User Reviews

An unusual anthology series entirely based on the short stories by Patricia Highsmith, "Chillers" was a co-production between Britain and France with each country producing 6 of the show's total 12 episodes. The series was obviously targeted to an English speaking audience as all of the episodes were shot in English and star at least one British actor. Even more unusually, there doesn't seem to be an agreement on the series' actual title since in Britain it aired as "Mistress of Suspense", while in France it bore the name "Les cadavres exquis de Patricia Highsmith". Most famously, however, the series aired in the USA as "Chillers" and since that is the title under which the (now sadly rare) DVD box set was released that is what I'll call the show for the duration of this (and every episode-specific) review.

As all anthology series, "Chillers" is an uneven batch of stories, though since they are all based on the works from the same author there is a pleasing tonal unity. Highsmith is well known for her cynicism and unlikeable leads and it's a pleasure to see that this aspect of her stories was faithfully recreated. All in all, the adaptations in "Chillers" are fairly faithful but sadly not all of the stories translate very well to the screen. Some lose along with the internal monologues the psychological depth and nuance featured in Highsmith's work and others come across as fairly insignificant on the screen. "The Stuff of Madness", for instance, suffers from both problems because the story of a man pining away for his ex- girlfriend might be transformed on the page into a fascinating character study, but on the screen feels trivial.

Thankfully, though, none of the stories is boring and most of the episodes feature bravura performances from well-established actors. At its best, "Chillers" easily parallels the better known "Thriller" and almost always betters the pulpy and predictable "Tales of the Unknown". At its worst, it still manages to entertain and in the case of the fairly shoddy "The Day of Reckoning" baffle and bemuse.

The British produced episodes are mostly consistently good always cast with the creme de la creme of the day's television actors. Ian Richardson, Edward Fox, Nicol Williamson, Michael Hordern, Bill Nighy, Peter Vaughan, Anna Massey, Jane Lapotaire, Ian McShane, Benjamin Whitrow, Ian Holm, Eileen Atkins, Murray Melvin, and more show up and are usually given interesting characters to wrestle with. Add to that some excellent music (mostly by Stanislas Syrewicz), sturdy if unimaginative direction, and good dialogue and you've got yourself some good, old-fashioned television. The kind old people moan they don't make anymore.

Sadly, for everything that's said above the reverse is true in the French episodes which were obviously made with less care, inventiveness, and money. Most disastrously the French cast is either dubbed by the world's worst voice actors (think anime style voicing in live-action thrillers) or allowed to speak in their heavily-accented natural voices (think "'Allo 'Allo"). Also, the tone is all wrong. Despite being an ex-pat American, Highsmith's biting wit and cynicism are vedy, vedy British indeed and her stories are usually portraits of repression and stuffiness, two character traits the French are not very well acquainted with. This is most obvious in "The Day of Reckoning", in which the supposedly boring and emotionless chicken farmer is played by the most scenery- chewing actor I've seen in my life. He overacts so wildly, the voice actor dubbing him has audible troubles keeping up. Perhaps he didn't get the memo that he was starring in a thriller series but whatever the reason, it just doesn't work. Even more interestingly, one of the series' best episodes if not the best is the French produced "The Thrill Seeker" (though directed by the Swedish-born British director Mai Zetterling), but sadly, it's the only exception to the rule.

Finally, the show is introduced by Anthony Perkins in a series of what is probably the world's most half-arsed intros ever produced. Shot on the same location and on the same day (the suit betrays it), the visibly tired Perkins rushes through his lazily written lines (most of which merely sum up the story we're about to see) in what looks like twelve single takes (fluffs abound). When the show aired in Britain, the intros were not included, once again proving that the Brits understood this series far better than anyone else. Perkins tries to be his usual charming self but fails and these intros are the downside of every episode.

Despite all this, I quite enjoyed "Chillers". Only half the episodes are really any good at all but all twelve are entertaining (though not always in the way the filmmakers wanted them to be) and actually quite memorable. Above all, Patricia Highsmith is an excellent writer and even when her work isn't well translated into another medium, her brilliance shines through and for that alone, "Chillers" is worth the watch, if you can find it!

For those who don't want to bother looking through my episode specific reviews, here's the rundown:

1. The Cat Brought It In (8/10) 2. The Thrill Seeker (8/10) 3. A Curious Suicide (7/10) 4. Puzzle (6/10) 5. Sauce for the Goose (6/10) 6. Under a Dark Angel's Eye (6/10) 7. A Bird Poised to Fly (6/10) 8. The Stuff of Madness (5/10) 9. Something You Have to Live With (5/10) 10. Old Folks at Home (4/10) 11. The Day of Reckoning (3/10) 12. Slowly, Slowly in the Wind (2/10)

The series' final score is a medium score of all the episodes.

The series kind tried to be like The Alfred Hitchcock Presents and Hour. It a mix bag like the other series I recently watched Love, Death & Robots. The biggest mystery is why they took this series off back in the 90's?

The show both made production in Britain and France. Half the episodes are filmed in France and you can tell some of the actor's voices are dubbed when they move their mouth. There are only four good episodes like the ones with Ian McShane, the two old people, the French man who date both women & the late Ian Holm with the mannequin (creepy episode). The rest are either boring, weird or stupid. Anthony Perkins served as a good host with his smooth voice at each stories.

It's okay series but I won't consider my favorite because it has it's moment. I kind prefer the 1970's Thriller series better.