Product Details

• Format: Black & White, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
• VHS Release Date: September 1, 1998
• Run Time: 52 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6301971973
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #394,306 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Morality makes its own decisions, April 13, 2003

By 

Dr. Lee D. Carlson (Baltimore, Maryland USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Outer Limits: Obit [VHS] (VHS Tape)

One of the best episodes in the Outer Limits series, this one has an intellectual and moral theme that is directly relevant to today. The story is set at a government research center called Cypress Hill and opens with a scene of a technician sitting in front of a circular display screen. The technician is viewing, apparently real-time, a research professor, Dr. Anderson, who is voicing complaints about his superior, which, the technician notes, is the "12th occurrence". The technician's attention is then shifted to the presence on-screen of what appears to be a "monster", and he then is strangled to death from behind.

In the next scene, a Senator Orville appears at Cypress Hill to investigate the murder and the general morale situation at the center. Inquisitive and intolerant of evasiveness, Orville sets up a board of inquiry and calls several witnesses, the first one being Clyde Wyatt, an investigator from the CID. When questioned by Orville, he notes only that the technician was strangled to death but that he is "not competent to say" regarding any morale and psychological problems at Cypress. Wyatt's evasiveness angers Orville, and he quickly dismisses Wyatt from the stand.

The next witness is a Dr. Philip Fletcher, an elderly man who has been employed for five years at Cypress as a research consultant in astrophysics. Fletcher had sent a letter to Orville, addressing the morale problems at Cypress. Apparently he had written several more letters but did not send them, having been questioned by the military police about the letters. Questioned by Orville as to how Cypress knew he was writing the letters, Fletcher responds by saying that "they know everything" and speaks of rumours and fear at Cypress. Cypress is a "ghost town" he says, and a place where "no one laughs".

After being notified that the head of Cypress, Dr Clifford Scott, was unavailable for questioning due to suffering a physical breakdown, Orville calls a Dr. Lomax. Lomax states that morale is no better or worse than any other government facility, but Orville rebuts by stating the statistics: divorce up 400%, rampant alcoholism, and three suicides. Also, reports of a "peeping Tom machine" have been related to Orville, but Lomax refuses to discuss the machine. Orville then demands all information on the machine, and gets a demonstration of it the next day.

Called OBIT for "Outer Band Individuated Teletracer", Lomax explains its operation to Orville, and illustrates its use by spying on a draftsman who is located somewhere in Washington D.C. Lomax states that "those who have nothing to hide have nothing to fear from OBIT", but this is dismissed eloquently by Orville, who expresses worry and revulsion over the ability to use the machine to spy on himself when engaging in commentary on the President, his wife, or other senators.

A fourth witness, Col. Grover, is then questioned by Orville, but Grover has no knowledge of OBIT's manufacturer or who authorized its deployment. Again Orville demands all information about OBIT and its history of deployment and when threatened by Grover as to his political future, dismisses any concern with it, stating that "morality makes its own decisions".

Orville then calls Mrs. Clifford Scott, who states that the morale has been unbearable at Cypress and was left completely in the dark about the location of her husband.

Grover is later recalled, and speaks of 18 OBIT units deployed in the military as well as many more in industry and education. He describes painfully OBIT as being the most "hideous creation ever conceived", and one that saps the spirit, and indulges in using it himself, not being able to resist its temptations.

After insistence from Orville, Orville questions Dr. Scott, who describes his opposition to OBIT, and how he is always at odds with Lomax, who for some reason cannot be monitored by OBIT. The reason becomes rapidly apparent, as Lomax is transfigured to an alien being, who represents a race of beings who have deliberately placed OBIT machines on Earth to create rips and tensions in society and demoralize humanity, as preparation for their eventual invasion. He disappears suddenly from the scene.

The episode ends with the announcer explaining that all of the OBIT machines have been found and destroyed and that whether OBIT can live up to its reputation "depends on you".

