Their world is full of Maple Streets, it is said, and this delightfully surprising episode of The Twilight Zone is another one that I can honestly refer to as one of "thee" best. It shows how rumor spreads, how paranoia takes over and how prejudiced destroys within its own community. With a cast led by Claude Akins, Jack Weston and Barry Atwater, this episode focuses on rumors of the arrival of extraterrestrials who are rumored to about attack the neighborhood. A power outage caused by the apparent arrival of aliens sets the townsfolk on edge and one by one, they begin to accuse each other of actually being the creatures from beyond. Jan Handzlik, whose only other appearance on film was as the young Patrick Dennis in "Auntie Mame", gets a key scene as the kid genius whose alleged conversations with the aliens leads to the panic and destruction that puts the Twilight Zone right in the heart of their community.
There have been many great films that have dealt with the issue of sudden fury, but never has it come so quickly and exploded so violently as it does in this classic Twilight Zone episode. Once again, the Twilight Zone deals with themes that are still resinated today and that makes it very powerful indeed. The neighborhood literally explodes like a volcano as the fear, frustration and finally the accusations begin to erupt and the final minutes are ingenius in explaining how an entire community can be completely destroyed simply through these destructive emotions. Once again, a fantastic script that will keep you riveted dominates the scene with powerful performances and characterizations that you won't forget. This is classic TV that can never be recreated or improved upon, and all done in under half an hour.
There have been many great films that have dealt with the issue of sudden fury, but never has it come so quickly and exploded so violently as it does in this classic Twilight Zone episode. Once again, the Twilight Zone deals with themes that are still resinated today and that makes it very powerful indeed. The neighborhood literally explodes like a volcano as the fear, frustration and finally the accusations begin to erupt and the final minutes are ingenius in explaining how an entire community can be completely destroyed simply through these destructive emotions. Once again, a fantastic script that will keep you riveted dominates the scene with powerful performances and characterizations that you won't forget. This is classic TV that can never be recreated or improved upon, and all done in under half an hour.