Did anyone get the impression this might have been host Boris Karloff's favorite episode? He looked absolutely sinister in the opening monologue, and the lighting cast just the right amount of shadow over his face to portend a truly creepy story. The opening reminded me a bit of the 1941 Lon Chaney classic "The Wolf Man" with it's fog enshrouded cemetery and a scene that played out in a graveyard vault. That crypt keeper Gafke (Reggie Nalder) might have given the one out of "Tales From the Darkside" a run for his money.
I think the story offers a certain ambiguity with it's central plot element, the contents of the teakwood chest. I like to think of it as a casket myself, containing a dead man's hands, those of a former rival musician of the principal character, Vladimir Vicek (Guy Rolfe). Generally acclaimed as the master pianist, Vicek can barely contain his rage at the thought of his arch-rival Carnowitz having attained more fame during his career. So the idea that Vicek desecrates his grave and steals his hands plays almost as a tribute, and one wonders whether Vicek's ability to play a difficult sonata could only have been accomplished by using his rival's own pair of hands.
As for those hands, here's where I find myself a little conflicted. I know that scene with the crawling digits was supposed to be terrifying, but I couldn't help but find it quite amusing. Though the effect was done quite well for the era, it struck me as just plain funny. In fact, I had the same reaction to a similar scene in the 1960 flick "Tormented", which had some dubious similarities to this one. That picture's main character was also a pianist, and there was a similar scene where someone meets their death by falling from a high place. However the crawling hand in that one belonged to a jilted lover and not a rival musician.
So even though that whole business with the hands is a bit hokey, I think if you're the impressionable sort you might end up with a nightmare or two after seeing this story, especially with the way it ended. For his final performance, the last thing Guy Rolfe needed was for someone to give the man a hand.
I think the story offers a certain ambiguity with it's central plot element, the contents of the teakwood chest. I like to think of it as a casket myself, containing a dead man's hands, those of a former rival musician of the principal character, Vladimir Vicek (Guy Rolfe). Generally acclaimed as the master pianist, Vicek can barely contain his rage at the thought of his arch-rival Carnowitz having attained more fame during his career. So the idea that Vicek desecrates his grave and steals his hands plays almost as a tribute, and one wonders whether Vicek's ability to play a difficult sonata could only have been accomplished by using his rival's own pair of hands.
As for those hands, here's where I find myself a little conflicted. I know that scene with the crawling digits was supposed to be terrifying, but I couldn't help but find it quite amusing. Though the effect was done quite well for the era, it struck me as just plain funny. In fact, I had the same reaction to a similar scene in the 1960 flick "Tormented", which had some dubious similarities to this one. That picture's main character was also a pianist, and there was a similar scene where someone meets their death by falling from a high place. However the crawling hand in that one belonged to a jilted lover and not a rival musician.
So even though that whole business with the hands is a bit hokey, I think if you're the impressionable sort you might end up with a nightmare or two after seeing this story, especially with the way it ended. For his final performance, the last thing Guy Rolfe needed was for someone to give the man a hand.
