Thriller (TV Series) Pigeons from Hell (1961) User Reviews

"The swamp is alive, crawling with creatures of death."

[classicsoncall · 9/10 · 13 February 2012]

Consider all the slasher/gore flicks of the past decade and how over the top each one attempts to be compared to the one that came before. Leaving nothing to the imagination, they rely on the most inhuman examples of torture and pain to induce a reaction from the viewer. Contrast that with a story like "The Pigeons From Hell", where the terror is implied via cautious exposition, and the viewer is constantly tantalized with what might come next. One is left to ponder such mysteries as a haunting voice that sings in the distance, a lantern that extinguishes and flares up again for no apparent reason, and an ancient piano covered with dust - except for the keyboard! Oh yes, and let's not forget those pigeons. Harboring souls that have passed on, they keep company with a zuvembie, a zombie woman responsible for the deaths of her three murdered half-sisters. Or maybe not. Who can really know the half century secret of Eula Lee Blassenville, the sole resident of a decrepit mansion in the middle of a Southern swamp?

The Thriller series was beginning to kick into high gear with this, the tail end of the first season back in 1961. With triple back to back stories like 'The Prisoner in the Mirror', 'Dark Legacy', and 'Pigeons From Hell', Boris Karloff's anthology series finally found it's most successful niche with these entries into the Gothic horror genre. One might consider them tame by the standards of present day horror, but anyone who wasn't around to watch these stories at the time they first aired is too young to have the kind of perspective us old timers acquired by watching series like The Twilight Zone, Way Out, One Step Beyond and Thriller. These are the kinds of stories one can settle down with on a dark and stormy night, and challenge one's self to finish without turning on all the lights in the house. Why not give it a try, I dare you.

Loved It!

[Rainey-Dawn · 8/10 · 7 September 2015]

"Pigeons From Hell" might sound like it's similar to Hitchcock's "The Birds" but is not. You will not see a bunch of pigeons killing or injuring people - this is nothing like that.

This one has a creepy atmosphere that is lacking in most of the modern day films. This film does not have a lot of blood and gore nor will you find a bunch of cheap "jump scares". The film tells us a creepy tale with some scary imagery that is both suspenseful and thrilling.

The film is a great late night classic that you can curl up on the couch and simply enjoy.

8/10

Considered the scariest episode of Thriller

[letheaqua · 9/10 · 28 July 2010]

I watched this recently on the "Scream channel".

It was Sheer dread packed into 45 minutes.

Atmosphere instead of gore.A lump in the pit of the stomach instead of it's gorge rising.

Stephen King has said that Thriller is the best horror series ever put on TV

This episode was based on a short story that Stephen King has called "one of the finest horror stories of our century".

Robert E. Howard's 1938 short story in Weird Tales magazine.

Joe R. Lansdale, adapted this story for a graphic novel in 2008.

He wrote that this "Thriller" episode"was for many years the most terrifying thing ever shown on television."

Horror Here

[AaronCapenBanner · 10/10 · 31 October 2014]

Two brothers named Tim & John Branner(played by Brandon De Wilde & David Whorf) find themselves stranded in the middle of nowhere deep in a southern swamp region when their car breaks down. They come upon an old abandoned mansion overrun with hordes of pigeons, but decide to seek shelter from the oncoming night by sleeping in there. Later that evening, John hears a haunting melody and goes to investigate in a trance-like state, only to find a most unexpected horror there that will drive Tim out, and with the help of a local Sheriff(played by Crahan Denton) will attempt to unravel the murderous mystery....

The above synopsis doesn't do full justice to this legendary episode, the best of the series, and a shining example of what could be achieved in a 50 minute format. Frightening, chilling, and dripping with a palpable atmosphere of unknown menace and deepening dread, this pitch perfect exercise in horror by director John Newland is an absolute masterpiece to be viewed not just on Halloween, but any day of the year. Not to be missed.

Rare Gem of Horror

[erick185 · 10/10 · 17 March 2007]

'Pigeons from Hell" is the finest example of serious television horror ever aired. The episode truly depicts a confrontation of innocence versus evil. Two young men encounter, quite by accident, an almost unspeakable presence lurking in an abandoned plantation home. This is a deftly crafted chiller of a tale with it's dark sets and minimal lighting. The eerie music score is classic and serves to amplify the fright that grabs hold of you. The episode succeeds in piling on the tension - right up through the very frightening climax. Brandon De Wilde is marvelous as the main player and John Newland, One Step Beyond, directs exquisitely. If you have not seen this classic,you have missed out.

