes a demon that proves difficult to control... Townes is acceptable in his dual roles, but heavily atmospheric episode never quite catches fire like it should, though remains entertaining.

Yes, it DOES have tons of that classic Thriller spookiness and gloom and, in fact, has ALL of the ingredients ready to roll to make this another in the incredible end-of-1st-season run of episodes. But, I can just imagine another phone call from the producer to composer Goldsmith: "Jerry?...this is Bill Frye. Look, do you think you can perform your musical magic again? We've got a real TURKEY on our hands....."

I'm sorry, but I think this episode is one of the dumbest around, a real blot on the amazing wind-up to the first season. I've been a champion of Harry Townes's work (despite his tendency to chew things around him on stage) and I'd say he does quite a good job of restraining himself in this role (check him in Outer Limit's "OBIT", where he delivers a remarkably solid performance that easily could have gone wrong). But, believe me, his "Harry channels Larry (Fine)" routine in the prologue bears distinct resemblance to some of his other less successful TV outings that I've seen.

This is "Thriller's" longest prologue (a full 10 minutes) and, having set us up for something big, totally fails to deliver, in my opinion. There's absolutely nothing in the playing-out of this plot that rises above the merely adequate, despite the overall look and feel of the show; it seems like a great opportunity wasted. At least Ned Glass (as the theater owner) livened up the proceedings in his brief role. Otherwise, a total snoozer for me.

Goldsmith, in his wailing french horns/exotic flute mode (and there were only 3 or 4 basic "modes" in which he could have composed for these episodes) ALMOST saves the day with his brilliant score. In fact, the highlight of the entire show for me is that incredibly creepy, morbid, moldy ORGAN that was used as Harry (Larry "Porcupine" Fine) climbs into his coffin at the end of the prologue; I would be fascinated to know how that sound was produced; recorded in a cathedral and tracked in? Wow!

Deduct a full rating-star for gratuitous dispatching of Pete the Pooch. LR

"Dark Legacy" proves a mere trifle as the first season winning streak dies down, dual roles for Harry Townes ("The Cheaters") yet neither truly effective in an occult story that drags its feet to an underwhelming climax, the last of three series appearances from Alan Napier ("The Purple Room"), here reteamed with Doris Lloyd from "Hay-Fork and Bill-Hook." Dying sorcerer Radan Asparos wills his most prized possession to his nephew Mario, at this time a struggling stage magician wed to assistant Monika (Ilka Windish), a book of spells that summon the demon Astaroth in exchange for a life. Cousins Doris Lloyd and Richard Hale ("The Incredible Doktor Markesan") and butler Milton Parsons all vanish from the scene with attorney Napier once the estate is dealt with, leaving Mario to go through his inheritance page by page with fellow magician Toby Wolfe (Henry Silva), to the chagrin of a hysterical Monika. Required to come up with something fresh to maintain his position for nightclub owner Vince Fennaday (Ned Glass), Mario chooses to call forth the forces of darkness while alone in his study, claiming the life of Monika's dog Peter to which he lies and states that the mutt ran away. His new tricks are masterful yet truly frightening, and his arrogance in proving his newfound abilities to the disbelieving Wolfe lead to self destruction. The old age makeup for Radan evokes only chuckles, while Townes' over the top rantings show director John Brahm struggling to reign in a believable performance, but the next two episodes would be so good that this minor footnote would be easily forgotten.