The Forms Of Things Unknown (1964)
Two women (Vera Miles, Barbara Rush) kill a blackmailer (Scott Marlowe) by poisoning him at a lake. They place his body in the trunk of the car but a storm forces them to take shelter at a secluded mansion in the forest. It is there where they must deal with the fact that he might not be dead after all. Written by Joseph Stefano (Hitchcock's PSYCHO) and directed by Gerd Oswald (A KISS BEFORE DYING). Originally a pilot for a TV show called THE UNKNOWN which never happened and filmed with two different endings. Instead, it was shown as part of THE OUTER LIMITS TV series. As a pilot, it was allotted a bigger budget and longer filming time and was fortunate enough to have Conrad Hall (IN COLD BLOOD) as its cinematographer. As to the film itself, it's well acted (but not by Scott Marlowe) and the stylish B&W imagery of Hall gives it an off kilter schizophrenic quality which adds to the horror. With David McCallum and Sir Cedric Hardwicke.
.JPG)
This is one of the weirdest episodes ever shown on The Outer Limits. I had no idea it was a pilot for another series. You don't think Scott Marlowe did a good job? I think he's appropriately slimy and arrogant in this. But then, I'm a big fan of his.
ReplyDeleteI thought Marlowe was too obvious. Yes, slimy and arrogant but TOO slimy and arrogant. What would either of the two beauties (Vera Miles, Barbara Rush) see in him? He may as well have "Creep" tattooed on his forehead. And his wicked laugh was over the top. If he had a moustache, he'd probably twirl it to show how wicked he is. Just my two cents.
Delete