Night Of the Zuvembie

[telegonus · 10/10 · 5 October 2010]

Fans of the Thriller TV series generally rate Pigeons From Hell as one of the show's best episodes, and I agree. Adapted from a Robert E. Howard story, taking place entirely at night, it starts out with two brothers from up north whose car is trapped in the mud somewhere in the Deep South who take refuge in a deserted plantation house nearly devoid of furniture surrounded by noisy pigeons who give off otherworldly vibes.

As they settle down for a night's sleep, one brother ventures upstairs, only to return a few moments later with a split forehead, blood streaming downing his face, hatchet in hand, looking ready to kill. The other brother flees the big house, runs into the woods, falls down, is found by the local sheriff, to whom he relates his harrowing experience. The sheriff is at first skeptical, yet when he realizes it's the old Blassenville place he becomes more receptive.

When they return to the house, the sheriff, suspicious that the young man killed his brother, investigates upstairs, and when he enters one of the rooms, the lamp goes out, then comes back on when he leaves. There's a back-story to the house and the family that once resided there, and there's one person who can help explain the mystery: an elderly, frightened black man who once worked for the Blassenvilles, who is sought out in his shack, and no sooner has he expressed his fear that a female zombie,--a zuvembie--will send a snake's "little brother" to kill him if he reveals any more, he is bitten by a small snake that has been hiding in the woodpile, and he promptly dies.

Frightened, yet determined, the sheriff returns to the Blassenville house with the young man to solve the mystery of who or what killed his brother. There's no point in spoiling the ending here. The mystery is solved, after a fashion, yet even afterward a feeling of dread hangs in the air, as there are larger issues, matters only implied in what the viewer has seen thus far, which suggest mysteries far beyond the scope of the story itself. Brilliantly directed by John Newland, Pigeons From Hell is full of dread, from its opening scene to the very end; and its unsettling qualities are not easily forgotten. It's a superior piece of work, featuring fine performances. There's an elliptical aspect to it,--lots of story, little in the way of explanation, and scarcely any logic at all--that in the end leaves the viewer literally and figuratively in the dark.

For those who are fans of Gothic horror, this is a must see. It's gloomy, stylish, compact; not a moment is wasted.

I Watched its Network Premiere--and it just KEEPS GETTING BETTER

[lrrap · 10/10 · 29 March 2020]

I watched it..on June 6, 1961 and was scared witless. I watched it on October 10, 2010, and was absolutely mesmerized by what is undoubtedly one (if not THE) most horrific things ever created for the small screen---50 YEARS AGO when such things simply WERE NOT DONE on TV!

When I acquired a 16 mil. print in 1983, I showed it to my wife (who is definitely not a horror-genre fan; she sat through Alien ('79) at the theater, after which she said "I don't see what's so scary about that"). We watched "Pigeons" on an old projector in our darkened apartment, and when she saw the 2nd-floor door silently close when the brothers first enter the house, she was visibly unnerved, and within another 10 minutes she asked that I stop the film so that she could calm herself down; the experience was that powerful. Any other excellent "Thriller" that I show her always elicits the same response: "Good...but it's no Pigeons!"

Still, it takes all kinds to make the world go 'round; I've shown it to other people who feel it doesn't live up to its reputation.

I don't know where to begin in my praise for this show, so why blather on?--- it speaks for itself. Yes, I see its few flaws, but they pale in comparison to the stunning overall achievement. I am by NO MEANS knowledgeable (nor overly enthusiastic) about horror genre as a whole, but I know an incredibly good piece of work when I see it.

Well, maybe I WILL blather on a bit. Brandon DeWilde's performance begins to rise above mediocrity as Act 1 gets going. Crahan Denton is solid as a rock--here's a common rube, who's tough and duty-bound--who knows that he's got to 1.) shake, rattle, or slap the truth out of Tim---thus his aggressive questioning to decide for himself where the truth lies, and 2.) try, through repeated trips up that Stairway to Hell, to get a handle on the nature of the crime so that he can defend young Tim when he hauls him into town. Excellent, first-rate performance by Denton--an actor totally in command of his craft.

