Customer Reviews

The Twilight Zone: Vol. 11

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(5)
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THE FEVER from the First season aired on January 29, 1960 and was written by Rod Serling. Everett Sloane is brilliant as a married man who continually lectures his wife on the pitfalls of gambling after winning a trip to Las Vegas. Goaded into it Sloane puts a coin into a slot machine, wins and the cycle begins. This is an interesting episode, not necessarily against gambling but one that addresses the nature of obsession and the lengths of self-destruction that it can lead to. It also addresses a familiar TWILIGHT ZONE theme about man and his confrontation with the machines that he creates. THE DUMMY from the Third season aired on May 4, 1962 and was written by Rod Serling. Cliff Robertson plays a down-and-out ventriloquist who has dilutions that his mannequin may be getting the better of him. This is an interesting study into the mind of man and the manmade with a denouement that is riveting. THE AFTER HOURS remains just as fresh and effective as when it was first aired on June 10, 1960 and its lingering haunting imagery remains engraved into one's subconscious. Who can ever forget Anne Francis as Marsha. Her impeccable performance and exquisite face are indelible. "Marsha" that very name and the way it was repeated over and over was so eerily unsettling sending chills down one's spine. This episode when compared to WALKING DISTANCE demonstrates the great versatility of Rod Serling as a writer. WALKING DISTANCE is probably the best prose that Serling ever penned where every bit of dialogue was so heartfelt and moving. In THE AFTER HOURS Serling gives us a more visual tale where the storytelling is more dependent on the images. Serling gives us a story of two strikingly opposite worlds that co-exist within a department store. The vivid contrast and the realistic depiction of those two worlds is at the core of this story that has a strange tinge of melancholy about it. Thanks to effective lighting, production design, photography, Douglas Heyes' Direction and impeccable acting it succeeds on all levels and is one of the definitive episodes of the series. Your heart kind of goes out for Telly Savalas in LIVING DOLL. As much of a no-good creep of a stepfather Savalas is, you just gotta feel bad for this guy as he gets outdone by a doll, Talky Tina. The doll is almost as evil as he is and this becomes very evident in the final scene at the bottom of the living room staircase. A lot of the viewers' ambiguous feelings are the result of Bermard Herrmann's innovative score. It has a childlike quality that taunts and teases both Telly Savalas and the viewer. This is an excellent episode written by Charles Beaumont from the Fifth season and is one of the best and most memorable from the entire series. This is an excellent volume.

For those of you who are being selective in which Twilight Zone volumes you're buying; and, you plan on watching this DVD more than once, this is the best. This volume includes (1) Living Doll (Talking Tina) with Telly Savales, (2) The Fever (a taunting slot machine), (3) The After Hours, with Anne Francis, who is left in a department store after the store closes and all the people have left. (4) The Dummy (a ventriloquist). The first 3 are great, the Dummy is OK, but again the first 3 are worth the cost alone. Also, the fact that you don't have those annoying commercials anymore makes watching Twilight Zone that much better.

To the best of my knowledge there's no specific theme to any of the Twilight Zone DVD's, but this one does, and it's --DOLLS GONE WILD!
The first episode contains the classic ventriloquist corrupted by his dummy tale ("Magic", "Dead of Night"). It stars Cliff Robertson, who looks like a puppet to begin with.
The third episode is the legendary Talking Tina story where she tells Telly "Kojak" Savalas how she's going to kill him, and accomplishes the deed.
The final episode stars Anne "Honey West" Francis as a girl trapped in a department store who gets an earful from a bunch of creepy, chatty mannequins.
The animated menu with the TZ title eyeball is classic TZ mind-bending psycho-delia. The episodes themselves are as clean as early 60's televideo can get. The sound quality ranges from good to muddy, but overall the content of these shows make up for their technical shortcomings.
Tell 'em Jerry Mahoney sent you.

