"The Outer Limits"
The Architects of Fear (1963)

Director:

Byron Haskin

Writer:

Meyer Dolinsky (writer)

TV Series:

"The Outer Limits" (1963)

Original Air Date:

30 September 1963 (Season 1, Episode 3)

Genre:

Fantasy | Horror | Sci-Fi | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

A secret group of scientists decide to surgically alter one of their members into an 'alien', in order...

Plot Keywords:

Theremin | Laser | Supernatural | Alternative Reality | Anthology

Cast

Robert Culp	...	Allen Leighton
Leonard Stone	...	Dr. Phillip Gainer
Martin Wolfson	...	Dr. Herschel
Geraldine Brooks	...	Yvette Leighton
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Hal Bokar
Billy Green Bush	...	Hunter (as William Bush)
Clay Tanner	...	2nd Hunter
Lee Zimmer

Runtime:

51 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Daystar Productions

Scared the $#!% out of me in 1968

I was too young to see OL episodes when they were first broadcast in 1963, but when I was six years old, I saw them as reruns on TV in Los Angeles back in 1968. After forty years, "Architects of Fear" still stands out in my mind as the scariest thing I ever saw. Why, oh why did my parents ever let me watch it? I'll never know. I can still remember sitting there on the front room floor covering my eyes with my hands when the monster appeared, occasionally peeking between my fingers. Why doesn't Hollywood create monsters like these anymore? I'm tired of the constant diet of little grey guys with the wide black eyes, or vicious dread-locked aliens dripping with saliva and multiple rows of teeth. Those don't scare me near as much as Robert Culp's monster did in "Architects of Fear". Outer Limits truly created aliens that were unique, weird and bizarre. The monster/aliens from other OL episodes like "Galaxy Being" and "Bellero Shield" are additional examples that freaked me out as a kid. I really would like to see some unique and ingenious aliens return to Hollywood. I'm tired of the same old aliens being dished up time and time again.