Horror on TV: The Twilight Zone 1.28 “A Nice Place To Visit”

Posted on October 16, 2015 by Lisa Marie Bowman

In this episode of The Twilight Zone, a thief is shot by the police and finds himself in the afterlife. After a life of struggle and crime, the thief finally finds himself with the opportunity to have everything that he’s ever wanted. Even if you’ve never seen this episode before, you’ll probably be able to guess the twist after a minute or two. But it’s still a pretty good episode, featuring good performances from Larry Blyden and Sebastian Cabot and an typically fun script from Charles Beaumont.

A Nice Place To Visit originally aired on April 15th, 1960.

Horror on TV: The Twilight Zone 1.17 “The Fever”

Posted on October 15, 2015 by Lisa Marie Bowman

For tonight’s horror on TV, we have an episode of The Twilight Zone entitled The Fever. In this one, Franklin (Everett Sloane) and his wife Flora (Vivi Janiss) visit Las Vegas. Franklin detests gambling but, once he finds himself in Vegas, he finds himself being pursued by a slot machine that, literally, calls his name.

This episode was written by Rod Serling and directed by Robert Florey. (Reportedly, Serling wrote it after losing a good deal of money in Vegas.) It originally aired on January 29th, 1960.

I like this episode. Everett Sloane, who played the beloved Mr. Bernstein in Citizen Kane, gives a great performance and the taunting slot machine starts out as slightly ludicrous but then becomes genuinely menacing as the episode reaches its conclusion.

Horror on TV: Twilight Zone 5.14 “You Drive”

Posted on October 11, 2015 by Lisa Marie Bowman

In this episode of The Twilight Zone, Ollie Pope (Edward Andrews) kills a boy in a hit-and-run accident. Ollie tries to cover up the crime and frame an innocent man. His car, however, has a different idea.

This episode originally aired on January 3rd, 1964.

Horror On TV: Twilight Zone 3.33 — “The Dummy”

Posted on October 10, 2015 by Lisa Marie Bowman

In this episode of The Twilight Zone (which was originally aired on May 4th, 1962), a neurotic ventriloquist named Jerry (Cliff Robertson) has a bizarre relationship with his dummy. Not only does Jerry seem to hate his inanimate partner but the dummy doesn’t seem to be too fond of Jerry either.

You’ll probably already figured out The Dummy‘s twist but it’s still extremely well-done, featuring a great performance from Cliff Robertson and expressionistic direction from Abner Biberman.

Horror on TV: Twilight Zone 3.17 “One More Pallbearer”

Posted on October 9, 2015 by Lisa Marie Bowman

In this episode of The Twilight Zone, bitter millionaire Paul (Joseph Wiseman, who also played the title character in Dr. No around the same time that this episode as shot) offers three people safety from a nuclear war on one condition. They must apologize to him for insults that are both real and imagined.

This episode originally aired on January 12th, 1962.

Horror On TV: Twilight Zone 1.34 “The After Hours”

Posted on October 8, 2015 by Lisa Marie Bowman

In this episode of The Twilight Zone, Marsha White (played by Anne Francis) discovers some strange things happening in a department store. If you’re like me and you find mannequins to be super creepy, this episode is for you!

This episode originally aired on June 10th, 1960.

Horror On TV: Twilight Zone 2.17 “Twenty-Two”

Posted on October 3, 2015 by Lisa Marie Bowman

“Room for one more, honey!”

Agck!

This classic episode of the Twilight Zone originally aired on February 10th, 1961. It was written by Rod Serling, directed by Jack Smight, and stars Barbara Nichols.

Horror on TV: Twilight Zone 3.12 “The Jungle”

Posted on October 1, 2015 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Along with starting each day of October with a horror film here at the Shattered Lens, we’re going to end each day with a horror-themed television show.

While I had previously caught a few episodes of the Twilight Zone during one of the annual holiday marathons on SyFy, I didn’t truly appreciate the show until I first exchanged e-mails with my friend in Australia, Mark. Among other things, Mark expressed a very eloquent appreciation for The Twilight Zone and that inspired me to watch quite a few episodes that have been uploaded to YouTube and Hulu. Along with being an essential piece of television history, the best episodes of the Twilight Zone remain watchable and entertaining 50 years after they were first broadcast.

Considering the esteemed place that the Twilight Zone continues to occupy in American culture, it seems appropriate to feature it during Horror Month here at the Shattered Lens.

The Jungle, which first aired on December 1st, 1961, is a personal favorite of mine. A businessman returns to New York from Africa. While in Africa, he upset a local witch doctor. Though the businessman, at first, laughs off the possibility that he may be cursed, it soon turns out that he’s wrong. There’s a lesson to this episode and here it is: Don’t piss off a witch doctor.

When I first saw this episode, the final scene caused me to have nightmares!

(By the way, I’m embedding this episode from Hulu. Sadly, you will have to deal with commercials. However, it’s really a great episode!)

(It has also come to my attention that some browsers do not work with embedded Hulu vidoes. Seriously, the internet is so frustrating! If the embedded video is not appearing on your browser, you should be able to watch this episode on Hulu. Here’s the link — http://www.hulu.com/watch/440777. I apologize for the inconvenience but still, it is a really good episode!)

Horror On TV: Twilight Zone 1.22 “The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street”

Posted on October 31, 2014 by Lisa Marie Bowman

As Halloween comes to a close, so does both horror month here at the Shattered Lens and our series of televised horrors. What better way to finish out this feature than with one of the best known and most popular episodes of The Twilight Zone?

There’s a lot I could say about The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street but really, all that needs to be acknowledged is that it’s a classic and it features one of the best endings ever. As well, it also contains an important message about paranoia and conformity that remains as relevant today as when the episode was first broadcast.

The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street was written by Rod Serling and directed by Ron Winston. The episode was originally broadcast on March 4th, 1960.

Horror on TV: The Twilight Zone 2.6 “Eye of the Beholder”

Posted on October 30, 2014 by Lisa Marie Bowman

First broadcast on November 11th, 1960, Eye of the Beholder is one of the best known and most acclaimed episodes of The Twilight Zone. Telling the story of a bandaged patient and the shadowy doctors who continually talk about how the patient’s upcoming surgery will be her final chance, this is one of those universal episodes that is probably more relevant today than when it was first broadcast.