I am eleven years older than my sister, and when she was in grade school (mid 1970's) . . . I used to tell her stories about an old television show called (of course) "The Twilight Zone". It was not "on the air" for a period of time, and then suddenly, one day, I noticed a local station was running it during the 10 o'clock (p.m.) hour. Sister and I stayed up past her bed time, sneaking quietly into our parents' bedroom to watch that second T.V. set while ma and pa were in another part of the house. The first few nights we tried this, some of the (rare) less frightening and weaker episodes appeared. I was having trouble explaining myself at this point, and good natured criticism and teasing from little sister was mounting at a fever pitch! Then one night, "Living Doll" made its presence. Most unforunately, little sister has never been the same since. Oddly enough, I went to the dumps a few years later, and found a doll that amazingly appeared as the mirror image of "Talking Tina". I brought it home for a second opinion, and my then junior high school sister was virtually in shock (as was I). The doll interfered with our everyday peace of mind to the point where I eventually (like Mr. Savalas) was forced to get rid of the doll (radial arm saw destruction was not attempted). I tossed the doll in the (outside) garbage can moments before the garbage truck picked up, and clamped on the metal top! Needless to say, I did not take my eyes off the garbage can until I witnessed its contents actually land in the truck! "Living Doll" has been subsequently imitated on several occasions but this was the original and most effective chiller! The other episodes on this DVD are worth viewing as well. "The Dummy" is excellent, and ranks among the best Twilight Zones in the spine tingler category. "The Fever" is the weakest of the episodes on this DVD but it still rates average or perhaps even above average. Finally, Ann Francis is superb in another eerie episode featuring one or more manequins.

I love living doll. It is a forrunner to all the killer doll movies out today. Chucky doesn"t hold a candle to Talking Tina. So just think twice about abusing your dolls they just might not like it.

`THE AFTER HOURS' remains just as fresh and effective as when it was first aired on June 10, 1960 and its lingering haunting imagery remains engraved into one's subconscious. Who can ever forget Anne Francis as Marsha. Her impeccable performance and exquisite face are indelible. "Marsha" that very name and the way it was repeated over and over was so eerily unsettling sending chills down one's spine. This episode when compared to `WALKING DISTANCE' demonstrates the great versatility of Rod Serling as a writer. `WALKING DISTANCE' is probably the best prose that Serling ever penned where every bit of dialogue was so heartfelt and moving. In `THE AFTER HOURS' Serling gives us a more visual tale where the storytelling is more dependent on the images. Serling gives us a story of two strikingly opposite worlds that co-exist within a department store. The vivid contrast and the realistic depiction of those two worlds is at the core of this story that has a strange tinge of melancholy about it. Thanks to effective lighting, production design, photography, Douglas Heyes' Direction and impeccable acting it succeeds on all levels and is one of the definitive episodes of the series. In `LIVING DOLL' Charles Beaumont gives us a somewhat similar view of a child's doll as `THE AFTER HOURS' showed us manikins. All similarities end there however. `LIVING DOLL' is photographed pretty straightforward and it boils down to a duel of wits between a not-so-nice stepfather played by Telly Savalas and his stepchild's new doll and companion, Talky Tina. There is no haunting imagery to be found in `LIVING DOLL' yet Talky Tina is creepy to say the least. As the story unfolds and one looks back on this episode the viewer actually begins to empathize with the Telly Savalas character. Talky Tina is so unnerving a creation that the plot develops into a duel between the lesser of two evils which is very apparent in the final shot. Bermard Herrmann once again shows a brilliant stroke of genius with his score for `LIVING DOLL' by going against the obvious. He could have given us an eerie and suspenseful score. Instead Herrmann opted for a 1960's modern `Space Age' sound that is overlaid with childlike taunts and teases that perfectly captures the confrontation between a real human and a very realistic doll and at the same time swings the viewer's pendulum of sympathies. `LIVING DOLL' is an excellent episode from the 5th season which aired on November 1, 1963 and is also one of the definitive episodes of the series. `THE DUMMY' written by Rod Serling has a ventriloquist played by Cliff Robertson believing that his dummy has a mind of his own. This is a low-key and well-filmed episode where Serling once again explores the psyche of a man who has seen better days. It still holds one's attention. `THE FEVER' which aired on January 29, 1960 seems more relevant today as a morality tale. This is an interesting story and memorable episode of addiction written by Rod Serling. Can a one-armed-bandit really talk? Veteran character actor Everett Sloane is brilliant as a conservative husband who disapproves of his wife's petty gambling, but once he gives a one-armed-bandit just one try he gets `THE FEVER' which is like no other and can only be found in "The Twilight Zone." This is one of the best "Twilight Zone" DVDs.

Vol. 11 is a collection of very good Twilight Zone episodes. Not the best, but good ones none the less.

EPISODE: "The Dummy" DESCRIPTION: "A ventriloquist is convinced that his dummy, Willie, is alive and evil. He makes plans for a new act with a new dummy - plans that Willie does not support!" REVIEW: Very good paranoia script and absolutely creepy ending. The ending actually makes the watch well worthwhile.

