hung_fao_tweeze Reviews

Star Trek Continues: Pilgrim of Eternity (2013) Season 1, Episode 1

All I can say is, 'Outstanding!'

[9/10 · 17 September 2019]

There are a lot of satellite Star Trek extensions whether they be alternate timelines, different Federation ships, or just scenarios linked by a gossamer umbilical. This episode is the real McCoy (no pun intended). Getting used to the new faces replacing the old was a struggle that didn't last long. Vic Mignogna has William Shatner's James Kirk cadence down. I was so impressed that I was finding the lines blurred between the two rather swiftly. Mr. Spock and Dr. McCoy are a bit of a learning curve, but they stay in character well-enough that it didn't detract much. Then there's the smile on your face when James Doohan's own son, Chris, doing a bang-up job as Scotty. This episode pulls you right in with all the familiar bells and whistles. It also tracks on the same them music. You will find yourself nestling comfortably on this couch. And then.....can it be??!! They brought back Michael Forest to reprise his role as Apollo!! Fantastic!! Now the story itself is marvelous. It contains that certain philosophical or, perhaps, even logical insight you come to expect from the better episodes of Star Trek. It's like you couldn't ask for a better combination of events to culminate and it all comes to a conclusion that is simply superb.

I give this episode a 9 out of 10 simply because there were 2 very minor plot points that seemed unlikely, but that even happened in the original series. Overall: A great start and I am looking forward to see the rest!

Monster on the Campus (1958)

All things considered, it has a certain respectability

[7/10 · 27 July 2019]

Made in 1958, here is a general reworking of all the came before. It's Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde married to any werewolf movie. Yet, it never entirely verges into camp or silliness. The performances are strong, even from the dog. The music, though borrowed from other movies like 'The Incredible Shrinking Man' and 'Tarantula', is used effectively giving the action a boost where needed.

The special effects were nothing special. The transformation from man to beast and back again were smoother than 'The Wolfman', but the resulting creature was almost too obviously a rubber mask. Closeups do kill the effect somewhat so they filmed him at a distance which pulled the visuals back into plausibility. Much of it works well.

But why was this made? As noted, there's nothing new. It is played as a very straight forward no nonsense monster movie. It has its moments of real horror but it also doesn't even try push boundaries. If you had to judge it against all other of this genre, it's a C+.

A good solid movie for a rainy day and popcorn.

The Outer Limits: If These Walls Could Talk (1995) Season 1, Episode 19

A missed opportunity for something more profound

[7/10 · 17 May 2019]

Synopsis: A woman enlists the help of a paranormal skeptic to search for her missing son and girlfriend who have vanished after entering an abandoned house.

Review:

This seems like an odd subject for a series like 'Outer Limits' which survives on predominantly sci-fi themed tales. Yet, here is a woman who searches for her missing son in an alleged 'haunted house' and hears him calling to her. With a promise of $5000, she is able to convince a well-known published paranormal skeptic to accompany her to the house and assist with looking for her son. It plays like an all-too-typical haunted house story, sudden drafts, noises, and visions...nothing remarkable but everything very much what you might expect from a series like 'Night Gallery' or 'One Step Beyond'. Then they discover a hidden room and an object that manages to plant this episode back into the sci-fi realm. This is good because so far the episode was surprisingly unoriginal. Unfortunately, what is done with this plot device isn't original either. It is a cross of 'Andromeda Strain' with a smidgen of 'John Carpenter's The Thing' and an eventual nod to the original 'Poltergeist'.

Dwight Schultz and Alberta Watson do an adequate job of acting out the roles they've been given to a point. The episode's conclusion doesn't give them or the viewers much to work with. Most would agree that the best OL episodes leave a haunting residue embedded in the viewer's mind to toy with, ponder over. I waited for it...nothing. It was then that I was reminded of the second season of the original series and how nearly all of those episodes simply ended without much bravado. This episode would fit nicely into that uninspired period.

Conclusion: It is a shame that something more profound or enlightening couldn't have been done with this vehicle. The opportunities were there and were missed. The worst thing of all is that I feel any viewer will notice it. If this happens to be the first OL episode you've ever seen, there is every likelihood that you will walk away with little compulsion to prioritize yourself to watch another episode. There are many far better ones. Don't give up.

Night Visions: The Passenger List/The Bokor (2001) Season 1, Episode 1

A very nice surprise

[8/10 · 2 May 2019]

'Night Visions' never had a chance. It's Canadian and it seems that 9/11 distracted audiences in the US away from watching it. It's really too bad. I'd never heard of it, but if the rest of the episodes are like these first two, this seems like a tragedy that it didn't find a market.

'Passenger List' was brilliant. There were some incredible nuances in the script and direction that echoed the best of Rod Serling. It grabs interest at the very first. What are the chances that an investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board just happens to be at the site of an airliner crash? As he investigates, things are a little more than off for him. As the story moves along, things are a little more than off for the viewer. Sound is distorted in places to cause subtle unease. Visuals are lightly stretched and lighting is arranged to cast worrisome shadows. Aidan Quinn does a great job with the character and his face conveys the proper anguish and confusion when needed to further enhance the story. Frankly, this one is really good.

'The Bokor' is a fairly straight up grisly horror story with a surprise ending in the EC comics tradition. There are some good scares here, though all is not what it seems.

Both tales tend to be intense in places such that sensitive viewers should be aware that you may be surprised by some things you didn't want to see. But, as it is, this is a great start to a series no one seems to have heard of.

The Outer Limits: Nightmare (1998) Season 4, Episode 20

Not a nightmare, but not a complete loss either

[7/10 · 29 April 2019]

The original 1963 version of 'Nightmare' was that exactly. It was hallucinogenic. It pulled it off really well, too. The performances of the actors involved were compelling and solid. The dialogue was thoughtful, intriguing. The Ebonites were startling yet more humane to the humans than they tend to be to each other. Ultimately, the story and its conclusion lingered in your brain afterwards. In my case, since 1963. It dropped little clues along the way that messed with the viewers mind. It was successfully frightening in many instances.

This 1998 rewrite is merely similar. How could they do a credible rewrite of one of the best original episodes? Well...it seems that they didn't try too hard. The characters are not nearly as deep or defined as they were in the original. There is nothing terribly hallucinogenic to draw you into the story or provide background into the characters. Like the original, the crew is captured while trying to deploy a device on a planet believed to be uninhabited. It wasn't and they are captured by the Ebonites to be placed in a cell. Like the original, they are taken singly from this cell and questioned. Also, like the original, distrust grows among the captives. Unlike the original, it is less than fascinating. So, as I was viewing this I was becoming disheartened. It wasn't a 'nightmare'. I was puzzled that the creators of this updated series would drop the ball on what should have lived up to the title of this episode.

But then....the ending.

It saved the episode for me and made me smile. It was a very satisfactory twist to an experiment that worked far too well. I give it a 7 because the story is good, but I feel that they could have been able to develop the characters like the original did so that each demise would feel more personal.

Star Trek: Enterprise: Breaking the Ice (2001) Season 1, Episode 8

Physics be damned!

