(1968)
Dir - Peter Sasdy
Overall: MEH
The second of two Journey to the Unknown episodes to have Hammer director Peter Sasdy behind the lens, "Girl of My Dreams" is an adaptation of Richard Matheson's 1963 short story of the same name. It takes the premise of premonitions and in addition to exploring the type of turmoil suffered by those who have them, also shows what can go horribly awry if said psychic medium runs into the wrong type of asshole. Said asshole is portrayed by Michael Callan as a man who takes ruthless advantage of Zena Walker and her vivid nightmares of future deaths, and watching the hapless Walker do everything in her power to accommodate her clearly up-to-no-good husband becomes increasingly unpleasant to watch. Justice is eventually served, but the road to get there is only mildly interesting and more of a showcase for Callan to be unwholesome.
(1968)
Dir - Alan Gibson
Overall: MEH
Sidestepping what could have been yet another premonition story, "Somewhere in a Crowd" opens with David Hedison's troubled protagonist ranting and raving to anyone who will listen to him, (and those who refuse to), about seeing a handful of people in some crowd footage which to him spells doom. Based on famed science fiction writer Ray Bradbury's "The Crowd", it mostly runs through the formula of every other character refusing to believe the one who is claiming that otherworldly forces are afoot, (which of course they are), and the plot follows a predictable pattern where Hedison is believed to be crazy, seems to have been cured by a psychiatrist and his steady love interest, and all of this happens when we still have several minutes left in the running time which can only signify that a happy ending is not in the cards. Jane Asher is also on board as another woman that Hedison has an affair with who is also part of the aforementioned "crowd", a detail which makes our lead kind of an asshole actually.
(1968)
Dir - Gerry O'Hara
Overall: MEH
Pure melodrama fuels the Journey to the Unknown installment "Do Me a Favor and Kill Me", which finds Joseph Cotten uttering those words to his agent after failing to attempt suicide. On top of obviously being ill-advised, such behavior seems sudden and unnecessary, though Cotten does his predictable best with the assignment, portraying a mostly unlikable alcoholic actor who has blown a number of chances at keeping his career on track before he becomes hopelessly paranoid about changing his mind on the unwholesome favor that he has asked for. An adaptation of a story by Frederick Rawlings, it is unfortunately another one with a twist ending that anyone can see coming from miles off. Any time that a guaranteed insurance money payout is on the table, all one has to due is look at the beneficiary to surmise what is going to go down, and since the story springs from such far fetched logic to begin with, this one has little to offer besides Cotten doing his professional best.
(1968)
Dir - Don Chaffey
Overall: MEH
Journey to the Unknown finally ventures into haunted house terrain with "The Beckoning Fair One", an adaptation of Oliver Onion's 1911 novella of the same name. Sadly, the presentation lacks sufficient chills and is a better vehicle for Robert Lansing to increasingly just act like a prick. We do have a portrait of the abode's beautiful and previous owner that has the ability to haunt/entice/possess men, but besides the woman's cackling voice being heard at irregular intervals, all of the explicit ghost activity is kept off screen. Another male character even claims to have had a run in with the lady specter at a dinner part, but the presentation forces us to take his word for it. Such suggestive supernatural occurrences are fine to indulge in, but the plot merely has Lansing growing more insulated and cold to those around him while talking to himself, which hardly conveys any type of proper spooky atmosphere.
No comments:
Post a Comment