The cinematography, lighting and set design...all of which set a new standard for visual horror in its day...need no comment from me; again, they speak for themselves.

There are those who feel that the middle portion of "Pigeons" is slow; not for me--not AT ALL! Whenever DeWilde and Denton are sitting by the fireplace discussing their situation, I feel that, as a viewer, I am caught with them in their nightmare world--silently crying out "Don't go back up there; For God's sake, STAY downstairs where you are (relatively) safe; TALK some more--kill some more time!" Seriously--it's that powerful an experience for me--every time I watch it.

The Act 3 Jacob Blount scene adds another amazingly bizarre element to this most daring show. Here's the big scene that answers most of the gnawing questions---the Sheriff AND the viewers hanging on every word---and the Thriller guys go way out on ANOTHER limb and entrust the crucial dialogue to a heavily-accented old dude from Barbados; it's absolutely brilliant in its execution and faithfulness to the setting and plot, and Ken Renard's performance is simply beyond exceptional, as is the haunting, surreal look and feel of this entire scene (though Denton could have given that nasty snake a more convincing whack). Remarkably effective make-up and fire-place illumination on Renard.

The climatic scene is awesome in staging and visual style, and the shots of the three Blassenville skeletons are truly, astoundingly creepy...each of the 3 close-ups a work of art in itself, with cracked skulls, cobwebs, decaying lacy dresses, ornate headresses, strings of jewelry, etc; who the hell designed THOSE shots!!?

Morton Stevens reaches the pinnacle of his Thriller work here; this is the quintessential "Thriller" sound. As each and every musical cue began, I said to myself "that's it! that's absolutely the exact moment for the music to enter, and exactly the right sound!' And it's all accomplished with a string orchestra and a single percussionist, (playing tympani, vibraphone, marimba and suspended cymbal). And of course, the alluring, wailing zuvembie voice. Stevens manages to capture an OLD, 19th-Century, decrepit, incredibly SAD sound as the brothers stare as if hypnotized at the moldering portrait of Miss Elizabeth, an effect that is as unsettling and creepy as anything in this great show. I would suggest that Stevens' "Pigeons" score tops them all in the series....were it not for the very next entry. But is is fabulous. LR

A Might Have Been Great Episode

[pmoon-2 · 7/10 · 4 November 2020]

I agree that this is one of the better episodes of Thriller. The excellent photography certainly helps to establish the atmosphere of dread. I remember seeing it years ago as a child, and it's one of the reasons I wanted to find the Thriller DVD collection. But having read the Robert Howard short story on which it is based, I cannot bring myself to give this episode 9 or 10 stars. I feel like an opportunity was missed. For reasons that aren't clear, the writers managed to pound Howard's story into near incoherence. (If the connection between the murderer and the pigeons seems confusing to you, it's not your fault.) And where the short story offers a reveal at the end, the show's ending is rather flat. (Weak endings are a recurring problem for this series, and one reason why Thriller has always compared unfavorably with The Twilight Zone and Alfred Hitchcock Presents.)

Wings of Death

[hellraiser7 · 10/10 · 18 November 2016]

This is one of my favorite tales from the show. This of course is a story from one of my favorite authors Robert E Howard, way before he did the "Conan" and "Solomon Kane" tales he actually did some horror short stories which were actually really cool and this tale was one of them; it's a shame he didn't do more because he really is a capable horror writer.

This is a pretty simple tale with a all so familiar format, on young people simple deciding to spend the night at some deserted house. Yeah like with any of the horror films you've seen like "The Evil Dead" and others honestly why the hell do they always pick some remote place, have they never heard of a hotel or motel or just simply vacation someplace pleasant and popular like Miami or something.

I like the young brother protagonist whom is sympathetic as both he and his brother are simply victims of being at the wrong place at the wrong time. And the Sheriff is another solid protagonist, I like that he's not some stereotypical disbeliever but actually on the understanding side because depite some doubts he carries there are certain things that don't add up and evade logical explanation.

However to me it's the atmosphere and location that are the real stars of the story. This story just has this moodiness that really gave me chills. From the swamp location, the seediness of the house, and the use of the darkness all of that just gives everything just this spooky and dangerous enviorment as if something could just come out of the shadows or at an unseen corner at any moment.

