Horror on TV: Twilight Zone 2.26 “Shadow Play”

Posted on October 29, 2014 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This is one of my favorite episodes of The Twilight Zone! In Shadow Play, a man (Dennis Weaver) is curiously unconcerned about being on death row. According to him, it’s all just a recurring dream and everyone around him — the other prisoners, the District Attorney, the judge, the jury, and everyone else — is just a part of his dream. As the other characters start to realize that Weaver could be telling the truth, they’re forced to consider what will happen when he either wakes up or starts the dream over…

I love this one. It’s just a lot of fun and not quite as heavy-handed as some of The Twilight Zone‘s other attempts at social commentary.

This was originally broadcast on May 5th, 1961. It was directed by John Brahm and written by Charles Beaumont.

Horror on TV: The Twilight Zone Ep. 111 “Printer’s Devil”

Posted on October 24, 2014 by Lisa Marie Bowman

In this episode of The Twilight Zone, Robert Sterling plays the editor of a failing newspaper. After being forced to fire all of his employees, Sterling prepares to commit suicide. However, before going through with it, Sterling is approached by a friendly old man (Burgess Meredith) who offers to both pay off Sterling’s debts and to work for him as the newspaper’s only reporter. Sterling agrees and…

Well, just the fact that this episode is entitled Printer’s Devil probably gives you a clue about what’s really going on with that nice old man…

Printer’s Devil is one of the rare hour-long episodes of The Twilight Zone. If nothing else, it’s worth watching just to compare Meredith’s performance here with his far different performance in Time Enough At Last.

Horror on TV: Twilight Zone 1.16 “The Hitchhiker”

Posted on October 23, 2014 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Tonight’s horror on TV is an episode of The Twilight Zone that is entitled The Hitchhiker. A woman (Inger Stevens) is haunted by a mysterious hitchhiker who continually asks her if she’s “Going my way?”

It’s tempting to call this a companion piece to Carnival of Souls but actually, The Hitchhiker was first broadcast on Jan. 22, 1960, two years before the premiere of Carnival of Souls. So, it would perhaps be more appropriate to call Carnival of Souls a companion piece to the Hitchhiker.

Horror on TV: Twilight Zone 5.17 “Number 12 Looks Just Like You”

Posted on October 22, 2014 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Tonight’s horror on TV comes to us from The Twilight Zone. At first glance, Number 12 Looks Just Like You may not seem like a horror story but, by the end of it, it clearly is. Number 12 deals with the horror of being an individual living in a society of conformists.

This episode was originally broadcast on January 24th, 1964.

Horror on TV: Twilight Zone 3.10 “The Midnight Sun”

Posted on October 17, 2014 by Lisa Marie Bowman

In this episode of The Twilight Zone, the Earth has somehow gotten off of orbit is now being drawn closer and closer to the sun. With humanity on the verge of extinction, two women (Lois Nettleton and Betty Garde) struggle to survive as the heat keeps rising.

Full of haunting images of a deserted and sun-baked city, The Midnight Sun is one of the few episodes of The Twilight Zone that has ever given me nightmares. For some reason, the melting painting always gets to me.

This episode was written by Rod Serling and directed by Anton Leader. It was originally broadcast on November 17th, 1961.

Horror on TV: Twilight Zone 4.4 “He’s Alive”

Posted on October 16, 2014 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Tonight’s episode of the Twilight Zone was originally broadcast on January 24th, 1963 and it’s one of the rare hour-long episodes of the original Twilight Zone. In He’s Alive, a very young Dennis Hopper plays Peter Vollmer, an aspiring Neo-Nazi who isn’t having much luck bringing fascism to America until he meets a mysterious benefactor who teaches him the tricks of the trade.

It’s a pretty good (if heavy-handed) episode, distinguished by both Dennis Hopper’s lead performance and a message that is probably even more relevant today than when the show was first broadcast.

This episode was written by Rod Serling and directed by Stuart Rosenberg.

Horror on TV: Twilight Zone 3.6 “The Mirror”

Posted on October 15, 2014 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Tonight’s episode of The Twilight Zone is a political allegory about a communist dictator in Central America who gets a magic mirror that, he believes, will reveal who is plotting against me. It’s undeniably heavy-handed but, at the same time, it’s a lot of fun to watch Peter Falk play Fidel Castro.

This episode was written by Rod Serling and directed by Don Medford. It was originally broadcast on October 20th, 1961.

Horror on TV: Twilight Zone 2.28 “Will The Real Martin Please Stand Up?”

Posted on October 10, 2014 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Tonight’s episode of The Twilight Zone examines what happens when a freak snow storm breaks out, a bus makes a stop at a late night diner, and reports come in of a UFO landing somewhere in the area. The fun starts once the bus driver realizes that he has an extra passenger. Who is the alien? Or, any other words: Will the real Martian please stand up? This episode is a classic example of how a group of strangers trapped in one location can be used to generate a lot of suspense. It has a great ending as well!

This episode was originally broadcast on May 26th, 1961. It was written by Rod Serling and directed by Montgomery Pittman.

Horror on TV: Twilight Zone 1.8 “Time Enough At Last”

Posted on October 9, 2014 by Lisa Marie Bowman

In this early episode of The Twilight Zone, poor and meek Henry Bemis (Burgess Meredith) is literally the last man on Earth and that suits him just fine. He finally has time to read everything that he’s always wanted to read. This episode is best remembered for Burgess Meredith’s eccentric lead performance and the somewhat mean-spirited twist ending.

Horror on TV: The Twilight Zone 3.8 “It’s A Good Life”

Posted on October 8, 2014 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Don’t think bad thoughts or Anthony Freemont will turn you into a giant jack in the box!

That’s lesson to be learned from tonight’s example of televised horror. In this classic episode of The Twilight Zone, the citizens of Peaksville always have to be happy or else they’ll be punished by the cruel monster that lives among them. The big twist, of course, is that the monster is just a little boy and sometimes, it’s difficult to predict what exactly is going to upset him.

It’s A Good Life was originally broadcast on November 3rd, 1961.