[5/10 · 3 November 2015]

The one thing that always annoyed me with the Star Trek series is the liberties they take with the laws of physics. This episode had me shaking my head with amazement that I felt the need to review something I wouldn't normally take the time to do. Sometimes you suspend your believe system to allow for such things as a properly functioning warp drive, time travel where deemed unavoidable, sound in a vacuum, etc. You want to participate in the fun. In this instance two of the crew are deployed onto a comet with a diameter of about 82 kilometers or so. They went to all of the trouble, for once, to position a nearby star in order for the comet to have a tail - the star is referred to as the 'sun' for some reason though I don't believe they intended THE Sun, and plotted a position of the slowly rotating comet for the shuttle to land to avoid 'the sun'. But then when the crew land they are almost instantly confronted with a very Earth-like gravity field very much not in line with what a comet of that size would have -- which should be virtually none. OK, so let's chalk it up to gravity boots? Somehow they manage to build a snowman!? Hmm. OK...let it slide. But then on the way back to the ship one of the crew falls into a hole with much the same force as if influenced by normal Earth gravity? He hurts his leg and needs to be carried back to the ship and yet his apparent weight causes the going to be slow. Literally, he should weigh next to nothing here. Later, the ship falls into a hole as well with the same 1g results. Very hard. Very abrupt. Sorry, folks. This fails the physics test even if you struggle to construct an assumptive work-around in your head. Even the mining explosion makes a huge noise - which they even warn about prior to the explosion. I notice I neglected to review the actual episode here however. Very well. It was mundane. Nothing special here. I have never watched the Enterprise series previously but noticed it did not have a long stay on the network. So far into the series, for myself, no episode has been memorable - but this one takes the cake to bend the universal laws of common physics in order to establish a story for the fragile blossoming of the human/Vulcan relationship. There were more plausible ways to do it.

Dracula (1974 TV Movie)

A minor piece of flotsam

[6/10 · 30 April 2015]

The problem with Dracula or vampire movies these days is that there are so many of them and each clings to its various qualities (or lack of) so that watching a TV movie from 1974 and expecting it to register positively against this intimidating backdrop is probably too much to burden any single feature with. However, 'Kolchak: The Night Stalker', also a TV movie from 1974, exceeds expectations and still plays well with audiences today. So, when I mentioned to a fellow movie-buff that I had watched this Jack Palance vehicle, he had never heard of it but felt that it must somehow be awesome simply because of Jack's presence. Unfortunately, this does not hold true here and I had to tell him. Written by Richard Matheson, I was expecting something with a bit of a twist. He wrote 'Twilight Zone' episodes, after all! Perhaps my anticipation was not called for here. This is pretty much a straight-up retelling or alternate realization of the basic Bram Stoker character and tale. There are really no surprises unless one would want to call Dracula seeing a photo of a girl who resembles a woman he loved centuries ago and that becomes his raison d'etre for the rest of the film a surprise twist. Actually, that was a fairly common theme in the old TV show 'Dark Shadows'. Well, what a surprise. Old Dan Curtis is at the directorial helm here and is essentially rekindling ideas he has used previously. So, maybe the failure of this movie lies with the director? That is not to say that this movie is terrible. It is not. But as noted, the sheer prevalence of so many really good vampire movies shoves this one into obscurity as demonstrated by my movie-buff friend's complete ignorance of this film's existence. The bright spot in this limp production is Palance's performance. He is really great here. Without him there isn't much point in viewing this, quite frankly. Alas, gone is the vampire that changes into a bat, a wolf (dark German Shepherds, actually), or a cloud of fog. He still sleeps in a coffin by day, though. He can still be deterred by a crucifix and garlic. Thus, some of the reliable Hollywood vampire nuances are still present. Even the sunlight can be hazardous although he doesn't flake away like Christopher Lee. OK. We can deal with that. Yet, the one that is missing that seemed the most annoying is his ability to enter a household or residence without first getting permission to do so. (Handled superbly in 'Let The Right One In') Lugosi's Dracula, at least, schmoozed his way in and socialized providing dreadful anticipation of what is to become. Palance is much more direct and just crashes in. However, Jack does the absolute best with the material and occasionally transforms a couple of instances into very successful terror. Unfortunately, absolutely everyone else in this presentation is nearly instantly forgettable. In addition, one very annoying feature is the lack of detail to the general surroundings. I realize this was a TV movie and a very limited budget. Still, Dracula's 15th century castle's architecture was occasionally too modern and, in fact, sported catacomb arches built from a very modern brick and mortar painted over with lumpy white paint. It looked very much like any number of more recent basement crawlspaces. The outer facade was unconvincing as well looking frequently like some kind of smoothed stucco. The ambiance of the countryside tries to be mysterious but every now and then I halfway expected someone on a little motorbike to come putting through. Also noted previously are the stock German Shepherds substituting for wolves. Yet, should this film be faulted for resorting to this when so many other movies manage to do so and still chill? That is the problem, isn't it. This movie just didn't chill the way it could have. I am giving it a 6 mostly for Palance's performance. Watch for the way he tries to get around the crucifix held in his direction. He paced nervous and restless like a caged lion. Also, see the screaming rages he flies into. Some of those are surprisingly frightening. It is a shame the rest of the film couldn't keep up with Jack's performance.

Hellraiser (1987)

We have such sights to show you

[8/10 · 19 March 2015]

This is a fine example of a movie with virtually no budget (by Hollywood standards) that makes the best of whatever is on hand and ends up creating a superior and rather unique horror film. The first assault comes from the fine music score. From the very first opening credits, Christopher Young seems to be channeling Dominic Frontiere (original Outer Limits) as he imposes somewhat beautiful melodies that are entirely surrounded by a haunting and sad halo. When you hear this music the next time you watch this, that feeling of anticipatory dread and anxiety creeps up your spine. You know what you are in for if you watch this again, but you can't help yourself. This movie is smart. Watching it is like trying to open your own puzzle box (Lament Configuration). Each scene reveals more horror that messes with your head but doesn't reveal too much. You are shocked by what you just experienced, feel repulsed and yet compelled to see more. You find yourself wanting it to take it to the next level. Pain and pleasure. Much of this can be attributed to the very intelligent editing. You end up believing you see more than what is really there. This makes the movie work wonderfully and shores up the dismal budget by making the entire project larger than the sum of the parts. I have heard that this was rated X when it first came out to theaters. There is a sexual theme here but this is far from a sex movie unless you call 'f**king' with your head a form of sex. If this was ever rated X it would have to be because of the frequent graphic violence that by today's standards is not all that bad. The special effects could be made better with a more comprehensive budget, but it probably shouldn't. It has a charm all its own. And yet, the presentation is key. There is a reason for the violence. The individual is, after all, asking for it voluntarily by trying to open the puzzle box. Thus, you don't feel that the Cenobites are necessarily all-consuming monsters since they wreak their own brand of sadism on those who are essentially requesting it. This seems to play out up until the end of the movie when Kirsty at first appears to be allowed to leave the scene when she manages to return escapee Frank back to the Cenobites. "This is not for your eyes" But as she makes her way down the stairs she is obstructed by one of the Cenobites who tries to back her up the stairs and back into the room. Perhaps Kirsty made the mistake of hanging around too long as she watched Frank's final shredding?? Or perhaps this is the movie that keeps on giving... I have scene it numerous times and would advise not watching it from a television broadcast. They have a nasty tendency to cut the the more graphic scenes which I find entirely necessary to realize the point of the movie in the first place. Who is this movie for? You have to be kind of bent in the head to watch this and appreciate it. Obviously not for those with sensitive dispositions or are prone to innocence. This movie can corrupt and you may never think the same afterward, but you will be entertained nevertheless.

