Review of Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983) by Michelle B — 24 Apr 2009

Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983) -- [6.5] -- With four different stories and directors, "Twilight Zone: The Movie" is a mixed bag. John Landis' segment is up first, dealing with a racist who suddenly finds himself pursued by Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan.

It's pretentious and anti-climactic, perhaps in part because some of the script was never filmed after actor Vic Morrow and two children were killed in an on-set accident. Even without the real-life tragedy, I can't imagine the piece being any more interesting.

Next up is Spielberg's sugar-coated segment, about residents of a nursing home who get a magical chance to become children again. Scatman Crothers is very good in the piece, but it just doesn't add up to much.

Half-way through the movie, things get much better. Joe Dante's segment about a boy who creates his own reality is quite good. The boy lures unsuspecting adults into his household and bends them to his whims.

.. or else. Dante conjures some surreal, cartoonish scares in the piece. The final segment, starring John Lithgow as an airplane traveller on the verge of a nervous breakdown, is by far the best part of the movie.

Lithgow sees a banshee destroying the plane's engines, but can't convince anyone else that it's real, even as the plane starts to go down. It's a terrific bit of suspense helmed by 'Road Warrior' director George Miller.

Look for Dan Aykroyd and Albert Brooks in the bookends, and enjoy another fine, fine film score by the late, great Jerry Goldsmith.