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Reviews
The Outer Limits: The Mice (1964)
Fascinating story of inter-planetary prisoner exchange
This interesting episode featured a story about a planet exchanging one of its more dangerous criminals for a human prisoner on Earth deemed just as dangerous. The popular character actor Henry Silva played the human prisoner from our planet who actually was frightened himself by the strange gelatin-like creature who produced its own protozoa type substance from a small lake near the prison facility. It sort of freaked me out when the creature would flap its crab-like paws. I thought the scene where Silva tries to escape from the prison facility while the guards are distracted by the alien creature was a bit claustrophobic and his acting was a bit melodramatic or over the top but all in all this was a fascinating story which showed that other planets in space could also produce shady characters and criminals much like us humans down here on Earth. This episode also featured one of the earlier roles for the great character actor Dabney Coleman. The irony of this story as it turns out, the character played by Henry Silva actually helps out the other characters in the episode including the sweet actress Diana Sands and we tend to be more sympathetic towards him even though he is a criminal. It again shows that the "awe and mystery" as the famous Control Voice mentions during the introduction of each Outer Limits episode of possible life on other planets will even stifle the evil done by human beings down here on Earth as even the most hardened of criminals from our own planet also somehow fears the unknown alien life on other planets.
The Outer Limits: It Crawled Out of the Woodwork (1963)
Made me think twice when vacuuming my apartment
This episode creeped me out especially the scenes where that strange electrical mass would move around making this scary sort of noise or sound. The opening scene where the nighttime cleaning woman is trying to get this unusual large dust ball into the vacuum cleaner always made me afraid of using a vacuum cleaner for awhile after viewing it. Once again the tremendous special effects for that time period especially with the low budget this series had to work with was quite impressive and certainly set the atmosphere for this unusual and frightening story. This episode featured Scott Marlowe who appeared in several of the Outer Limits episodes as a man who investigates the mysterious disappearance of his scientist brother who was electrocuted in a bathtub but brought back to life to work for this strange organization led by the fine character actor Kent Smith who also appeared in the Outer Limits episode entitled "The Children of Spider County". Also in this episode was a young Ed Asner who played the detective investigating this strange power plant. Of course Asner wasn't well known at this time but would go on to great fame as the character Lou Grant in the Mary Tyler Moore Show. Another strong entry from the amazing first season of this unique science fiction series!
The Outer Limits: Counterweight (1964)
Not one of the better Outer Limits episodes
This episode was indicative of how much weaker the second season of The Outer Limits became after the departure of creative geniuses Joseph Stefano and Leslie Stevens. I found this story to drag on as we continued to watch this strange miniature blob of light enter into each of the passengers of this simulated space flight changing their personalities. Even the great character actor Michael Constantine and fine actress popular from the 60's Jacqueline Scott didn't fare too well and didn't help to improve this episode much. The one scene that sort of freaked me out and probably the best scene was when the plant turns into some unusual creature. I think they have tried this before in some science fiction movies and possibly The Outer Limits might have given some of these film writers the idea but this still was not one of the better episodes of this fine series. One unique thing that I hadn't noticed in any of the other episodes was at the end when they actually read off the names of the actors and the characters they played. This again shows the uniqueness of this unusual series but unfortunately how it was beginning to fade away and lose some of its popularity from the very powerful and stronger first season. This story had potential to be an extremely interesting one but somehow the way it was handled and edited dragged on and just watching this alien blob of light go from person to person started to become a bit monotonous.