The Alfred Hitchcock Hour: The Jar (1964) Season 2, Episode 17

An episode that kept on giving long afterward

[8/10 · 31 January 2015]

I was young and saw this the first time it was broadcast as I wandered aimlessly around my grandparents living room with an attention span befitting my age. The episode didn't hold my interest...at first. About 15 minutes into it I couldn't NOT watch. I really did want to know what was in that jar, but then the episode piled on these side dramas that awoke an interest in the actual story. I'm not going to do much more here than add to the other praises already entered here for this particular episode. I was completely disturbed for years by the ending and, thanks to the Internet, was finally brave enough to see it again. Well, it wasn't so bad about 50 years later having grown and become acclimatized to certain kinds of gore and violence. It's handled very tastefully in this instance but it will give you the 'willies' nevertheless. Hitchcock was correct...you don't NEED to see the violent act or the blood, etc. I relived it all for 50 years and, as it turns out, saw much more in my mind's eye than what was really there. The shocking slice of the watermelon....beautiful!! Do see this.

The Outer Limits: Counterweight (1964) Season 2, Episode 14

In the hands of, let's say, Rod Serling.....

[4/10 · 16 January 2015]

...this would been a great character study and more than likely a far more interesting episode.

It has a 'made for the theater' aura since the set is an obvious sound-stage with rather sparse accommodations. 6 people (5 men and one woman) as actual passengers, plus 1 stewardess and a pilot. The idea is to see how Joe-average handles the stress and confinement of a long interplanetary flight. Each passenger has a claustrophobic cubbie containing a bed and a small storage area. Each has a curtain that can be drawn for privacy. Snoring, etc, quickly becomes and issue.

No idea where the stewardess or the pilot sleep. They are mostly incidental characters anyway and are used when helpful to the plot.

There is the impression that the 'ship' is larger than what is displayed. The passengers do frequent a sort of lounge, dining, library area. It is humorous to see that they'd stocked a rather large, and weighty, library of books.

Meanwhile, when the passengers sleep, a strange illuminated alien presence in the form of a jagged serpent tongue about 6 inches long slides from bunk to bunk, enters the sleeper's heads and monitors their dreams. What's the point? This is not entirely clear yet and the sleeper's revelations are, shall we say, ultimately succinct yet mundane. Each sleeper is easily defined by these revelations but they are not necessarily that interesting. Obviously the intention here is do character studies of flawed human beings - the more interesting ones being a power hungry but frightened businessman, and an aging woman who is becoming all too aware that her clock is ticking. I have seen this episode a few times and for some reason all of the other characters are unmemorable. Having said that, this is where I began thinking how incredible Rod Serling was at writing these kinds of things and how that was missing here. Ultimately the characters here are cardboard representations with little to no depth except for the power hungry businessman who is played by Michael Constantine and this is perhaps why he stood out over the lesser roles.

While the episode churns and the days drag into months, the characters have the expected personality conflicts. As it turns out, there are little surprises pre-programmed into this experiment. Things like strange noises, shaking spaceship, power failures and such were designed into the routine to stir things up and even frighten the passengers so that perhaps one of them will push the panic button and end the experiment. They are determined to see it through - especially Constantine who has set up a lucrative business wager/venture that will pay off big if the experiment is a success --- so you know he is not afraid to threaten to kill the first person to push the panic button. But there is a more sinister side. Other little surprises occur that were NOT programmed into the mix. Who is setting those off??? It is not difficult to figure that one out.

What is difficult to accept is how a botanist who has a small sequestered garden is grieving over his dying plants but fails to notice that one very peculiar fuzzy coiling foot-long obelisk is rudely jutting up from the soil. Anyone else would question the existence of this oddity. He pays it no attention at all and whines about the audacity of his plants refusing to thrive. This is confusing in the respect that as soon as the viewer sees its threatening presence, you just know that this will be a problem waiting to happen.

Eventually the alien plant becomes animate and confronts the passengers to pass along a message a la 'The Day The Earth Stood Still'. In fact, some of the stop-motion work here is good.

The passengers listen to the message and then make a decision which I won't reveal here but it isn't difficult to figure out. End of episode.

Bottomline : Kind of a dull episode that could had every opportunity to be far more interesting and logical but didn't. This is generally thought to be one of the lesser OL episodes. It is simply because, as with most of season 2, an idea with some merit is fumbled by the new production team who seem to have no clue how to deal with science fiction.

The Outer Limits: The Duplicate Man (1964) Season 2, Episode 13

I wanted to shut it off after only 5 minutes

[4/10 · 11 January 2015]

Clifford Simak is a fairly well-know science fiction writer though I am not very familiar with his work. I expected quite a lot by word of mouth, however. And maybe in the hands of OL's first season staff this could have played out more credibly and incredibly. We start off by being injected into a group of students being given a tour of a museum's collection of alien creatures thus far discovered. They are all stuffed and, therefore, dead -- or are supposed to be. However, the creatures are ridiculous in appearance and sport incredibly naive names (Megasoid!? c'mon!). By the time the tour guide (or is he the museum guard?) gets to the Megasoid and provides his ever so brief blurb about the characteristics and habits of this dreaded creature - closeup of the eye reveals that this creature isn't a stuffed museum prop. In fact, it reveals a very human eye looking out of an all too obvious eyehole in a bulky mask. Now I realize that OL doesn't have a budget and their effects don't always hold up well (refer to 'The Man With The Power' and the very visible wires for a levitating boulder), but viewers were able to get around bad effects because the stories eclipsed the lapses imposed by the budgets. In this episode it looks like they didn't even try. The Megasoid is, frankly, terrible. It's a large overly hairy fat kangaroo with a pronounced bony cranium (too hold all of that brain power they keep referring to, I imagine), a huge beak of some kind which probably doesn't function that way since the Megasoid has a very human mouth and teeth (groan). The only part of this costume that registers as potentially worrisome is its claws. Just a terrible costume (and I was able to accept George Barrows' in a gorilla suit with a space helmet in 'Robot Monster'). Even the Megasoid's voice is surprisingly articulate and meek - almost Roddy MacDowall-like.

Well, fortunately the Megasoid is mostly a plot vehicle for a man, who illegally brought this creature to Earth in the first place, to have a sort of clone of himself created with initial programming to kill the Megasoid and then return to the residence at midnight to be destroyed. The 'clone' must not be allowed to live passed five hours or it will begin to resurrect the memories of its source and become 'aware'. Shades of 'Blade Runner!! Considering that this 1964, this concept alone is worthy of a good OL episode and we dump the Megasoid altogether. But for some reason we had to have the ridiculous monster imposing himself on the plot at convenient interludes in order to provide a motivation for the characters.

I am not going to dwell further on this episode since my patience with OL season 2 is just about used up. I admit giving up on season 2 at the 4th episode in 1964 and have only recently seen this. The idea of clones or robot lookalikes and the eventual moral play surrounding this was done so much better in Twilight Zone's 'In His Image'. For me, alas, this is one OL episode I have no desire to see again.

The Outer Limits: I, Robot (1964) Season 2, Episode 9

Drops the ball again

[5/10 · 11 January 2015]

The most perplexing thing about this episode is that producer Ben Brady had been doing 'Perry Mason' episodes....a LOT of them. But you wouldn't be able to tell this by the courtroom semi-drama performed here. If it had bothered to effectively raise any thought provoking issues at all, with the key word being 'effectively', it would have brought this ever so limp episode up a few notches.

