Zoned Out: Monsters!

It is Saturday, so let's take another trip deep into...

This week, I give you a short tale of, well, Monsters.  What did you expect?

A couple raise their kid on Classic Monster Movies- people after my own heart.  The kid really wants a friend though.

He's a bit disappointed then when the new Neighbor turns out to be an old man with no grandkids.

However, something interesting happens when the curious kid spots the old man doing something crazy!

Just to note- this has nothing to do with this 1961 Twilight Zone Segment.

The man meets the kid on another night and explains that he's a friendly Monster!  This is kind of where this goes off the rails for me as it gets super-schmaltzy now!

He explains that one day he will die, but he wants the kid to remember good things like these fireflies.

Eventually, the people in town all turn into Monsters- something to do with humans being allergic to Monsters- and descend upon the old man's house.

In the aftermath, the town is confused, scared and has no memory of what happened.  Weird.

However, the kid remembers the field and the fireflies, so...all is well, I guess.  Oh and the Dad sneezes again.  The End.

Eh, this one is alright.  I will say that The Twilight Zone- all 3 Versions- could get a bit schmaltzy at times.  You have the tale of the old people playing kick the can, for one.  The issue with this one for me is that the balance is just off.  It starts off strong, but just kind of devolves into something else.  It is not badly-Acted, Shot or Written, mind you.  If you like this kind of stuff, you will have none of my complaints in that regard.  There are neat ideas here- like the kindly monster and the use of foreshadowing by way of people sneezing- that got lost in the ultimate product IMHO.  It is interesting to think that a guy who mostly did Detective Stories- Robert Crais- Wrote this one.  You may not know the name, but the 2005 Film Hostage was based on a Book he Wrote.  It is fun to see a great like Ralph Bellamy here, if nothing else.  Like I said, your mileage may vary here.  As for me, it is a neat idea...that just kind of turns into something else along the way.  Oh and THAT can't be healthy!

Up next, a Sci-Fi tale involving a most unique form of Capital Punishment.  Is silence worse than death?  Stay tuned...