Forgotten TV: The Outer Limits - 'Vanishing Act'

 What if you couldn't stay where you are trying to be?
What if you couldn't stay what TIME you are trying to be in?

That's the question raised in...

In 'Vanishing Act,' a man- John Cryer- goes out to the Store on New Year's Eve 1949.

He sees a flash and his car goes off the road.

He's picked up the next morning and goes home, only to find out that it is New Year's Eve 1959 now.

Huh?!?

A Doctor is now help, as his body shows no signs of aging or trauma.

He doesn't have amnesia and that can't explain 10 years away!

He falls asleep in their home and wakes up, only to find that it is now New Year's Eve 1969!

His Wife remarried a few years earlier (to a damn Hippie!) and he has a son, since the duo *celebrated* his return last time.

To find any help, he finds the Doctor from 1959 at a Vietnam War Rally (it's opposed to it) and he's older now.

Still no luck- see you in 1979!

During his abrupt trips, he sometimes has flashes of what happened.

He remembers falling in a pool and seeing strange creatures.

He gets helps from Hippie Husband and his now Adult Son.

He eventually has to sleep, but they film things this time.

In 1989, things have changed- Hippie Husband is dead and the Wife is now an expert- and they find out the (bizarre) truth.

Weird aliens bonded with his body and every trip back home to report in creates the 10 year jump.  Something something worm holes.

The Wife gets the being to agree to let him go and he's back in 1949 to try again!
The End.

A bad case of the Quantum Leaps!

This is an odd premise and it needs many things to work.

The main thing is really genuine Actors and, most importantly, a strong Lead to anchor it.  Cryer absolutely delivers.

If you only know him from Superman IV or Two and a Half Men, think again.  He can really act and he's really motivated here.

The Special Effects here are minimal and maximized for effect.  You see enough to know that weird stuff is going on, but not so much that the game is given away.

It's nice to see a sweet and happy Ending for a change too.  They're usually bittersweet at best.
Just enjoy it now, because I know one of the more famous Bad Endings is coming up in this Top 10...

Next time, we get a proper Alien Episode and another one about the Military.  Will there be less Body Horror in this one?  See you then...

New (At Home) Flix: Obsession (2026)

The hype.  
It lives up to it.

This might just be your next...

A man named Bear is in a friend group of coworkers including his buddy, Sarah and Nikki.

He's been longing after Nikki for years, it seems.

He goes to buy her a gift at a Store that sells stuff like trinkets, 'magic' stones and the like.

He sees a novelty item that will apparently grant you a wish.

He wishes that Nikki loved him more than anything else in the World.

It works...too well?

She can't stand being away from him.
She loves him so much.

It seems great at first, but then she starts to act really weird.

Her behavior gets crazier and he shrinks more into his own shell.

When she has a big freakout (to say the least) around others, he will have to act...right?

Things go way too far and he has to make a decision.
He has to act!

Can he find a way out?
Is there one?

To find out, stream this now!

Damn.  Double damn!

This Film came with tons of hype, as a pair of Indy Films (alongside Backrooms) that just amazed people.  A24 vs. Blumhouse!

It's that good.
It's that freaky.
It's that intense.

It's Stars both do so well and they do so in very different ways.
Johnson- as Bear- does so much by doing nothing.  The way he shrinks into a bed/chair and can't say what he needs to say is amazing.  You could look lazy, but he's not that.

Navarette- as Nikki- obviously has lots more to do.  She goes from a normal girl to an absolute psycho.
She can do it abruptly or just build up dramatically.  You never quite know if she's going to jump scare yell or just simmer until she boils over.

She deserves all of the chances- especially considering that she was apparently paid $20,000 for this!

This Film is great, just make sure you're ready for sudden scares, freak-outs and genuine emotion.

A Film that did so much with a simple premise and mostly unknown Actors.  I'm so happy to say that this one is great! 

Tubi Thursday: Next of Kin (1982)

In Australia, the water flushes down the toilet the opposite way.
In Australia, their Thrillers take a long time to get going.

This is...

Amazing cover.

A young woman is back in Town to take ownership of her Mother's Estate in rural Australia.

It is an old building that is used as an Old Folks Home.

She does her best to help the people there, in spite of her lack of experience.

