What's XMAS without some Outer Limits!.. That's what I always say. So, here is a very depressing episode from the first season, and, it goes like this... A parasitic advance guard from outer space strives to kill a physician because he's the only human who can hear them communicate because of a metal plate in his head. The physician believes he's gone insane because he first heard the aliens right after suffering a concussion in a lab explosion. His wife, the laboratory assistant, comforts him while the lab's geologist is targeted for takeover by the parasites.
This one stars Robert Culp, who played tennis bum Kelly Robinson on I SPY, a show I loved back in the day. Salome Jens plays Robert's wife, she was the crazy looking gal from the future in TERROR FROM THE YEAR 5000, what Eegah!! and I saw around 1960 at the theater. It also stars Barry (THE INVADERS) Atwater, Ken (KILLER DILLER) Renard and David (TRAUMA) Garner.
Here's Laurie Cameron in the lab, she's putting up some new rock samples for study.
After an explosion, Paul Cameron is dazed, he claims to have heard some alien voices discussing the plans for an invasion of Earth! But like, you know,..
What, The, HELL!!
The other person at the lab, Dr. Temple, and Laurie, surmise that the metal plate in Paul's head (he was wounded in WWII) could have served as a receiver (they actually believe him!).
But later, Paul starts hearing the voices again, and, he becomes hypnotized and is ordered to jump out of a third story window!! He's barely saved from the fall.
After Paul and Laurie leave, and have decided on a vacation in Mexico, one rock transforms into a slimy parasite and attacks Dr. Temple. It isn't long before the thing takes over his body.
And now,
he looks like this!!.. The thing knows what it has to do.
Pant, phew... It's hot and sultry in Mexico this time of year you know... hubba hubba!
And guess who shows up to ruin all the fun while Paul's away?.. Doh! Stupid question!
Well, it's not long before Laurie becomes a victim, and, it ain't pretty! I have to tell you, this episode is a real horror fest, and, it gets worse!
So, Paul returns to his adored wife and is greeted by
THIS!.. He makes a hasty retreat and disappears into the city to hide from the invaders.
W!.. T!!..
F!!!..
Blind shadows is one of my fondest memories from the fifties!
Now back at the ranch, Paul has to fend off the thing's attack and ends up stabbing it with a scalpel, killing Dr. Temple and releasing the parasite. That second still is pretty damn freaky!
Anyway, here's the deal... Paul ends up shooting his 'wife' to destroy both parasites with fire. He carries his dead wife to the car as the narrator bids us adieu with a dire warning, watch out for monsters!! Happy Holidays Ever'bloody! Later!..
Very creepy episode to be sure!
ReplyDeleteOnly thing better (to me) is the original 1960 novel it was based upon. Not an earth-shaker, but a good little 35 cent pulp paperback. I've read that sucker 3 or 4 times!
ReplyDeleteThat's funny because I'm a terrible novel reader, but I've read it too. It is very odd.
ReplyDeleteWell, it's not the same as the episode for sure. I enjoyed the fleshing out (or padding if you prefer) of the storyline I found in the novel. Might also be the situation in my life when I first discovered and read the book...
ReplyDeleteKD, who wrote this novel, and is it entitled Corpus Earthling as well?
ReplyDeleteMan, I love those old Sci-Fi paperbacks, Eegah!! and I read a lot, my favorite story was SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES by Ray Bradbury. I also read THE GODS HATE KANSAS which was made into THEY CAME FROM BEYOND SPACE, and REPILICUS, which had some sex in it, a real thrill for a 13 year old boy back in 1961.
ReplyDeleteCORPUS EARTHLING (1960, Zenith Books) was written by Louis Charbonneau, and was the original basis of the OUTER LIMITS episode. A lot of the book's content was dropped from the TOL episode, for sure. The book meandered a bit, such as the main character, Paul Cameron, was single, lived in a mobile home park, was a teacher, and had a crush on a pretty young student who lived in the trailer next door. The pretty student was dating a football player, as I recall. So the book went off in various directions not followed in the TOL episode. One of the more interesting (to me) tangents was that in his effort to understand the voices in his head, he went to an Eastern-style spiritual cult. At that point my memory fails me a bit, because the last time I read the book was perhaps 15-20 years ago. I'm 65 now, and my memory is getting foggier as time passes...my doctor told me that i'm starting to show signs of early you-know-what. Sorry.
ReplyDelete@Grant - I'm not much of a novel-reader either, as I find almost all novels to be hopelessly padded short stories. But in the summer of '76, I read a lot of old sci-fi paperback novels, which I picked up for a song at a used book store in San Jose, CA. CORPUS EARTHLING among others, also TIME DISSOLVER by Jerry Sohl, and a few other favorites. Those novels captured my interest and imagination, helping me get through the draggy film school classes I was taking. Those books and others were my escape, along with day trips to Santa Cruz and the beach boardwalk there. I always wanted to make a micro-budget indie film of CORPUS EARTHLING, based more on the book than the TOL episode...I just got a new camera and computer for xmas, so who knows...maybe now?
ReplyDeleteEND OF TRANSMISSION for now...
PS: The book of CE appears after significant research to be in the public domain and has been from the start, since it was never copyrighted!
ReplyDeleteWow,I will check it out. Thanks!
ReplyDelete@Randall Landers...hey friend, if you want to get a copy of the CORPUS EARTHLING paperback, be sure to get the first printing, reviewed pretty negatively, but with a scan of the rather sexy cover art here:
ReplyDeletehttp://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IG408CzxZpM/TgsxlvfTLOI/AAAAAAAACu8/pnsQjdlzVhw/s1600/Review+of+Corpus+Earthling+%25281960%2529.JPG