The Outer Limits: Second Chance (1964)
One of the scenes in this episode made me cry as a kid
I remember this Outer Limits episode because I first saw it when I was only 7 years old. There was this one scene where the creature who I believe was called an Empyrian had already taken over the space ride at this amusement park and blasted the rocket into outer space with an entire group of people aboard. One of the women on the spacecraft who I think worked at the amusement park tries to show everyone that the creature is not real but only in a costume. As she rips off part of the costume, it exposes what looks like the bloody interior of someone's chest. I suddenly began to cry as that scene scared the hell out of me. This is indicative of many of the Outer Limits episodes I watched as a kid. They had this frightening sort of atmosphere that usually had me watching with one hand over my eyes since you never really knew what was about to happen next. This episode was no exception as the thought of turning an amusement park ride into the real thing and people trapped aboard trying to get out an emergency chute only to realize that they are floating into space is enough to scare anyone. I don't think I ever visited an amusement park after watching this episode and if I did, I certainly stayed clear of anything resembling a space ride. It was hard to recognize the great character actor Simon Oakland under all the facial make-up as the Empyrian space creature and Don Gordon, a popular actor from the 60's played the amusement park's spaceship captain who soon realized that he was commandeering a real spacecraft headed into space after being put under some sort of spell by the alien creature. The acting was very good in this episode as everyone acted terrified after learning of their fates but the overall morality of the creature trying to give everyone on the spacecraft a "second chance" in their lives as each was going through some sort of crisis before taking this ride once again showed the thought-provoking and interesting scripts found in many of these Outer Limits episodes and showed that the creature once again who everyone feared at the beginning of the episode was really trying to do something to help these people after all. Another well-done and strong episode of this terrific series!
The Outer Limits: Nightmare (1963)
Scary episode but well-written and thought-provoking
This episode was by far the scariest I ever saw, especially the frightening make-up used to show what the Ebonites really look like. It also was another example of the incredible writing found in so many episodes of this series bringing out the horrors of POW torture tactics and how our government sometimes is involved in shady operations. I was intrigued by some of the elements shown in this episode such as mind-altering drugs creating hallucinations which seemed pretty strong for television of that era and a bit ahead of its time. Although I believe that Martin Sheen might have overacted a bit in this episode, it still had some powerful performances and of course we all know that Sheen went on to become a fine actor. This episode was appropriately titled "Nightmare" since it actually gave me a few nightmares after viewing it but the ending was so clever and full of morality with the interesting variation on the word "gentlemen". This was truly one of the best episodes of "The Outer Limits" and one which would certainly provoke much thought in today's society with the role of our government in handling the war in Iraq and terrorism.
The Outer Limits: The Man Who Was Never Born (1963)
Very similar storyline to "The Terminator"
After viewing this episode, it became quite apparent to me that James Cameron used it to form the basis of the storyline for "The Terminator". In "The Man Who Was Never Born", the alien creature in human disguise portrayed by Martin Landau comes down to Earth to warn a young woman and prevent the birth of her son which would lead to dire consequences for all humanity much like the role of the Terminator in Cameron's film. It was interesting how the hideous looking creature was able to change its appearance into the handsome young man at a moment's notice. We also get to see a very young and attractive looking Shirley Knight as the potential mother which was a far cry from the way she looks now but she is still a marvelous actress as she was back then in this episode. The ending blew me away as we see her trapped in the traveling spaceship all by herself as the camera continues to move far away from her which adds the total despair of the scene as she is all alone and fading almost into non-existence. An ending which will stay with you for some time after viewing it which was evident of many of the great Outer Limits episodes. Although I wouldn't consider this one of the best episodes of the series, it certainly was a most interesting one.
The Outer Limits (1963)
Thought provoking scripts, an outstanding series!
I,like many of these other IMDb reviewers loved "The Outer Limits" and consider it my all-time favorite show. Like them, I was a very young kid probably about 8 or 9 years of age when I saw the original episodes and they scared me half to death. The atmosphere of the show was incredible unlike anything I had ever seen on television before and the special effects were way ahead of their time for television of that period with such a limited budget. Now as I sometimes get to watch the reruns of the show, I am amazed at how creative and thought-provoking the scripts were and what an outstanding series it really was. This was science fiction at its finest with incredible acting, a haunting musical score and phenomenal writing. I have probably watched all of the episodes more than once and regret that they don't show reruns on television anymore. The new remake of the show was nothing like the original "Outer Limits" and I long for the original episodes again from "The Galaxy Being" and "The Sixth Finger" (two of the finest episodes ever written for TV) to "Nightmare" which gave me a few nightmares after viewing it and the two-part episode "The Inheritors". This was a show way ahead of its time and probably will never be recreated again in this day and age.