There is even a little feeling of paranoia, from the birds and their unusual behavior, the story of the witch we hear and hearing more of what she can do. It really added to the creepiness because you have that cold feeling that the young brother and Sheriff are not alone and somehow this witch may be watching their every move right now.

Beware of the next pigeon you see, death could be flying your direction.

Rating: 4 stars

"Nobody here but us pidgeons."

[mark.waltz · 7/10 · 16 October 2019]

Yes, pidgeons that attack at the prodding of a mysterious noise as two brothers (David Whorf and Brandon deWilde) head into explore the mysterious plantation house they come across while their car is stuck in nearby muck. It seems abandoned...or is it? Whorf seems to all of a sudden go crazy, attempting to murder deWilde with an axe while his own head is badly bloodied.

Thanks to Crehan Denton, the local sheriff who finds deWilde in the middle of the muck, some of the mystery of the dead house is explained, but there's just as much not explained, like many haunted house mysteries from ages gone by. We learn that the house once was resided in by three sisters, and now seems to be constantly protected from Intruders by the pigeons from hell.

This abstract episode of the "Thriller" series is certainly atmospheric and eerie, slow moving and moody. An old black servant (Guy Wilkerson) seems to provide a little bit of more detail, but adds even more questions. The presence of an old witch like creature (Ottola Nesmith) makes details a little more obvious, but there's still a few lingering questions that never do get resolved.

Masterpiece of horror

[tom-tate22 · 10/10 · 5 January 2020]

Thriller was an hour long TV series from the early sixties hosted by Boris Karloff. Most episodes dealt with crime and mystery, but a few stood out as very scary. One that stood out was "Pigeons From Hell", a gothic tale if there ever was one. Two friends traveling through the south have their car break down in a swampy area. They spend the night in an old abandoned mansion using sleeping bags . Some time through the night, one is awakened by strange sounds that puts him into a trance. He walks upstairs as if sleepwalking. His friend hears him scream, and rushes up the stairs to find him with his skull split open approaching him with a hatchet. He runs in absolute terror. The pace is excellent and well worth a watch for true horror fans. I highly recommend this episode.

Great atmosphere but that's it.

[preppy-3 · 3/10 · 18 August 2019]

Episode from the TV horror show "Thriller". Two brothers are driving through a swamp. Their car breaks down in the middle of nowhere. They find an old abandoned plantation and decide to spend the night. One of them is brutally killed and the local sheriff thinks the other brother is responsible. They go to the plantation to investigate and strange things begin to happen.

I heard this was the best episode from "Thriller". It's not. It has tons of atmosphere and the opening section works...but then it falls apart. It gets boring and the ultimate resolution was more laughable than scary. The acting is OK. It's too bad. With a tighter script and a better ending this could have worked.

It's Not for the Birds

[Hitchcoc · 10/10 · 27 November 2016]

When I saw the title, I thought it might be an inner-city version of "The Birds." It's a very scary, very well crafted story. Two brothers are driving in a swampy territory, far from their homes, when their car gets stuck in a swamp. They decide to spend the night in a run- down old house. One goes on ahead and is assaulted by a flock of pigeons. He never quite recovers from his fright. The two guys spread a couple sleeping bags on the floor, but as the night goes on, one is killed, his head bashed in. But it is as if he is alive (can you say "zombie?"). The living brother, played by the late Brandon DeWilde, is attacked by his brother with a hatchet. He runs and strikes his head. He is found by a sheriff. There is the usual "You won't believe me" stuff and an effort to figure out what happened and why. The pacing is excellent and the conclusion very satisfying. One of the very best of all the "Thriller" episodes.

One the very, scary best

[ctomvelu1 · 8/10 · 11 December 2012]

Absolutely terrifying thriller about two brothers stranded in the woods who stumble across a decaying mansion, and decide to spend the night. Big mistake. Brandon DeWilde stars as the younger brother, and veteran character actor Graham Denton plays the local sheriff. Director John Newland and his team use massive backlot-built rooms to very suspenseful effect, with lots of contrast between light and dark. A bit of a supernatural element has the sheriff's oil lantern going out each time he enters a certain upstairs room -- and the light comes back on when they are out of the room. Great musical score to go with a great episode, based on a short story by Robert E. Howard. However, I doubt his version had a happy ending.