I won't bother reviewing the plot since most of you already know it by heart. It is a really great concept! Since the laws of our land have given corporations the same legal rights and standing in our courts as human beings, at the rate things are going this should predictably be coming to your community soon in some incarnation. The main problems with this episode is that we never do feel any sympathy for Adam, the robot. Not quite, anyway. I suspect that the attempt was made to demonize the people, which was effective, and that somehow this would throw the imbalance of the viewer's empathy to Adam. Bad versus good. Unfortunately, at the end of the episode Adam still seems like a robot - and that is all. They tried to impress the fact that Adam's personality was imprinted from his now dead creator. The problem is that the viewer never really knows the creator. The action picks up after the creator's accident and I believe that the producer's of this broadcast must have thought we would simply figure it out. But the real first thing the robot does is break a child's arm. True, he was saving her from drowning...well, not quite...the water was barely a foot deep. The child was more scared than in any peril from drowning. So, like the rest of the proceeding episode, it is simply not effective at demonstrating any real commitment to the heart of the story. Nearly all of the characters are cliché cardboard representatives of whatever point of view they are supposed to have. The faces of the sheriff and the pursuers as they try and look angry and tough are, frankly, comically terrible. And, as I mentioned, the courtroom presentation is dreadful. I kept wondering when someone would deliver the surprising testimony or impressive verbal argument that would or should sway the judge. It never really happens. It barely breaches a rudimentary law textbook. Perry Mason could have easily won this case for either side --- but he wasn't here -- just his producer.

I have just shredded this episode and you may think you shouldn't watch it. You should. My bias is based on the fact I had seen what the first season of OL could do with worse scripts that this. Even 'ZZZZZ' had merit. I admit I had quit watching the second season of OL after the 4th terrible episode in a row back in 64, so I only recently viewed this one. The Twilight Zone handled this concept way better in 'I Sing The Body Electric' as did Star Trek The Next Generation in 'The Measure Of A Man'. None of that is here but you will get the rudiments of this oft revisited theme.

The Outer Limits: Keeper of the Purple Twilight (1964) Season 2, Episode 12

Outer Limits slides back into mediocrity

[4/10 · 10 January 2015]

My biggest complaint with season 2 of OL is that the production staff seem to have no clue how to do plausible science fiction. They impose conditions and motivations into a script that ultimately prove to make the discerning viewer feel cheated out of a good story. After the excellent 'The Inheritors I and II', 'Keeper Of The Purple Twilight' avalanches right back into the banality of the rest of season 2.

It is a great title though, isn't it. It is never satisfactorily explained however. It really doesn't seem to mean anything perhaps.

So, the basic story is a dedicated scientist is seeking certain equations to help him complete his death ray and he is having no luck on his own. He is frustrated and emotionally sick over the stress of the situation. Along comes an alien to help but his motivations are bizarre. Basically he is supposed to provide the equations so that the death ray is produced on Earth and this would open the door for the rest of his species to come in and take over the world. It's sort of a warped hostile version of 'The Day The Earth Stood Still'. On top of this, the 'logical' alien advises the scientist he will provide the equations if he can have the scientists emotions. Well, I didn't see that coming - and, quite frankly, seems completely insipid. As you can surmise, the emotions don't sit well with the alien - blah blah blah.

I found myself wanting desperately for this episode to foray into something original or simply end. It finally ended. The only thing I managed to take away from this episode was the impressive alien configurations. These were worthy and could hold up to anything from the first season although that 'crushed velvet(?)' uniform was a bit laughable. And did I detect crotch zippers on the pants of the soldier aliens?? Did you see the claws on those guys? Logistically, urinating could be an adventure I would bet.

Overall: A dreadful episode slightly saved by the eerie alien costumes

The Outer Limits: The Inheritors: Part I (1964) Season 2, Episode 10

Very sorry I missed the original broadcast

[8/10 · 10 January 2015]

As noted previously in other Season 2 OL reviews, I pretty much gave up on the original broadcast of this season. There was an obvious trend toward banality in the presentations that made the episodes far too easy to shrug off. Having been so fortunate to have survived into these modern times and keeping a promise I made to myself back in 1963, I purchased that DVD set - almost entirely for season 1 alone, though. Nevertheless, they are mine - all mine!! > insert insane cackle here < I actually do recall seeing the beginning of this episode in '64 as they were comparing brainwaves. It didn't seem all that interesting so I went about my evening doing something else. It was tough to want to watch what used to be a great show die. I also recall catching the very end of the episode (Part II) having no idea that the beginning (Part I) had anything to do with the turning off of the forcefield, etc. I just remember feeling sad and loss turning this show off - like saying goodbye to a close friend. For some strange reason the ending stuck in my head for all of these decades, though. And now I know why. I finally got to see this all of the way through. In fact, I have watched it a number of times trying to shred it to pieces as I have with the other episodes of season 2. I am finding that this episode, both parts, is an example of the finest script of season 2.

There are the 'conveniences'. After all, what are the chances that 4 people would get shot in the head with bullets made from the same recovered meteorite? The fact that the enemy even mined a meteorite impact site for ammunition in the first place seems peculiar. That during the process of creating the bullets any of the alien 'biological(?)' substance would have survived is perplexing. What happens to those that were shot in the butt, for example? Well, the concept and coincidence is far-fetched and, in fact, this is also mentioned in passing among the investigators and scientists. By admitting this the script aligns itself with the skeptical viewer and one is less apt to feel like the writers are trying to treat the audience as, well, stupid. It becomes easier to suspend disbelief.

Part 1 sets up the story and does so very well. It is a somewhat complex thing to have four different stories going on and trying to explain to the viewer what has happened to the four individuals and keep it entirely understandable and plausible. It is my understanding that some felt Part 1 was dry and boring. Frankly, I found the time to be used very wisely in detailing the stories. If anything, there are some extremely smart cuts between scenes that actually move the story along in what could have resulted in the excessive meandering we've seen in previous episodes. The unknown motivations of the four individuals are unbalancing. They are perceived as hostile and yet they do absolutely nothing illegal. This provides an interesting little internal debate as the story plays out. Duvall and gang want to round them up based on these perceptions alone and yet since they really have done nothing illegal and don't appear to be trying to hide at first, is there any justification for their forced detainment? How relevant this still is in modern times under the umbrella of the Patriot Act? Part 2 coalesces nicely into the resolution but does so in a very measured way. Neither the viewer nor any of the four individuals actually have any idea why they are compelled to complete the actions they've been assigned. They have stressed this very fact and cannot help themselves. Then things get a bit more touchy and a forcefield is slapped together to keep the government at bay - and yet at no time do the four individuals make threatening retaliations against the government agents and their lackeys. The whole thing climaxes as the children get into the act.

I have decided that this is one episode I admire so much I have kept 'spoilers' to a minimum. There are no horrifying monsters here. It is done on the 'cheap' as OL was wont to do but like every great OL episode the frugality took a major back seat to a great script. This is one of them. Do yourself a favor and see it.

The Outer Limits: Wolf 359 (1964) Season 2, Episode 8

This one almost works!!

