It has
been a while since I’ve had a road trip to report on here at the Horror Dude
Blog. But the weather has been getting nice in that still crappy but not
horrible winter in Ohio way and some fun events are just around the corner. The
first of the new year is the latest Twilight Zone Fest at the Canton Palace
theater.
This time
around I wasn’t flying solo. I picked up my friend Bubbles and the two of us
headed out for some classic television fun on the big screen. We arrived at the
Palace with plenty of time to spare, which gave me some time to go shopping.
The nice fellas from Monster Bash had setup a booth with some neat merchandise
for sale. I was on a budget but did manage to pick up a cool Wolfman t-shirt to
add to my classic Universal Monster apparel. Shopping finished we met up with
Eric and his lovely wife Angie. Loyal Horror Dude readers might recognize them
as the hosts of Dead End Cinema. I can’t wait for the weather to get warm
enough for some outdoor fun! The four of us found our seats and waited for the
show to start. Be warned I’m going to do my best to avoid spoilers in case you
haven’t seen these but can’t promise anything.
The first
episode was The After Hours. Here we see a lovely young woman shopping at a
department store. Something seems off when she ends up on the ninth floor to
buy a thimble for her mother. The sales floor looks abandoned and the only item
for sale is a single thimble… Oh and the department store only has eight
floors! She ends up locked in overnight and some interesting secrets are
revealed.
This is a
decent episode and one that I guess would be sort of the second tier in notoriety.
Anne Francis plays our lead, Marsha, and does a wonderful job. I’ve always been
a fan of her work, especially Forbidden Planet and the underrated The Satan
Bug. Mannequins feature heavily in The After Hours. I’ve always found them
creepy and the episode makes great use of them. Being a Twilight Zone episode,
you know there is a twist ending and we get a good one here. Though not as
disturbing as some of the better episodes it was still fun.
Next up
was A Stop at Willoughby, which I don’t remember ever seeing before. I mean I
probably have since I grew up watching these, but this one never stuck with me.
Garth is a miserable man trapped in a career that he doesn’t enjoy. Heck the
job is basically killing him! We are introduced to his obnoxious boss and his
heartless wife that is more concerned about the country club than him. Each
night he takes the train out of the city to a home that he can’t afford. He
always falls asleep and dreams of a simpler time in a town called Willoughby,
or was it a dream? One day he decides to get off the train and visit.
Trying to
be spoiler free so I’m keeping things vague. Of the four this might be the
darkest of them. The ending is a kick in the butt and was unexpected. This is
one of those Twilight Zone episodes that I thought would have a happy ending
because of how kind and gentle the main character is. It certainly doesn’t end
up that way and the big twist at the end was a little disturbing. I could tell
from the audience reaction around me that they were a bit shocked as well. That
is why the Twilight Zone is such a good show. Once you think you have it
figured out you get hit with something out of left field.
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| International man of mystery Bubbles and myself! |
The lights
came up and we had intermission. I refreshed my beverage and browsed the
Monster Bash/Creepy Classics table again. The theater also had their raffle and
gave away some cool Twilight Zone merchandise. Then it was time for the last
two episodes of the night.
A Game of
Pool is another pretty well-known episode. This one stars Jack Klugman as
Jesse, a local pool player that feels trapped under the legend of Fats Brown.
One night while alone he wishes he could just play one game against Fats so
that he could prove that he was the best. This is of course impossible because
Fats has been dead for years, but then again it is the Twilight Zone! He gets
his wish and the ghost of Fats shows up for a game. But what about the stakes?
And does Jesse really want to be the best?
This is a
great episode. We only have two characters, but they are played by the
previously mentioned Klugman with Jonathan Winters portraying Fats Brown. Most
of the what we see are them playing pool and sparring verbally. With lesser
actors this would have been pointless and/or boring, but with these two it is
amazing. They have excellent chemistry on screen and are a joy to watch. There
is also a wonderful foreboding as we the audience realize that Jesse might be
making a huge mistake. The ending is the most “Twilight Zone” of the four
episodes that they showed. I loved this one.
The show
wrapped up with Living Doll. Here we have a blended family, which was a unique
thing to see on a T.V. show in the early sixties. The stepdad is cruel to his
stepdaughter Christie. We find out that this is because he and his wife can’t
have their own children, so he is stuck with someone else’s kid. Christie feels
unloved, so her mother buys her a new doll at the store. This doll can talk and
move. Only instead of the canned recordings when she speaks to the stepfather
she gets progressively more threatening. This doll wants to kill him!
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| Telly Savalas rules! |
Living
Doll is another well written story that is very creepy because of where the
threat is coming from. Much like the first episode of the night featuring the
mannequins here the doll is spooky and effective. Hearing that sweet voice
dropping those lines works well to establish the scary vibe. As a bonus, the
stepdad is played by Telly Savalas! He is amazing and makes everything he is in
better than is should be. Except of course for Lisa and the Devil, nothing
could have saved that. Much like Willoughby this one doesn’t end well for our
lead actor, though here he was a jerk, so it wasn’t as disturbing. This was a
nice way to end the evening.
The lights
came up and I said my goodbyes to Eric and Angie. Bubbles and I decided to hit
the IHOP on the way home for a bite to eat. Why do I always include food in my
stories? Damn it I’m fat so food is part of my Road Trips! Really though I only
mention this because as we were eating our food I noticed a pair of beanie
wearing, beard having hipsters drinking coffee and playing chess... It made me
laugh on the inside so I’m sharing.
There you
go. I had another successful and wonderful night at the Canton Palace Theater.
They always put on a good show and this was no different. There are a couple
events coming up including another Three Stooges night and Monster Bash returns in August with Godzilla
and friends. If you get a chance attend one of their events do so. I promise
you will have fun!
© Copyright 2018 John Shatzer
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