EPISODE: "The Fever" DESCRIPTION: "Tight fisted Franklin Gibbs is not pleased when his wife wins a trip for two to Las Vegas. But things change when he falls under the spell of a slot machine that calls his name!" REVIEW: Probably the weakest of the four episodes. Script tends to go over the top at times, but when slot machine calls out "Franklin", you get the chills. Ending goes a bit overboard.

EPISODE: "Living Doll" DESCRIPTION: "Erich is displeased when his wife buys an expensive doll for his step-daughter. He becomes even more displeased when the doll tells him it doesn't like him!" REVIEW: A very good episode with creepiness throughout. Dolls threatening people always makes for good entertainment. Ending is predictable, but very effective.

EPISODE: "The After Hours" DESCRIPTION: "A woman discovers that the floor of a department store, on which she bought a gold thimble, doesn't exist - and that her 'saleslady' is really a mannequin!" REVIEW: Would be regarded by critics as the best episode of this volume, and most definitely is. Combines a compassionate script with some genuine spooks. Good "moral of the story" message.

When I looked at the lengthy list of "Twilight Zone" DVD volumes this one stuck out more than any of the others. In my opion, it has three of the most outrageously entertaining(yet still quite frightening)episodes "The Twilight Zone" has ever made. "The After Hours" is about Marsha White(Anne Francis), a simple woman who is merely looking for a gold thimble in a department store. However, when she steps into the elevator, she is guided to the 9th floor of the the 8 story building! On this supposed floor she meets odd people who turn out to be even odder when(on one of the regular floors)she sees on of them..........in manicane form! This is one of my favorite episodes of "The Twilight Zone"! Partly because of the completely unexpected ending. "Living Doll" is another shocker! Erich Sleater is a man who feels that his step-daughter is spoiled with too many dolls. So, you can imagine how he feels when his wife and daughter come home with an extremly expensive doll! You can also only imagine how he feels when(after everyone leaves the room)the doll starts saying things like "I hate you!" & "I'm going to kill you!". This is another classic that had me biting my nails to the very end of the show. I also enjoy Rod Sterling's ending words that seem to make the story feel a little too realistic. "The Dummy" is about a ventrilogoust that has an evil Dummy named Willie! Everyone thinks he's crazy but somehow he knows he's not. The only way to stop the crazieness is to get a new dummy, which the man does. However, Willie does not accept the replacement! This is a great one too but the ending doesn't really make sense. "The Fever" is by far the worst episode on the disk. It's about a man who doesn't enjoy gambling at all but while in Las Vegas a slot machine calls his name and then it seems he can never stop! The story was a little too limited for my liking and too unreal. After all, it's weird than the guy just started gambling after he hated it. Again, this is one of the best Volumes in the entire "Twilight Zone" set!

I absolutely love the Twilight Zone, of course I have my favorites, so being able to purchase the volumes I like is great. This one is a particular favorite of mine and I plan on buying more

Four of the best episodes from THE TWILIGHT ZONE, including two of my all-time personal favourites, "The After Hours" and "Living Doll".

In "The After Hours", "Forbidden Planet"'s Anne Francis plays Marsha, a confused young woman shopping for a specific gold thimble in a large department store. After encountering a spooky saleslady (Elizabeth Allen), Marsha gets into an argument with the management and falls asleep in the back office...when she awakens the store is closed (evidently she was forgotten about by the bumbling staff) but the MANNEQUINS are very vocal indeed, with their eerie chants of "Marsha...Marsha..."

This episode is the reason why I'm scared of anything that resembles a mannequin...seriously! There have been countless episodes of sitcoms where characters accidentally get locked in stores but "The After Hours" is the mother of them all! Anne Francis is absolutely luminous.

"Living Doll" casts Telly Savalas as Erich Streator, a hateful, downright nasty man who severely resents his stepdaughter Christie (Tracy Stratford) and the time she seemingly takes away from his new wife Annabelle (Mary La Roche). So you can imagine Erich's reaction when the happy twosome return from a shopping trip with a fancy new doll...

Talky Tina, as the doll is called, isn't as sugary sweet as she seems. When Christie and her mother aren't around, Tina gets into the habit of taunting Erich with smart little phrases like "I'm going to kill you" and "You'll be sorry...". Seems that Tina knows exactly how to push Erich's buttons...and he'd better watch out when Tina's threats become more extreme! Tina's voice was provided by animation legend June Foray, best-remembered for Rocky of "Rocky and Bullwinkle" fame.

The other two episodes spotlighted on this disc are "The Dummy" (with Cliff Robertson), which is a lot like "Living Doll"; and "The Fever", one of the more disturbing episodes, which follows a middle-aged couple on holiday in Las Vegas and a particular poker machine's hypnotic spell...