[6/10 · 9 January 2015]

I've mentioned on previous reviews that I quit watching season 2 OL after the 4th disappointing episode, so I didn't see this one when originally broadcast. Having proudly acquired the DVDs (entirely for the benefit of season 1), I was now able to watch this one. I was pleasantly surprised. It is NOT a great OL episode because it still lacks the final punch of a surprising ending coupled with the thought provoking concept, but at least this time we do have the benefit of a thought provoking concept linked to the first truly imaginative creature all season. OL was known to have next to no budget. Season 1 made up for this on sheer imagination and making the absolute best with what was available. The creature in this episode takes up that tradition. Almost insanely simplistic in concept it is amazingly effective and quite creepy. Unfortunately, and again, the production team doesn't seem to have any idea what to do with the concept. Scientists are building an enclosed miniature of a planet in their lab that actually exists over 8 light years away. They rightfully point out that they cannot even see it with a telescope - yet somehow they've been able to acquire the knowledge of and replicate the environment in their lab??? Hmmm. Evolution on this alien-lab planet is also somehow sped up greatly by the virtue of its smallness and other imposed conditions. Early on the view under their microscope appears to be a forested terrain much like Oregon. In fact, at one point it looks like someone had been logging on one side of a hill. During this it is pointed out that there is no life to be expected on this replicated planet. Huh? Trees? At least it looked like trees. Oh well, nevermind. Later some exploratory photographs are taken and appear to show the teeth in the open maw of some creature. At one point, a picture is briefly displayed of a creature that looks suspiciously like the one in the previous episode 'Invisible Enemy'. Fine. OL is making due with budget restrictions - or they simply didn't care anymore(?). But then a short while later their exploratory browsing shows the terrain to be entirely covered in lava flows(!?). It is remarked that the evolution of the planet is Earth-like(!) and soon they should be reaching the Mesozoic era (!?) It is also here that they first glimpse the wraith-like creature. It is an eerie effect. This is also when the concept seems to implode. I could not understand why they would go to all of the trouble to construct an alien planet from 8 light years away only to have it virtually replicate the Earth? It is mentioned that they intend to eventually be able to see the future of Earth since the evolutionary process will be mimicked and soon overtake our present time to move onward to the future. Most confounding is when one of the photographs eventually developed clearly shows an atom bomb explosion(!?). The integrity of this episode is falling apart rapidly. This is compounded upon at the end of the episode where it is commented that next time they should attempt to construct a planet that contains such virtues as 'love'...like Earth....???? Was this supposed to be entirely ironic or idiotic since everything they had been cataloging (except for the great looking monster) has been very much like Earth. So, in order to enjoy this episode one must not get bogged down in these completely astounding plot holes. For example, despite having this great creature, the episode seems to have no idea what to do with it. It menaces things for no resolved purpose. It manages to dehydrate a tree, a cactus, and kills a pet bird and a couple of guinea pigs. It scares everyone else half to death and -- that's about it. It does have a strangeness quality that comes very close to a good season 1 episode even if the story and ludicrous benign ending is a let down.

The Outer Limits: The Invisible Enemy (1964) Season 2, Episode 7

Another potentially good idea completely bungled

[4/10 · 9 January 2015]

Of interest is that this is the second excursion to Mars for Adam West in 1964. He also starred in 'Robinson Crusoe On Mars' which is worth a look and may even be underrated since I know so few people who have actually seen it. Give that one a try! Originally I had given up on Outer Limits during the second limp season after the 4th episode thus I never did see this episode until I bought the DVD set a few years ago. As with all previous second season episodes I had not originally seen, this one again demonstrates that my decision to find other things to do than watch this in 1964 was not necessarily an erroneous decision. It, too, takes what could have been a good concept and becomes botched in the hands of a production crew who seem to have no concept of what constitutes 'awe and mystery' or no deep down passion for producing thought-provoking science fiction. Anyway, we have a crew going to Mars for exploration. The first crew is massacred by something unknown so a second crew is sent. The first fatal flaw is that as the first crew's rocket is landing, the Earth is clearly seen in the background. This could be another example of the OL team cutting budgetary corners since this very same background is used in other previous episodes (Cold Hands Warm Heart, for example). I'm not sure how much money it would have taken to remove the Earth from the background, but even at 7 years old I would have known that you cannot see the Earth nearly this well from Mars. Yet as with ALL prior OL episodes there are jarring scientific flaws that one tends to overlook if the story is well written and conveyed with distracting thought provoking concepts. This episode is not one of them. The flaws are all too hard to get around. As with 'Robinson Crusoe On Mars', the planet has an atmosphere (which, I suppose cuts down on having to come up with helmets and oxygen tanks from the practically non-existent budget). In this case, the atmosphere is quite adequate for strenuous activity. It is also an obvious sound stage since you are able to see creases in the drywall background. Still, with OL if the story shines, who cares? We are provided with a slight glimpse of the creature that kills the first crew. The creature is actually worthy of the first season's efforts. It does induce uneasy fear. That's why we watch this show! The second crew is sent up with the strict order that safety strategies and protocols should be followed. It starts out well enough but soon it all goes to Hell in a hand-basket. Other reviewers have rightfully pointed out the sheer stupidity of some of the decisions and behaviors. They aren't written into the script effectively as much as it suddenly occurs to the individual, 'What can I do right now that disobeys orders and is entirely lame-brain'? Meanwhile, the ground crew does their best to look stressed and haggard (loosened ties, five o'clock shadows, and rumpled uniforms). So, after two of the four member team are eliminated by the creature - which, again, turns out to really not be such a bad effect, the member with the all-too cliché loose attitude (Rudy Solari) decides not so much to go have a look for them as much as go look for more Mars gems like the ones he found earlier. He also makes the most astonishing revelation about the nature of the creature and the environment as he day dreams while looking from the porthole. He is astonished! He has it all figured out but the commander (West) conveniently falls asleep and can't be roused(!?). Of course, the idiot decides to go out anyway and leaves his 'walkie-talkie' <== yes, it IS called that. Then when Adam wakes up he has to go look for Solari despite a strict command that he NOT go but if he must, the rocket will have to take off at a precise time. Absolutely anyone who would go through all of the training to be an astronaut would know the importance of this. Adam knows this but thinks he can round up the idiot in time. Solari seems completely oblivious to this fact as he scouts for more Mars gems. What follows is what seems like a forced situation to put the astronauts at peril. The creature special effects are, in fact, effective. The astronauts attempting to run across the sandy terrain is not so good. The plan to extract themselves from the situation seems entirely too obvious and ultimately seems misguided when it is discovered that more than one creature exists. Of course then comes the questions wondering how such large creatures manage to exist when there seems to be no consistent other life for them to eat regularly, and why only one ever chose to be active when multiple targets are available, etc? Eventually, they get back to the rocket and go home. Like much of the previous season 2 episodes, there is nothing you walk away with to think about. The adventure simply ends. The only reason to see this is perhaps to see the special creature effects because they aren't half bad, and to see an early Adam West.

The Outer Limits: Cry of Silence (1964) Season 2, Episode 6

Really good idea wasted

[4/10 · 8 January 2015]

I've noted on my other reviews that I had quit watching Outer Limits after the 4th episode of a dismal and disappointing season 2. Thus, I never saw this during its original outing. I had heard some scathing commentary from my grade school friends who still bothered to watch about monster tumbleweeds. This concept did not compel me to want to return to Outer Limits the following week. I thought it was so sad that a great series like season 1 anticipated had become so banally tepid. Thanks to DVDs and the promise I made to myself at a young age to own at least season 1, I was finally able to view this presumed train wreck. The basic premise, which is actually quite good, is that an alien species is trying to communicate with someone (anyone at all) and their transmission signal is having a very strange effect on various objects on Earth. A fantastic idea. But here it translates to tumbleweeds trying to cling to you like static clothing, frogs converge and 'stampede' as only frogs can, and rocks avalanche onto you at convenient times. Why any of this would necessarily happen at all is never explained. Of course, Eddie Albert and wife do not know that this is supposed to be an alien race merely trying to say hello and end up with a mentally exhausted local man in his little homestead in the middle of a desert for a panic filled night. Like the rest of dreary season 2, an idea that had such promise goes no where and the aliens essentially give up and Eddie and wife go back to their car and drive away. (note: check out the segment where the rocks avalanche on them. The mentally crippled old homesteader seems to time himself to get hit on purpose, is killed, but continues to breathe nevertheless.) Nearly all of my '4' rating is for the great concept alone. The missing '6' is for my ire that this was wasted away by what is essentially the 'Perry Mason' production staff.

