Customer Reviews

The Twilight Zone: Long Distance Call/ I Sing The Body Electric [VHS]

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I SING THE BODY ELECTRIC was Ray Bradbury's sole contribution to the "Twilight Zone." One of the more subtle episodes, this story is strong on characterization and reaches out on an emotional level rather than to any notion of scientific curiosity of the introduction of a robot grandmother, beautifully played by Josephine Hutchinson, into a family (including Veronica Cartwright). This is a very good episode and is one of my favorites. LONG DISTANCE CALL written by Charles Beaumont and William Idelson is one of the six episodes recorded directly to videotape instead of being photographed on film. The story concerns a little boy played by Billy Mumy who communicates with his dead grandmother over his toy phone. It examines our attachment to those we love and what emotional price we sometimes must pay for that love.

Don't get me wrong, the Twilight Zone is fantastic, but the episodes contained on this particular volume are hard to enjoy for some people. The first episode, "Long Distance Call", stars little Billy Mumy as a young boy (appropriately named "Billy") who finds a way to communicate with his dead grandmother on a toy telephone. At first, it sounds like he's just pretending, but when Billy tries to commit suicide, it seems this may be for real, and maybe his grandma is trying to take Billy away to the great beyond. This episode is powerful, but drips in sentimentality (not something I enjoy in a TZ episode) About average; may satisfy some. But the second episode, "I Sing the Body Electric" is TERRIBLE. It's about a family who orders a mechanical "Grandmother" to their specifications, but one girl named Anne (played by Veronica Cartwright) rejects her. This episode is not worth seeing. The story is lousy, The episode is too sentimental, and the acting is poor. All in all, this volume of the Twilght Zone Collection is not as good as others, so buyer, beware.