Tag Archives: John Newland

Horror on TV: One Step Beyond 2.17 “Earthquake” (dir by John Newland)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Tonight’s episode of One Step Beyond deals with a bellboy named Gerald Perkins (David Opatoshu).  Gerald keeps telling everyone that there’s going to be an earthquake but no one’s willing to listen to him.  Everyone knows that Gerald is a recovering alcoholic so they assume that he’s just drinking again.  Needless to say, it’s far easier to fire someone than to listen to his insane ramblings, right?

Well, considering that this story takes place in San Francisco in 1906, perhaps they should have listened.

According to host John Newland, this is a true story.  It originally aired on January 12th, 1960!

Enjoy!

Horror On TV: One Step Beyond 2.1 “Delusion” (dir by John Newland)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

On tonight’s episode of One Step Beyond.…

A young woman (Suzanne Pleshette) desperately needs a blood transfusion.  Fortunately, the police have managed to track down one of the only people to share her blood type, an accountant named Harold Stern (Norman Lloyd).  Harold seems like a nice, rather mild-mannered guy and he has a long history of donating blood.  However, when the police approach him, Harold refuses to donate.

“What type of crumb are you!?” the police demand.

Harold explains that, whenever he gives someone blood, he develops a psychic connection with that person.  He can see their future.  And that’s simply a burden that he can no longer shoulder….

This episode of One Step Beyond originally aired on September 15th, 1959.  Norman Lloyd, who plays Harold, got his start as a member of Orson Welles’s Mercury Theater and he also played the villain in Alfred Hitchcock’s Saboteur.  (Speaking of Hitchcock, Suzanne Pleshette played the doomed school teacher in The Birds.)  When Lloyd appeared in this episode of One Step Beyond, he was 44 years old.

Today, Norman Lloyd is 103 years old and guess what?  He’s still acting!  He had a role in Trainwreck and still occasionally appears on television.

Enjoy!

Horror on TV: One Step Beyond 2.24 “The Mask” (dir by John Newland)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

For today’s televised horror, we have an episode of the 1960s anthology series, One Step Beyond.  From what I’ve been able to gather, One Step Beyond was like The Twilight Zone, except that it often claimed that it’s stories were all based on fact.

In The Mask, a World War II-era fighter pilot crashes in the Sahara.  Though he’s eventually rescued, he’s forced to wear a mask while recovering from his injuries.  When the mask is removed, everyone is shocked to discover that Lt. Harold Wilesnki not only look like an ancient Egyptian prince but he also seems to have the prince’s memories as well!

The Mask originally aired on March 1st, 1960.

Enjoy!

Horror on TV: Thriller 2.14 “Portrait Without A Face” (dir by John Newland)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

For tonight’s televised horror, we have another episode of the Boris Karloff-hosted anthology series, Thriller!

In Portrait Without A Face, an arrogant painter is murdered.  No one knows who murdered him but don’t worry.  Just because he’s dead, that doesn’t mean the artist has to stop painting!  In fact, his first post-death painting might just be a picture of the person who killed him…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kkwJCp_KsM

Horror on TV: Thriller 2.12 “The Return of Andrew Bentley” (dir by John Newland)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

For tonight’s televised horror, we have another episode of the Boris Karloff-hosted anthology series, Thriller!

Like many of the Thriller episodes that we’ve shared this month, this episode deals with an inheritance and a possibly haunted house.  Ellis Corbett (John Newland, who also directed) promises his uncle that, after his uncle’s death, Ellis will never leave the family mansion and that he will always check to make sure that the crypt has not been disturbed.  The uncle promptly kills himself and Ellis soon discovers just why exactly he cannot leave the mansion.

This atmospheric episode features a script by Richard Matheson and a frightening performance from Reggie Nalder, who is best known for his roles in both The Man Who Knew Too Much and Salem’s Lot!

Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-iXTnoXCrc

Horror on TV: One Step Beyond 3.31 “The Sorcerer” (dir by John Newland)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

The Twilight Zone wasn’t the only televised horror anthology show to air in the late 50s and early 60s!  There was also a show called One Step Beyond, which ran for three seasons.  It was hosted by a man named John Newland and each episode was supposedly based on an event that may have actually occurred … an event that defied rational explanation!