The Outer Limits: Demon with a Glass Hand (1964) Season 2, Episode 5

It will probably impress those not paying close attention

[6/10 · 7 January 2015]

This episode is legendary in the respect that so many find this to be the diamond in the rough. If set against the rest of Outer Limits Season 2, that could be a fair approximation. However, it doesn't quite make it when set against many of Season 1's episodes. There are logistic problems that prevent this. Gone are the geniuses that made Season 1 what it was. Gone is the clever imagination and ever so subtle nuance that propelled potential pretension, cliché, and mediocrity into something awesome and mysterious. I admit that I was ready to give up on Season 2 after the 4th confounding and benign episode during the original broadcast. I was 7 years old. So, it was with some apathy that I began to watch this issue. All Robert Culp had to do was narrate was that he was born 10 days prior, etc., that I surmised immediately he was some kind of android. The glass hand sort of clinched it. So, if being a robot of some kind was supposed to be a surprising revelation at the end of the episode, it wasn't for me. I continued to watch assuming that this would be incorporated into the plot somehow in a fancy way. Instead the writers started to try and downplay this 'tell' and made every attempt to cleanse my precognition by emphasizing his alleged humanness. As a result, I became more confused and really couldn't get around that glass hand. It was there and a significant part of the plot line, after all. Culp has no memories of anything prior to the previous 10 days, admits he hasn't slept in that time (most humans die after 4 days), and doesn't seem concerned that he has a glass hand or why. He talks to it, it talks back. Therefore, if he reveals himself to be a mechanical being at the conclusion of the episode as if that is supposed to be the 'big surprise' then I would suggest he'd be the only one who didn't already know this. Anyway, I digress. So, during my original viewing decades ago, as soon as his 'futuristic' pursuers are visually revealed, I chose to find something else to occupy my evening. White face, blacked eye sockets, a modified shower cap, an occasional nylon stocking pulled over the head and a piece of cheap costume jewelry are not what this 7 year old wanted to see as the 'monster' in an Outer Limits episode. Simply dreadful, tired and completely disappointing. I understand the budget issues surrounding OL episodes, yet, once again, the season 2 team seems to have no imagination - or it doesn't come across that they even tried to do something unusual with the makeup. (I did discover after finally watching all of the way through recently that you could tell which of the aliens was the boss because he had a small cape - >insert underwhelmed wow<) Arline Martell is on hand as....well, to provide assistance when needed (yank necklaces from aliens attacking Culp, resurrecting Culp from the semi-dead, and, of course, to fall in love with Culp). How much different this episode would have turned out of Martell wasn't part of the story. I suggest Culp would have lost and the 70 billion missing human beings would never see the light of day again. That's a huge number, isn't it? We have over 6 billion today and we suffer greatly from those things that over-population and bad government would promote. There's no telling what problems 70 billion people would have, but apparently these aliens trying to exterminate them all was their first and foremost task. Like I said, I finally was able to get through this recently. I have a feeling that the original story simply had to be better than this representation. I also hear that Ellison was very unhappy with the liberties taken with the final product. So, I won't blame him for the failure here to maximize the potential. Once again the blame rests solely on this season's production staff. The story is or could have been very worthwhile. Instead it is very mundane as it takes place almost entirely in some ornate old abandoned office building. The maze-like confined atmosphere tends to frustrate and grate on the nerves as they run from room to room and staircase to staircase. The fact that advanced futuristic aliens would be shooting revolvers is tremendously distracting and, again, unimaginative. I won't even mention how Culp's partially fingered gloved hand manages to act like it has all the fingers when convenient. Oops. too late. The bottomline for me is whether I felt 'awe and mystery'. Nope. Not quite. A let down. Then Culp is revealed to be exactly what I thought he was in the first 5 minutes of the episode. I won't reveal what happened to the 70 billion people. You might even be able to guess it on your own like I did. For me the best part is when Martell walks away from Culp after he is revealed to be a robot after all of her professed love of him. Thus, he is left alone. This combined with the rest manages to pull this episode into the 'not worthless' category. I would recommend it despite my apparent condemnation here. But it currently sports a 9 in IMDb. That's way too high - considering all things, IMO.

The Outer Limits: Expanding Human (1964) Season 2, Episode 4

Only a slightly veiled allegory on the drug culture

[6 January 2015]

I was 7 years old when this was broadcast. The first three episodes of season two were ultimately disappointing and I was not terribly excited about watching another tepid episode. My father's interest had waned as well but I managed to watch this up to a point and ended up walking away. I ended up buying the series on DVD as I promised myself I would if the future ever allowed this. It did!! Though, I bought it for the first season only having found so few of the second season worthwhile. So now I've watched this episode a few times. Like the first three of this season it isn't entirely terrible but it isn't all that original either. We sort of covered the expanding human mind in the first season with 'The Sixth Finger' and 'The Man With The Power' and did it more fantastically. Here, it is a Jekyll/Hyde story with an obvious comment on the drug culture of the 60s. Ho hum. He takes the drug which he mixes up in his kitchen and gets a pronounced brow, heavy cheekbones and a bulkier frame. The strength he exhibits as he holds a security guard off of the ground while he putters around in the cupboards he has broken into was compelling. And he can hypnotize people, too, folks! Naturally, with this drug-induced gift comes the usual delusions of grandeur as he attempts to recruit -- or should I say force a friend to join him in his mad quest. When this doesn't work as planned it becomes a hostage situation where the Hyde-persona is shot a few times but shakes it off since he is able to control his bleeding....or so he thinks. He hobbles out the street, bleeds, and dies. Why? No idea. If it was simply the failure of his concept of his true abilities then that is a mediocre way for an Outer Limits fiend to die. He only thought he couldn't die?? Lame! I considered alternate reasons - one being that one of the bullets had shattered a bottle of one of the ingredients he was carrying in his pocket and overdosed him, etc. Oh well. He just dies and reverts back to his original self in a very unoriginal ending to yet another episode that fails to go to critical mass.

The Outer Limits: Behold Eck! (1964) Season 2, Episode 3

Almost a return to form --- almost

[6/10 · 5 January 2015]

Outer Limits has had terrible titles for episodes that turned out to be pretty good overall (example: 'ZZZZZ'). After the misfires of the first two second season episodes ('Soldier', 'Cold Hands Warm Heart'), we fans REALLY wanted a good episode. My father, who turned me on to this series in the first season and was a fan, was beginning to lose interest as well. That meant that I may not be able to convince him to watch future episodes since we had only one television back in those lazy early '60s. 'Behold Eck' has a great overall plot idea. A two-dimensional being is accidentally trapped in our dimension and all he wants to do is go home but manages to unintentionally kill and injure some people as well as scare the bejesus out of everyone. True, it's not original, but we hope that the gang at O.L. will manage to pull out some mind-blowing and imaginative concepts. It is here that I became fully aware that the 'gang at O.L.' is not the same as those in the first season. One gets the distinct impression that this new ensemble has no idea how to handle unusual sci-fi concepts. After all, the first season used an unusual dust bunny vacuumed from a corner to produce one the scariest episodes in the first season, 'It Crawled Out Of The Woodwork'. Here, we have a legitimate two-dimensional energy being that seems to never accomplish the 'awe and mystery' promised by the control voice at the beginning. It essentially boils down to the creature needing glasses to correct his vision so he can see the 'doorway' back to his dimension....and it all needs to be accomplished before someone or something from our dimension happens to stumble into it and, thus, causing the entire Universe to implode. Even at the age of 7, I could not figure out how the two-dimensional creature was able to tear off his eye lens and give it to the 'eye doctor'. The lens suddenly become three dimensional??? There are other physical properties exhibited that don't quite jive (the creature manages to tear a page of a list of names from a notebook without managing to destroy the paper and, surprisingly, is able to read the names, for one). Of interest though is the creature apparently manages to cut a high-rise building in half. Very intriguing but it never explains why it did it since it is spending a lot of time trying to NOT call attention to itself. Also amusing is when the creature becomes enraptured with the image on a television screen. So, there are some elements in the story which only rise to the bar set from the first season but unfortunately fails to climax into anything relevatory. Then it is discovered that fire can kill the creature so a group of the usual panic stricken public and police force show up at the lab (office) to torch the place --- which remains surprisingly intact afterward considering how decimated some of the supporting structures are charred. But the creature fooled them all, gets his glasses (a lens which he cannot pull through the wall because it is 3D after all), and with the help of his two friendly humans is able to go home. Overall, it's not exactly a terrible episode but again is underwhelming. One gets the feeling of being cheated from a really good story.