It goes alright until they find a dead, bloated guy in the bathtub.

Throughout the Film, she has weird dreams and visions as she uncovers and reads her Mother's Diary.

Things start to happen just like that.

Who's that at the window?

She also reunites with an ex-boyfriend.  
He's kind, handsome and...wait...why does that face look familiar?

Oh right- it's John Jarratt about 2 Decades before he became the worst Tourism Ambassador in Wolf Creek (and various Sequels/Adaptations).

Eventually, we finally get to Act 3 and everything comes to a head.

As it turns out, her Aunt (mentioned throughout the Diary under her initials) escaped from an Asylum that her Mom put her away in.

Her and her son Kelvin (a truly Australian name) try to kill her as this is sudden a Giallo!

She wounds her Aunt and escapes to the Diner from the beginning.  Chekhov's Set?

Kelvin follows and crashes his truck through the wall.
She has to finish him off in a fireball of a wreck.

Crikey!  
The End.

A Film that really requires you to be patient.

This one takes its sweet time letting you settle into the location, meet the Characters and pick up the subtle hints.

It's not like nothing happens.  Stuff happens just very, very slowly.

I can appreciate what they are going for.

That said, they could have easily had actually notable things happen more frequently in Act 1 and 2.
Act 3 is great.  I just wish that I didn't have to wait so long for it.

I love Giallo.
This is similar, but made to be more about mood than substance.

It's a well-made, but very glacially-paced Film that is worth the watch- as long as you're in the mood for something slow and moody.

A Film that is quite well made.  That said, it takes an eternity to get to the juicy stuff so bear that in mind.

Import/Export: Day Watch (2006)

At long last, the Film I bought for a dollar in a cheap plastic case a year or so ago.
This is Day Watch, the 2006 Russian Film by Timur Bekmambetov made before he broke big in America with Wanted.

Full disclosure- I didn't know that this was the Sequel when I bought it. 
Do you blame me?

The Plot follows our not-so-great Hero as he tries to keep the balance between Night and Day.  Meanwhile, his Son has been corrupted by the Night.
Can he bring him back?  Maybe a magical MacGuffin will save him.

The whole thing gets convoluted, as you'd expected, and boy is it weird too!

To find out how odd this really gets, read on...

In the Cold Open, we hear someone narrating the Story about Tamerlane trying to grab something called The Chalk of Fate.

He crashes through the walls (see the Stinger) and gets it, helping him be successful until his death.

The Chalk was never found.

Anton has been working to keep the balance, stopping/investigating attacks against normal people.

Him and his partner Svetlana chase down an attacker, but he stops her from injuring them.

Why?
It's his (sort of) evil Son!

He's also falling for Svetlana, but that is discouraged.
He's not sure how to tell her...or even to convince himself to act on it.

He does befriend the Owner of a Chinese Restaurant that might be important later.

The leader of the Night begins to kill people in an attempt to frame Anton for the crime.

To counter this, his Boss has him switch minds with a lady Sorceress in the same organization.

After some hijinks and melodrama (in that order) with Svetlana, she learns the truth.

This also doesn't help them, as they kill another person to frame him in his new body too.

It's all an attempt to break the uneasy truce between Day and Night, culminating in the son becoming an all-powerful force for evil.

Anton- back in his body- goes on the run and does Timur stuff like jump into a glass poster display to teleport into the subway...which buys him about 4 minutes head start.

The battle then becomes about control of the Chalk.

Anton gets it, but can't bring his son back with it.
The son can't use it.
The bad guys plans to get one of his helpers- Alicia- to do it through deception.

Speaking of deception, this Movie goes full Clayface as Anton's disguise fails spectacularly!

The Night Leader's plan to frame Anton falls apart, but he pivots to tricking Svetlana into fight the Son.

This breaks the truce and all hell breaks loose.

Anton gets the Chalk and saves the day?  How?

He undoes his decision from the beginning for Night Watch and doesn't try to cause his ex-girlfriend to have a miscarriage.

He does still find Svetlana in this new timeline, however, and they are destined to be together.

Still a better way to make your older Stars look young than in the Saw flashbacks from Part 7.
The End.

A long, convoluted Film that has many good moments...eventually.

This Series (which was supposed to be a Trilogy, but isn't) is known for two things.
A dense Plot with lots of implied backstory.
Randomly cool visuals that make no sense.

