Escape Artists
PseudoPod => Chamber of Horror => Topic started by: Sgarre1 on March 26, 2011, 06:42:46 PM
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Fans of THE TWILIGHT ZONE and OUTER LIMITS may want to check this out. When I was a kid in the late 70s/early 80s I had a marvelous book called FANTASTIC TELEVISION (thanks to my sister Susan), produced by the people of STARLOG magazine. It had episode guides to all the classic genre shows and made-for-TV movie summaries, so I was intimately aware of the episodes of, say, THRILLER, long before I ever saw one. One of the most intriguing shows it featured was a lost TV show that ran against TWILIGHT ZONE and got cancelled. It was Roald Dahl's first foray into American media and it was called WAY OUT (actually, it was called 'WAY OUT, with the comma).
(http://ia600404.us.archive.org/27/items/WayOut-DissolveToBlack/WayOut-DissolveToBlack.thumbs/WayOut-DissolveToBlack_000060.jpg)
There are some truly horrifying stills in the book from scary episodes of this creepfest, but like a lot of TV of that time it was lost to the vagaries of studio production and copies were not kept. Produced in New York, it was live and had local actors and the eerie electronic theme music was by noted electronic music composer Tod Dockstader. I know this because I was able to track down a video tape with the 5 remaining episodes back in the early 90's. For a short time, those 5 episodes were available on YouTube in the eartly aughts but eventually got pulled, IIRC. Anyway, they're up now at Archive.org for those who would like to check them out.
(http://ia600404.us.archive.org/27/items/WayOut-DissolveToBlack/WayOut-DissolveToBlack.thumbs/WayOut-DissolveToBlack_001140.jpg)
I can definitely recommend "Dissolve To Black" as the best of the available ones, as it hits a tone somewhere between the classic film CARNIVAL OF SOULS and the TWILIGHT ZONE episode "The After Hours". Enjoy!
General link to WAY OUT episodes (http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=dahl%20way%20out%20AND%20mediatype%3Amovies)
"Dissolve To Black" (http://www.archive.org/details/WayOut-DissolveToBlack)
(http://ia600404.us.archive.org/27/items/WayOut-DissolveToBlack/WayOut-DissolveToBlack.thumbs/WayOut-DissolveToBlack_001260.jpg)
"So, please, oh please, we beg, we pray, go throw your TV set away, and in its place you can install, a lovely bookcase on the wall."
Roald Dahl
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I will have to check this out. I remember once seeking out some Roald Dahl short stories, but expected them to be children's stories. Instead I found them to be suspense peices. I remember one in particular was about a woman who killed her husband with a frozen pot roast because he was having an affair or something, then she fed pot roast to the officers who came to investgate.
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"Lamb to the Slaughter" is one of my favorite short stories ever. I'll definitely watch these sometime. Thanks for sharing!
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Yes, "Lamb To The Slaughter" has been adapted on both ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS and ROALD DAH'S TALES OF THE UNEXPECTED tv series. Unsurprisingly, the Hitch is the better adaptation, although if you'd like to do a neat comparison, watch the WAY OUT version of "William and Mary" and then the TALES OF THE UNEXPECTED version. It's a very nasty story either way, but WAY OUT's beats the TOTU version, even though Mary in the TOTU version has some excellent line readings by the actress.
I'm glad you found the links interesting!
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Awesome! I'll have to check them out. I gobbled up Dahl stories as a kid.
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There are now 10 Way out Episodes on Youtube
William and Mary
I Heard you Calling Me
The Croker
Overnight Case
False Face
Dissolve to Black
Death Wish
Hush Hush
Side Show
20/20
This is as of 5/25/16. A just watches all 5 that were new to the internet and it was a fun experience. Sometimes videos on Youtube disappear without warning so I encourage any Way out fans to check it out soon.
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Of the new ones -"Side Show" is perhaps the most noteworthy for it's macabre quality, while the makeup on "False Face" beats the predicatble story! :Overnight Bag" was interesting as a low-rent version of a TWILIGHT ZONE story.
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Thanks so much for the recommendations! I will certainly check out Way Out on youtube as well as the Hitchcock adaptations of his work!
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Well there goes the rest of my free time. I definitely have to check this out
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Thanks--I'm always looking for suspense with a moral like in The Twilight Zone.
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Until I read this thread, I had no idea that there was a TV series based on Dahl's stories! Glad for the info.
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You may also want to hunt up ROALD DAHL'S TALES OF THE UNEXPECTED tv series