The Outer Limits: Cold Hands, Warm Heart (1964) Season 2, Episode 2

Another extraordinarily benign episode

[5/10 · 5 January 2015]

After the underwhelming 'Soldier', it was hoped that this episode would pull out of the slump. It starts off promising enough - A manned voyage to Venus where there is a block of time that they can't account for at mission control and the astronaut (good ol' William Shatner) cannot recall as well. The special effects are not great but then again Outer Limits was never necessarily ground breaking in this department (with a few exceptions). It was always the story we fans lived for. We could overlook the usual bleed-through in the matte work, the obviously painted planetary terrain (in this case, the Earth clearly shows up in the space over Venus - dreadful), or the 1950ish flame exhaust of a spaceship's rockets. Let's focus on the story! Well, Shatner begins to recall what happened to him while orbiting Venus in his dreams. His craft dipped into the clouds and he encountered a floating alien being. The creature does have some eerie qualities and at first it would appear to be back-to-form for the series. I recall being frightened when I first saw this episode late at night when I was 7. However, the more the creature is on the screen the less it frightens as its movements yield the all too obvious groan 'it's a marionette' probably suspended in water. But that's not necessarily bad - or shouldn't be when it comes to Outer Limits. The story should save the day. Right? So, we become a bit intrigued as Shatner becomes very sensitive to the cold and soon begins to transform (hands only, apparently) into a Venusian. That his arm begins to burn as he sits too close to a fire and he doesn't notice is a good effect. We are believing that some kind of great plot twist is about to produce itself as we watch the clock and realize that the episode is almost over. But no. He is simply cured. The end. We are left with nothing to deal with after the episode. There is no compelling thought provoking exit speech by the control voice to make us reflect on our place in the Universe - or at least it seems not entirely joined to the episode we just saw. Even at 7 years old I was unimpressed. Basically what you have here is pretty much slightly better than standard 1950s drive-in theater fodder. It's not terrible but it simply isn't better than disappointing. Strike two for the second episode of the second season.

The Outer Limits: Soldier (1964) Season 2, Episode 1

I am unsure why this is rated so high and so loved

[5/10 · 4 January 2015]

I was fortunate to have lived through the original broadcast of this series. For the most part, the first year was dark, brooding, frightening, etc and yet maintained a certain level of intelligence in the story telling and/or morality that it attempted to convey. Rather than cater to its audience, it expected the audience to keep up. The days following each of those episodes we would gather and discuss the episodes and try to explain or expand on the theme presented. So, we were a bit disoriented when this show was moved to a different day and time. The music was decidedly different as well.

Keep in mind that I was an unsophisticated 7 year old. What did I know about the politics of running a major broadcasting station or cobbling together a plausible science fiction tale? What I do remember is at the conclusion of this episode I was not experiencing the same 'awe and mystery' promised by the control voice at the beginning of the episode. I was entirely unsatisfied by the resolution and, most telling, is that we barely felt the need to discuss and ferret out this episode's nuance over the next few days. In fact, we discussed the unique cigarette featured more than the helmet, the weapon, morality play or anything that we should have been discussing. Thus, this episode fell into the bin of the unmemorable.

Having viewed this again has not made me do any more than pine-melancholic for the spirit of the first ground-breaking season. Harlan Ellison may be a great sci-fi writer, but it doesn't show here. The more obvious flaws are the contradictory nature of the language Michael Ansara speaks (guttural, chopped and nearly indecipherable) versus that which menaces from his helmet's ear-phones (clear, concise and easy to understand). It is not clear why the broadcast of the message continues to command after the time travel has completed. One would be likely to believe that that the broadcaster no longer exists in our time(?). The helmet, armor, and weapon outfitting the 'soldiers' are unimaginative and underwhelming. The best part is when Ansara disintegrates a police car - and the weapon isn't even in this particular shot. Once captured we have to be told verbally how completely unusual and far beyond our capabilities the weapon is. I was never convinced. It looks like a toy and not even one I wanted to have even at 7 years old. Meanwhile, a second soldier involved in the time travel is being kept suspended somewhere until the plot apparently needs him. Then he is conveniently released from the 'time lock' so he can track down Ansara and both can conveniently disintegrate on the living room floor while the family seems to stand there tapping their feet awaiting the end of this semi-epic struggle. Too many conveniences in this plot. Afterward the control voice speculates about whether Ansara ever did really feel any familiarity or compassion for the family that took him in. At no time did this story convince me of anyone's motives except for the doctor who made the attempt to be empathic to the soldier.

Yes, there seemed to be a major shift in the show's attitude that even 7 year old fans noticed then. It was disappointing when I first saw it. It still is disappointing today. Ben Brady and gang seem to have no idea how to handle this genre. Instead of a multi-layered thought provoking adventure, we ended up with something slightly better than average 1950s drive-in theater vehicle. Instead of me questioning my place in the Universe after the episode, I wondered whether next week's episode would be better. Alas, it wasn't.

Oz the Great and Powerful (2013)

Not terrible but lacks the fun songs and the heart

[7/10 · 10 March 2014]

I recall towards the end of 'The Wizard Of Oz' the wizard explains to Dorothy that he is a good man, just a bad wizard. In the case of 'Oz, The Great And Powerful', the wizard is really not a good man. He is greedy. He will seduce anything in a skirt only to run away after 'scoring'. Granted, he makes up for it at the end but it doesn't feel genuine or heart-warming. For myself, this is not exactly what I expected as the prequel to the character made so memorable by Frank Morgan in 1939. Instead, we have James Franco somewhat lampooning his way through his lines. In fact, this is but one of the many downsides to this alleged prequel. None of the characters save for the Wicked Witch (of the West) seem to contain any hint of personality of their eventually older 1939 counterparts, though this witch is without her wart for some reason. I kept thinking throughout that to achieve any resemblance to the original witch would not have been that difficult. These 1939 characters are so branded in the mind that they would be easy to parody. Alas. Even Glinda lacks any of the Billie Burke's lovely cadence. Michelle Williams tends to sleep her way through her role frequently looking spaced-out. Mila Kunis does a good job though she is no Margaret Hamilton. The best character here is arguably the China Doll, and that was CGI (again). Yes, ho-hum, CGI rules the day in this movie, but it is not so flamboyant that it becomes overkill like too many other movies we know. It seems to support what is going on rather than overwhelm and astound. And where are the catchy songs?? No, this is not a musical. In fact, when the Munchkins start to deliver a song that might have actually been worthwhile it gets hushed up. No, this is not your grandmother's Wizard of Oz. It is an attempt to deliver a prologue to the 1939 classic. Story-wise, it appears to succeed, sort of, though I would have not liked to have known that the Wicked Witch's biggest problem is that the Wizard spurned her and she is bearing a grudge. That felt like an insult to my intelligence for some reason. Could it have not somehow been more clever than that? Soooo...this movie has none of the heart, none of the music, none of the compelling characters of the original. The acting is pedestrian...almost flippant. The script is razor thin on moral values. I guess I would have liked to have seen the Wizard glue all of China Doll's family back together - that would have saved the ending, IMO. Yet, if we are to judge this movie on its own, it isn't that bad. I did enjoy it mostly. So I gave it a 7. If compared to its 1939 predecessor, it would be a 5, but it was entertaining and the special effects are fanciful.

