I caught the Outer Limits episode on Friday night, The Human Factor, which I've never seen before.
What struck me was the sub-plot, the discovery of an alien in the icy wastes, is essentially the plot of the Thing.
The characters in the Human Factor even describe the alien as the thing most of the time!
Is there a connection?
Oddly enough, on another channel The Thing was showing on TV just after the Outer Limits! Its a shape shifting, body melting coincidence!
Well, as usual something came up last night - and not an alien - a neighbour came round - and I missed all of the weekly episode of the Outer Limits and 90% of the Pit and the Pendulum! Drat!
I caught the final iconic scene in the deep chamber with the huge curved blade swinging ever closer to the victim's chest, his white ruffled shirt gradually getting sliced open. As a kid the metallic ker-thunk sound of the pendulum's arcs always got to me more than the action and even now sends a shiver down my spine.
The final zoom onto Barbara Steele's encased eyes was terrifying the first time I saw it as she stares out of the Iron Maiden knowing that no-one will ever set foot in the dungeon again. It's still horrific now.
Even the final credits were wonderful, a garish slew of coloured oil paints slowly thrown onto a surface or maybe even water. Just brilliant.
Corman's Poe cycle of flicks were masterpieces of gothic film-making and I adored all of them when they made it to the tellybox late at night as a midnight movie or Appointment with Fear. I still make a B-line for them if they're on, subject to interruptions from neighbours and friends!
I did stay up to catch the first bit of I Bury The Living, a monochrome film I've never seen or knew about. Very interesting and sinister plot too set within a large American cemetery and its office and concerning the mysterious deaths of locals and their apparent connection to a large and unusual map of the cemetery in the office. You certainly don't want a pin stuck on your name!
Caroline Munro did another sterling job introducing the films and for a short while it feels like the glorious Seventies again! I wonder of they are going to ask Valerie Leon to do some as well!
It's going to be good night on TV in the UK tonight over on Talking Pictures TV. I just hope I can get to it as we have some neighbours visiting later!
At 8pm its the Outer Limits' weekly slot, tonight being the famous Sixth Finger episode.
Then at 9pm scream queen Caroline Munro introduces a real treat, Doctor Blood's Coffin. Not seen that often on telly, its a classic Sixties schlocker set in Cornwall. I always wanted to call a rock band the same name!
There's more on afterwards but I'll have peaked.
Will you be watching?
I've started something I wanted to do for ages. Years in fact.
I want to watch the American Outer Limits TV series, which aired from 1963 onwards. I was only 2 back then so won't have seen them first time round. I've seen the monsters on cards and comics for years since then so I do know what a few look like. They seem iconic to me now.
Fortunately the first episode, The Galaxy Being, was available on Daily Motion and I had the pleasure of the radioactive alien this afternoon. I did fall asleep for 10 minutes in the middle but that was my age rather than the show!
By way of marking off the episodes I see I am going to post the Topps card image of the monster shown [courtesy of Ebay images] and unlike the TV version these are in colour! For some reason Topps didn't put the correct name, the Galaxy Being, opting for the more alliterative Television Terror.
Have you watched the original Outer Limits? Were there any toys, games, books or models?
