I had forgotten all about this series until the set was released and then flashes of it came back. Melvyn Douglas as a grandfather on a dark mission, Rip Torn & Geraldine Page as a spooky Southern couple living in a decaying mansion, Patricia Neal as a guest who has lost her husband while staying in an unusual hotel. As someone who has been reading horror stories for over 50 years and who possesses a number of horror anthology books, I used to be quite attracted to horror anthologies on TV until I gave up TV watching (outside of movies and certain sporting events) in the mid 1970s. I grew up with shows like TWILIGHT ZONE, THRILLER, THE OUTER LIMITS, and NIGHT GALLERY.
What all these shows had in common in addition to having a supernatural theme, was that they were hosted (or a voiceover in the case of OUTER LIMITS) by someone who introduced the stories and then summed them up in the end. GHOST STORY featured Sebastian Cabot fresh from (and glad to be rid of) FAMILY AFFAIR. He was an ideal host and gave the program an old fashioned storytelling aura. Imagine my surprise when halfway through the season Sebastian was dropped and Mansfield House was replaced by a groovy looking psychedelic intro ballyhooing CIRCLE OF FEAR. At first I thought it was a new show until I saw William Castle’s name in the credits. I was so incensed that I stopped watching then and there and put the show out of mind until this set appeared.
Watching it again after 40 years gave me a new and now nostalgic appreciation for the program. The list of guest stars was truly astonishing from seasoned pros like Helen Hayes, Jason Robards and Melvyn Douglas to up and comers Mike Farrell, Hal Linden, and a 9 year old Jodie Foster. The script supervisor was Jimmy Sangster who had written so many classic scripts for Hammer Films in the 1960s and the concept/development was by the great Richard Matheson. William Castle was the producer and no matter what you think of his gimmicky horror films, they were always well made. This production savvy also extended to GHOST STORY which, for a 1970s TV series, looked really good with better than average camera movement and some decent lighting (though not as creative as NIGHT GALLERY). It also featured some top flight Brit Horror directors such as John Moxey (HORROR HOTEL) and Robert Day (SHE).
Of the 14 original GHOST STORY episodes, the pilot episode (about a bewitched statue), the ones I mentioned at the top of the review, and one about the ghost of a dead twin stand out. I had not seen any of the CIRCLE OF FEAR episodes until now. These stories have a darker edge to them and offer few explanations. I particularly liked DARK VENGEANCE with Martin Sheen, LEGION OF DEMONS with Shirley Knight, and SPARE PARTS with Susan Oliver. It was great getting reacquainted with younger versions of top 1980s stars or older versions of classic Hollywood performers like Helen Hayes and Patricia Neal. GHOST STORY / CIRCLE OF FEAR was the last gasp for the classic horror anthology show. Times and tastes were changing and it succumbed to poor ratings. Kudos to Sony for reissuing it on DVD-R. I know that younger people won’t care but I, for one, am glad to have this series back.
The Capsule Critic 