By Melissa Antoinette Garza
Twilight Zone was probably the best television show of all time. To remake several episodes and turn them into a movie sounds like a guaranteed flop. After all, it is a difficult task to compete with perfection. Those who remade “Psycho” learned that lesson the hard way. ‘Twilight Zone The Movie’ however plays out differently. It pays homage to the show, but also manages to provide a few unexpected scares along the way.
The movie opens with traditionally funny man Dan Aykroyd sitting passenger in a car, playing name-that-TV theme song with the driver (Albert Brooks). Soon they begin to discuss scary Twilight Zone episodes, and staying on topic Aykroyd asks, “do you want to see something really scary?” This scene alone sets the tone for the rest of the movie. It’s edgy and though Aykroyd’s character is asking the question to the driver, he is also asking the audience. It’s the cue that tells the viewers, ‘here’s your chance. Look away.” It is the build of suspense that causes apprehension in the watcher. It doesn’t matter if the person covers their eyes or not, they are already unnerved and will be for the rest of the movie.
The first tale follows Bill Connor (Vic Morrow) a racist idiot who runs off at the mouth in a local bar because he lost a promotion to a Jewish man who had seniority. When he leaves the bar he suddenly appears in Nazi Germany and is taken by SS soldiers. After being shot at, the setting again shifts, this time he is being lynched by the Ku Klux Klan who spat racial slurs. He then is transported into Vietnam and becomes hunted by American soldiers. Like many of the Twilight Zone episodes, this attempts to teach a lesson. Don’t presume, pre-judge, or pre-determine others without knowing their experiences. It would be unfair to mention this story without commenting on the loss of life due to a production mishap. Sadly, Vic Morrow, along with two young children were killed when a helicopter flipped over in the water too close to the actors. It is because of this incident that stricter laws have been placed pertaining to children actors.
The second, and by far the weakest of the bunch, was directed by Stephen Spielberg. In Sunnyvale Nursing home, the elderly spend their time watching Jeopardy and envying the children playing outside. Mr. Bloom (Scatman Crothers) encourages them all to have fun and they begin to act young again. They all enjoy reminiscing of the years gone by, except Mr. Conroy (Bill Quinn) who claims that he likes being old. He’s the typical grumpy old man. He’s lonely, feels neglected by his family, and loathes children because they have something he doesn’t; optimism.
When asked of his favorite childhood game, Mr. Bloom states that he loved playing “kick the can,” and convinces them all to go outside and play by promising to make them feel young. He does more than that and soon they are all children again and are forced to decide whether they want to stay kids, return to their old selves, or possibly find something in-between.
The tale isn’t awful, nor is the dialogue but compared to the other stories it doesn’t seem to fit. It’s too calm and lax for the film. It’s very difficult to go from the racist nutcase to a mystical, magical fairytale style story.
In the third tale, Anthony (Jeremy Licht) is a young boy with magical powers. He comes from a dysfunctional, loveless family who cater to his every need out of fear and greed. Helen Roy, (Kathleen Quinlan) a teacher from out of town, meets Anthony in a small restaurant. When she accidentally crashes her car into his bike, she offers him a ride home. During the drive, he confesses that his home life leaves a lot to be desired. His family doesn’t even care that it’s his birthday.
When they arrive at his house, he welcomes her in and she immediately notices the bizarre nature of his entire family. Slowly, she is introduced to his special abilities but unlike the others she still tells him no and reprimands him which is what, as a child, he needs.
Relying on the crazy family and haunting imagery this does provide several creepy moments. At one point, Helen catches glimpse of a family portrait, but the faces are missing. The sight alone is enough to make one unnerved.
Lastly, we have John Valentine (John Lithgow) who is the terrified passenger on an airplane. He pops pills and washes his face to exhaustion trying to calm himself but to no avail. The stewardesses are already sick of him when he pulls up his window shade, sees a gremlin and begins screaming. Lithgow is amazing at playing the panicked, pale, irrational nutcase unsure if what he is seeing is real or imaginary.
Another great facet of this film, is the choice of narrator. Rod Sterling doesn’t offer difficult shoes to fill, but impossible. Instead, of going with a sex symbol at the time and having him deliver the same style soliloquies that Sterling was famous for, they chose wisely. Burgess Meredith delivered monologues in his scratchy, and sometimes chilling voice without ever being seen on camera. These introductions were as good as the stories that followed.
The end of the movie is magnificent and the eerie note it leaves on allows the audience to live in wonder about the fate of each character, and the connection of each story.
Scared Stiff Rating: 7.5/10 If you were scared watching it as a child, you’ll be scared now.