The Beast of Yucca Flats (1961)

Like a train wreck

[3/10 · 20 July 2013]

I'm not writing this because I believe I am necessarily going to add anything to the static that hasn't already been said. I'm not writing this in order to defend or criticize either. It is a terrible movie and it rests comfortably as one of the legendary worst movies ever made. It is righteously bad. Yet, having just watched it, I am somehow compelled to watch it again. That is why I am writing this. It made me smile. It will be fun to put in words what I just saw. It astounds with its logic defying momentum and brow-furrowing narration. What sets this movie apart for myself and, I feel, other procrastinating viewers is that even if I completely fill the space with 'spoilers', I won't spoil a thing. This one truly needs to be seen to be appreciated. I guarantee you will discover a newer dimension of badness here that you never previously considered. Every scene seems to just border on potential viability but is somehow decorated with at least one instance of purposeful bad direction. Taking into account the well-known fact that the sound was obviously dubbed well after the movie was 'in the can' one can easily surmise that the director is off-screen screaming directions to advise the actors how to act. So, you will see Tor staggering around in the desert both before and after his nuclear encounter as if he is waiting for someone to tell to him take his next step or walk to his left - ('No, Tor! Your other left!) You'll see people firing guns -- or did they? In probably one of the most polite gun battles ever filmed (I almost expected a pinkie or two to be raised during the battle), the looks on their faces frequently appear as if even they are uncertain if their gun fired or not. (Am I out of ammo? OK. Did I just get shot? So, should I die now? OK, thank-you.) **By the way, everyone who dies keeps breathing - sometimes very noticeably.** Meanwhile, a woman loses her kids in the desert somewhere. (Should I be sad in this scene? What? OK. Put a tissue to my face like I'm crying? Wait! I haven't cried yet! You don't care? OK.) This kind of stuff goes on throughout the whole production...except, oddly, the very first scene. The very beginning of the movie is actually quite good. A woman dries herself in a bedroom while a very loud clock ticks away in the background to take her to her appointment with destiny. She sits on the bed, looks up, is choked to death (but continues to breath) and the unseen killer raises her legs to the bed. The scene ends with a close-up of her dead (yet breathing) head pistoning up-and-down in a very suggestive repetitive manner caused by something the killer is doing to her from off-screen. The only thing is -- this scene has nothing to do with the rest of the film. You won't know this until the end of the film though. It doesn't matter anyway. It is what it is.

So, while the actors robot through the movie, the narrator accompanies the action in a droll documentary-like fashion with some of the most inane phrases ever to be uttered without intending to be funny. He attempts to provide the same sort of colorful insight that Rod Serling was so adept at in 'The Twilight Zone'. Naturally, the problem here is that the narrator is NOT Rod Serling. His comments certainly have all of the dry seriousness and alliteration without any of Serling's gift for being compelling. But, it is thought provoking. You will curl your face and ask, "Why did he say that?" and feel as though you missed something. You didn't.

Lastly, one could write volumes detailing the leaps from logic this script provides. After Tor lumbers into the desert just in time to absorb a nuclear blast to become the 'beast', he finds a couple on the side of the road (flat tire), kills the man and leaves his body on the highway behind the car, then kills the woman riding shotgun (who continues to breath), and carries her across the desert for some reason while occasionally sniffing her hair. The local sheriff is alerted to the body on the highway, drives there, and formulates a theory after pacing a few steps around the vehicle. He doesn't have a radio(!) so he jumps back in his car and has to drive all the way back to his office for help thereby leaving body, car, purse...evidence!! unattended. He gets his deputy and they begin to go after Tor without actually knowing what they're going after in the first place. They seem to know that Tor is carrying a body across a desert but have somehow reasoned that he has managed to climb to the top of an inaccessible bluff. After spending too much time trying to climb it and almost falling, it is decided that there is 'no way' to get to the top unless you parachute. It somehow fails to impress them that Tor didn't have the resources to parachute himself - oh well. Besides, it gives the sheriff the opportunity to break out his plane (budget for a plane but not a radio?) and his rifle so he can go sniping the killer. Then comes the perplexing advice from the deputy before taking off, 'Shoot first and ask questions later.' Thus the sheriff ends up sniping a man who is searching the desert for his lost kids!!! Shades of poor man's 'North By Northwest'! Well, this is the bad film that just keeps on giving. Folks who aren't into films can easily dispense this in ignorance. It is bad, no doubts. But if you give it a chance and can get to the end, like me, you kind of look forward to seeing it again and invite a friend so you can share the wonder and take turns teeing off on the insanity. A good movie to bond over.

The Phantom from 10,000 Leagues (1955)

Pure Pap

[3/10 · 23 May 2013]

Is it just me or is there something grating with a movie that has a title that has nothing to do with the movie?? There is no phantom. It's a creature that sits just offshore at the bottom of the ocean protecting a glowing radioactive substance for some reason. And the creature is not from 10,000 leagues. People are able to dive down to the creature without being crushed by the water pressure, after all. Taking this into account and the length of time to get from the creature back into that leaking generic rowboat that absolutely everybody is using, I would place the creature at about 30-40 feet. Of course, the movie would have probably not fanned interest with a title like 'The Thing From 5 or 6 Fathoms'. Oh, well. Yes, it's a low budget capsule of a movie - not particularly well-acted and motivations are not consistent. For example, knowing that a creature you created is killing people in a body of water your lovely daughter may decide to swim in doesn't motivate you to want to eliminate the creature, I don't know what will? But when confronted with these facts, the 'scientist' is unable to decide. Yes, let's let the creature live so it can kill even more people. Good idea! And then there is this 'secret agent' woman that has somehow convinced this young hot-head that he must break into the scientist's lab to discover the secret that is being worked on because there is a lot of money involved. One assumes that the hot-head's life is in peril and yet he cannot figure out a way to break down a single wooden door (despite the locks) to get at the secret. This was before 'big-brother, folks. Wait until after-hours and ax that baby down. Even the so-called fisherman casting his net at the beginning of the movie obviously doesn't have a clue how to actually cast a net properly. Somehow, nearly all of the men in this flick have nothing else to wear on the beach except dress shoes, suits and ties. Formal business attire on a beach is somehow disturbing. Keep an eye out for the '3 Stooges-like' stunt where hot-head gets a fist in the face from behind the beach umbrella he expects to find the lovely 'secret agent'. Okay, okay. It is a low budget release with almost 4 sets, 1 boat, a creature that sincerely tries to be threatening. Oh, yes, and there is radiation involved - so that should be a cause of some trepidation for the 1950s crowd living in the dread fear of the time. And the script was based on a story someone had actually written!!

But I like bad movies. This one isn't entirely terrible and does have some entertainment value despite the gaps in logic and credibility. Good for a rainy day, young kids who aren't dismissive of movies without color and special effects, and popcorn.