Reviews & Ratings for
"The Twilight Zone" The After Hours/Lost and Found/The World Next Door (1986)

1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
Destroys the meaning of the original, 29 May 2011

Author: Thoraxe-the-Impaler from United States

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

The original (and if you don't know the twist by now, what kind of rock are you living under?) had a clear straightforward message; remember who you are, because if you forget and try to blend in with everyone around you then others will suffer as well as yourself. This episode takes away everything memorable about the first, discards it, and uses what's left. The mannequins weren't supposed to be evil or creepy by the end of the episode, they were supposed to be family or people she could identify with. She wasn't supposed to become a mannequin without her consent, she was supposed to embrace her identity willingly when she realized who and what she was. So, thank you VERY much TZ Remake for ruining one of the most memorable Twilight Zones of the original series.

1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
A different kind of shopping mall! A transformation that's not ordinary!, 22 May 2011

Author: Danny Blankenship from Petersburg, Virginia

This "TZ" episode titled "The After Hours" from season 2 1986 was one that's on the edge it's a little creepy and very strange. It goes to show and prove that places have their own little world as sometimes it's better to stay to yourself! Based on a story and original episode from Rod Serling, this tale is strange and very mysterious. It stars Terry Farrell("Becker" and "Hellraiser")as Marsha Cole a young lady who decides all of a sudden late at night to go out to the local shopping mall to buy a toy for her landlord's child. Upon arriving just at closing she's let in and as she goes up to the top floor for purchase, she soon notices that this mall is much different then any other she's been to.

One by one she sees strange and mysterious figures, and oddly enough she starts to forget basic everyday facts about herself like her place of birth and her age! She even forgets her address. One by one the voices start to take a toll too, soon in a harsh way miss Cole faces a strange and not ordinary transformation. Marsha soon will be on display with the gallery of mannequins! Overall strange and mysterious episode of the "TZ".

1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
Two separate lives?!, 4 July 2009

Author: Danny Blankenship from Petersburg, Virginia

This "TZ" episode titled "The World Next Door" from 1986 and season 2 of the series wasn't really that good still it was a good escape and imagination episode. It stared George Wendt(of TV fame "Cheers")as Barney a married man who's unhappy in fact he shares the basement as his living quarters and mainly he stays away from his wife. He does have one talent of making things like odd toys, devices, and strange inventions. He has dreams of seeing himself as living another life in which things seems better as far as his inventions and marital relationship. Only as is fitting with a sci-fi tale it twist with a hidden and unexpected discovery as Barney will find a side hidden door in his home that you guessed it leads to the life that he's dreaming about! Overall okay episode not really much drama, yet it's an escape and imaginative episode that entertains.

1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
Prime example of why remakes are a bad idea in new TZ, 3 July 2009

Author: ObscureAuteur from United States

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

It is hard to critique this episode without something of a spoiler but the Twilight Zone is so well known now that there can't be much left to spoil. That is except the qualities that made the episode worthwhile in the first place. I don't think any of the remake episodes in this series were a good idea with the exception of A Game of Pool which restored the writer's original ending that was changed in the original production. This one is a prime example of when it was a bad idea.

The original script focuses on the main character a young woman who can only remember one month of her life who goes to a department store where she eventually discovers that she is a mannequin who was given her turn to have a real life in our world and must return so that another can take a turn. She struggles but in the end she remembers and comes to terms with her destiny. There were virtually no special effects and the writing was about her character and gradual realization of who she really is and her relationship to the other mannequins.

This version cheapens all that to turn it into a short B-horror movie. The mannequins come after her in literal reality, hands without fingers and such details. She breaks a window and they chase her through the mall (an acceptable update from the multi-floor department store of the original although the non-existent 13th floor where mannequins are stored was a nice touch) looking evil and threatening. As they close in she begins to turn back into a mannequin one body part at a time. Leg turns to plastic, then an arm etc. The subtleties of character and acting of the original are gone in favor of special effects and makeup tricks. It is as if the episode had been moved from Twilight Zone to Night Gallery. It also went from a foot deep to an inch.

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