The episode features one of the icons of horror cinema, the one and only Christopher Lee!  Lee plays a German soldier who, during World War I, enlists a local psychic to discover whether or not his lover is being faithful to him.  When he discovers that she isn’t, he uses the psychic’s powers to get revenge.  Afterward, when he wants to confess to his crime, he runs into a problem.  No one believes him because he was over 800 miles away when the crime occurred.

To be honest, the main reason to watch this episode is to see Christopher Lee but isn’t that reason enough?  Lee was one of the great gentlemen of horror and his performance in this episode helps to show why.

This episode originally aired on May 31st, 1961.

Enjoy!

Horror on TV: One Step Beyond 2.27 “The Clown” (dir by John Newland)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

For tonight’s excursion into televised horror, I want to change things up.  Tales From The Crypt will return on Monday but, for the next three days, I want to take a look at some different show.

Like One Step Beyond, for example!

Now, I have to admit that I don’t know much about One Step Beyond.  I came across several episodes on YouTube while I was searching for any Twilight Zone episodes.  Apparently, One Step Beyond was an anthology series that aired from 1957 to 1960.  (It actually predated the Twilight Zone.)  One Step Beyond often claimed that its stories were meant to be dramatizations of actual events.

The episode below is from the 2nd season.  It originally aired on March 22nd, 1960.  The title of this episode?

The Clown.

Scared yet?

You should be.  Clowns are creepy!

Watch the episode below and find out just how creepy!

Enjoy!

 

Halloween TV Havoc!: Lon Chaney Jr in FRANKENSTEIN (Tales of Tomorrow 1952)

Posted on by gary loggins

gary loggins's avatarcracked rear viewer

lcj

Early TV science fiction was dominated by kiddie programming like CAPTAIN VIDEO and TOM CORBETT, SPACE CADET. In 1951, a more adult oriented fantasy series called TALES OF TOMORROW made it’s debut on ABC. The live broadcast dramatized works by prominent writers like Arthur C. Clarke, Theodore Sturgeon, Jules Verne, and H.G. Wells. Big name stars such as Boris Karloff, Leslie Neilson, and Rod Steiger headlined many of the episodes. Lon Chaney Jr. starred in a half-hour adaptation of Mary Shelley’s FRANKENSTEIN, with John Newland (later host and director of ONE STEP BEYOND) as the scientist who creates a monster. It’s said Chaney was *ahem* a bit under the weather during this live performance (in other words, drunk as a skunk!).  I’ll let you be the judge. The quality of this kinescope-to-video isn’t great, but I hope you’ll enjoy watching Lon Chaney Jr. as the monster of FRANKENSTEIN!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9WgjwUOYWI

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Horror on TV: Thriller 1.36 “Pigeons From Hell”

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

In this episode of Thriller, two brothers from up north (played by Brandon De Wilde and David Whorf) have car trouble while driving through Louisiana and, naturally, they decided to spend the night in a deserted mansion that happens to be sitting in the middle of a swamp.  Needless to say, as is usually the case whenever Yankees get stranded in the bayou, bad things happen….

Pigeons From Hell is actually a surprisingly effective horror story.  Director John Newland creates a pervasive atmosphere of dread and De Wilde makes for a sympathetic protagonist.  This episode was originally broadcast on June 6th, 1961 and watching it today, it’s hard not to suspect that a lot of the kids who watched Pigeons From Hell later grew up to the be the directors who made the slasher films of the late 70s and 80s.

Incidentally, Pigeons From Hell is based on a short story by native Texan Robert E. Howard.  Apparently, Stephen King once said that this was one of his favorite TV shows ever but we won’t hold that against it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOG7D1r412M

Horror On TV: One Step Beyond 2.5 “Night of the Kill”

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

John Newland is back with yet another “true” story designed to take us One Step Beyond.  In this episode, a young boy named Dewey goes missing but then shows back up and says that he’s been hanging out with a Bigfoot-like monster.

This episode first aired on October 20th, 1959.