The OBIT machine, with its ability to spy real time on citizens within a 500 mile radius, and even then through solid rock or steel, is certainly a technological marvel. Such a machine does not exist of course, but its abilities can be emulated. Governments can now engage in data mining and Email and business transaction monitoring, coupled with citizen spies whose sole function is to report "suspicious" behavior, can certainly have the same devastating effects as OBIT. The resulting suspicions and extreme paranoia accompanying these strategies of spying can indeed make life unbearable and demoralizing.

We must make sure we have senators who think like Orville, and refuse to allow this kind of privacy-robbing technology to be employed unless in very extreme life-threatening circumstances. "OBIT-like" projects like TIAA and its children must not be allowed to progress and must be kept in check. Thankfully there are many in government who are taking steps to insure that these kinds of projects do not get implemented. Eternal vigilance among citizens, government officials, and the military must be unrelenting in insuring that these kinds of projects never be put in place. Such an attitude should be part of our consciousness and automatized in our belief structures and in our machines, for this is the proper morality in the information age: a morality which makes its own decisions.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Don't Look Behind You..., March 26, 2002

By 

Bruce Rux (Aurora, CO) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Outer Limits: Obit [VHS] (VHS Tape)

...but someone is watching. And they're not human. If you thought the NSA was bad...

One of OL's few truly evil E.T. entries, a murder mystery performed as a courtroom drama. The script is highly literate, but the suspense is half-shot from the beginning by showing too much. It's still worth it for the opening murder scene and the dramatic finale alone, though the interesting analysis of intrusive government spying on its own citizenry along the way is quite good, too (and, for the time, eye-opening, as well).

Typically great OL cinematography, one of the creepier and more memorable monsters, and good performances all around, especially by Jeff Corey.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars OL masterpiece with Orwellian overtones, July 28, 2001

By 

brian akers (Atlanta formerly) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Outer Limits: Obit [VHS] (VHS Tape)

An army security man is strangled under mysterious circumstances at Cypress Hills, a top secret military installation where a sinister new snooping system (the Outer Band Individuated Teletracer) is being tested. This audio-video spying device can tune in to the individualized biorhythms of everyone on the base, except for the murderer, it seems. The frightening implications of this new device for depriving personnel of even the slightest shred of privacy and dignity are unravelled in the course of a congressional investigation conducted by young, charismatic Senator Orville. His persona is tough as nails, but smooth-edged with dashes of wisdom and self-deprecating wit, a la JFK. This portrayal comes across as an intriguing reflection of the Camelot era, and we know from the moment we meet him that he is going to get to the bottom of things. Likewise, we are shown from the opening scene that the murder was committed by a Thing Not of This World, a monstrous, gangly, one-eyed creature of obviously alien origin. Our attention is also directed early on to one Byron Lomax, a sinister character who is in charge after the rightful director of the base is sent away to a mental institution, in Kremlinesque fashion we find out. These plot threads are woven together in a tense, moody script with expert direction and stylish noir photography, giving this episode the unmistakable first-season OL signature. The shattering and dehumanizing effect of invading privacy, feeding upon dark, all-too-human impulses, is the moral center of this story: we must rise above our lower impulses and temptations, or be dragged down by them. In the latter case, we become easy prey for an invading alien race that easily sets us up, and can take over without a single shot ever having to be fired. This is OL at its characteristic, intelligent best, with solid story and thought-provoking themes convincingly elaborated (e.g., we are our own worst enemies, the price of freedom is eternal vigilance, etc.); plus loving homages (intentional or otherwise) to schlock 1950's scifi cinema, most notably Wyott Ordung's hilariously inept "Robot Monster". But it bridges the lowbrow appeal of such juvenile material with the prescience of George Orwell's writings. The kind of sheer range on display here is breathtaking, and puts to shame what passes today as scifi cinema, with its monotonous emphasis on artless techno special effects and characters targeted to audience hang-ups and attitude.