Both are on display here, for better or worse.

This one has crazy car stunts, some fights and other magical shenanigans.  They do save many for the Third Act, which is appropriate.

I just found it hard to follow as the Film chugged along, talking about Pacts, magical Chalk and doing random nonsense.  It's not a terrible Sequel by any means though.

Like the last Film, if it did something for you, this one will too.
No need to Run Your Horse Through a Wall.

Is that an expression?

Next up, let's revisit a Film that I haven't thought about since I worked in a Theater while it was out.  This Island led us to the Transformers.  Stay tuned...

Forgotten TV: The Outer Limits- 'Quality of Mercy'

 A famous Episode of this Revival gets its due.

Time to explore...

In 'Quality of Mercy,' we get the cruelest of all Bottle Episodes.

A Space Soldier (Robert Patrick) is captured and thrown in a cell with a woman Prisoner.

They're both held by some powerful Aliens that are trying to destroy humanity.

He feels for her after he learns that she's being experimented on.
They are trying to turn her into one of them!

He knows that he has to expedite their escape!

He can get into the vents, but getting anywhere else is another matter!

Meanwhile, the poor lady gets more and more deformed by the experiments.

Can he save her?!?

His attempts continue to fail, ending with him getting a wounded leg and losing one of his hands to an alien!

She asks him to kill her, but he can't bring himself to do that.

Instead, he gives her hope- all that he can, at least.

He tells her about an Earth Fleet hiding and preparing to attack the alien home world.  She thanks him for this.

The Guard enters and this time she doesn't fight him.

She reveals that they have been transforming her- turning her BACK into one of them.
He just gave away Earth intel that they needed!

Whoops!

The End.

Wow.  That one was something!

It's a great example of how you can do so much with so little.

We get two people in a Cell.
We get weird little puppet creatures.
We get one big alien in a suit.

That's it.

In spite of that, they milk so much emotion, drama and intrigue out of things.
It's a master class in minimalist execution.

The twist is contentious as some people go 'I figured it out right away.'
If you did, more power to you.  You still got to enjoy the Episode.

It's a must-see for fans of the Show- no question.

Now why did they pose for this?

Next time, we jump to Season 2 and a Time Jump is part of the Plot.  What happens when you're gone?  See you then...

Shudder Day: 'Tales from the Crypt' - 'The Trap'

 Show me the Director Fox!

A handful of Episodes of this Show were Directed by surprising names.
Besides Arnie (here), we have Season 3, Episode 3.

It was Directed by Michael J. Fox.

How is it?

Our Host introduces the idea of Insurance and consequences in his Segment.

It's funnier than I made it sound.

A man named Luigi (Bruce McGill) is in deep debt, is kind of a jerk and is desperate for a way out.

He comes up with a crazy plan...

He essentially blackmails his Brother (Bruno Kirby) into faking his death.

He does his best, even if Luigi is full Paul Bearer in that makeup.

It seems to fool the Police (like James Tolkan here), but there are lingering bits of evidence.

They knocked him out to help fake his death and his blood is on the fire poker.
That might come into play later.

The ruse works and they get the insurance money.

However, his Wife- Terri Garr- clearly has eyes for his Brother.

They convince Luigi to hide out in South America for a few months to sell the con.  He also gets plastic surgery down there too.

After 6 months, he finally comes back and they've married in his absence...as well as spending a good chunk of the money.

He tries to out them and the scheme, but...it ends poorly.
I'll avoid SPOILing the Ending for you here.

A fun, silly and twisted Episode.

In other words, it fits right in!

I suppose the fact that this is actually an adaptation of a real Comic Story does explain it.
Sorry, Racer Brad Pitt.

The Episode is full of talented (and sadly, mostly now dead) Actors like Kirby, Garr, Tolkan and McGill.
They absolutely make the Dark Comedy work.

Credit also goes to Fox, of course, who Directs this one quite well.  Why he did this (and one Sitcom Episode) and stopped Directing is a question I don't have an answer to.

Speaking of which, he managed to find the perfect guy to play a Prosecutor in the Finale...

An Episode that truly fits the weird, twisted spirit of the Show.  Here's hoping that other unlikely Directors brought as much as Mr. Fox did here!