Robert E. Howard's relentless tale of evil in the Deep South

[kevinolzak · 10/10 · 25 January 2022]

"Pigeons from Hell" is generally regarded as the series high point, simply the most bleak and unforgiving examination of sheer terror that had younger viewers like Stephen King choke on their Chiclets. The very first adaptation of a Robert E. Howard story (the creator of Conan the Barbarian), done by John Kneubuhl (author of 1958's "The Screaming Skull"), inspired by tales of his grandmother in the Deep South, masterfully directed by John Newland (ONE STEP BEYOND) and aided by a quietly menacing score from Morton Stevens. Brandon de Wilde and David Whorf play brothers Tim and John Branner, on a sightseeing tour in an unspecified part of the South who become stranded near a decaying mansion that was once a thriving plantation owned by the three Blassenville sisters, known for viciously beating their servants until they were left alone to fend for themselves. John is first to come across the huge house, walking among a flock of pigeons to reach the door, Tim eager to grab the sleeping bags for a night of blissful sleep. That's hardly the word for what transpires, an entranced John lured up the winding staircase by a siren song that only he can hear, Tim startled to see his brother approach him with bloodied head and hatchet in hand, narrowly missing an attempt to duplicate the circumstances of his own death. Sheriff Buckner (Crahan Denton) finds the boy's tale difficult to swallow, finding John's corpse still holding the ax in the spot where Tim's head would have been had he not awakened to his brother's scream. An investigation on the second floor yields a piano whose keys are shown to be free of dust, and a darkened room so eerie that the lantern light goes out despite a full amount of kerosene. One surviving servant still lives nearby to provide much needed answers about the Blassenvilles sibling rivalry, old Jacob Blount (Ken Renard) confessing that the trio had a younger sister named Eula Lee, the black sheep with a different father, he himself renowned in Barbados as a voodoo priest and maker of zuvembies. Ottola Nesmith scores yet again in a frightening makeup even more effective than in "The Hungry Glass," a relentless, atmospheric jewel that has rarely been equaled in the years since but may be topped by the very next episode (that spiral staircase would also see use in Karloff's "The Incredible Doktor Markesan").

Wow...scary pigeons....say it ain't so!

[planktonrules · 3/10 · 20 October 2018]

"Pigeons from Hell" is a wonderful example of the old saying "Style over substance". This is because the show has a wonderful, scary and brooding atmosphere...but when you think about all this, it's incredibly dopey! Not a great episode of "Thriller", believe me.

Two teens are lost in the woods and happen upon an old run down mansion. During the night, one of the brothers awakens to find his brother covered in blood and looking like a zombie. The brother (Brandon de Wilde) runs through the woods and ends up knocking himself out...and revives to find himself being questioned by the sheriff. The sheriff doesn't believe the story...though he agrees to accompany the young man to the mansion.

This story is all about voodoo and zombies and crazy stuff like that. It might have worked if the story hadn't been silly and poorly written. Too bad....

Not bad, but lacking in relation to one major item

[ben-thayer · 1 April 2022]

Some reviewers note this episode as the "scariest" of the series. Not to be contrary, but personally I found a couple other episodes a bit more frightening. But this one was quite interesting nonetheless.

The episode does manage to adapt the original REH short story decently, preserving a good deal of the atmosphere and dread from the source material. REH's story was the kind of tale that creeps up on the reader and reemerges in the dark. Prior to seeing this episode I had read the story numerous times, and although I don't recall being particularly terrified while reading it, I do recall certain passages running through my mind after going to bed and turning out the lights. REH crafted the story well.

My issue is related to the appearance of the zuvembie. REH described the creature: "It looked like a woman, but no human woman ever walked with that skulking gait, and no human woman ever had that face of horror, that leering yellow blur of lunacy." He further described "claw-like hands, with black talons like those of a beast, wearing the rags of a ball gown".

The appearance of the zuvembie was anticlimactic, in that the showrunners decided not to depict her as REH described, but looking more similar to a beggar woman from a Dickens story. I don't understand why they didn't attempt to show a more frightening look for the character, they certainly could've done it easily. Could be the network censors were involved. The adaptation up to that point was pretty good, but it took a drop when their zuvembie just didn't invoke the kind of fear as the creature from the short story.

All in all, not bad but somewhat disappointing in the final reveal.