Bereamic Awesome Movie

Afouotos Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Grimossfer Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

Philippa All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

kidboots I read an in-depth article about this series in either "Filmfax" or "Outre" and it stuck in my mind - I had never heard of the series before. When I saw "The Very Best of One Step Beyond" DVD on sale for about $6 - I thought why not buy it??? I have never regretted it. I don't know whether the standard of television is so abysmal now but I have seen half the episodes and apart from 2 (The Aerialist with Mike "Touch" Connors and Yvette Vickers and "The Ordeal on Locust Street" - just my own personal view) they are all winners. Some of the standouts for me :- "Night of April 14" with Patrick Macnee - about a couple that are going on their honeymoon aboard the "Titanic". The host then talked about a book that had been published in the 1890s about a ship called the "Titan" that could not be sunkit was very eerie!!! I must say that all the shows are based on real life occurrences. "The Return of Michael Campion" with Patrick O'Neal - about a man that holidays on a remote island - yet all the locals know him and dislike him!!! That show was a talking point all the afternoon - how could that happen etc. "The Vision" with Pernell Roberts about a group of soldiers in World War 1 that see a strange glow in the sky. I have read of a few different people who saw the same glow in different parts of the world at the very same time. "The Dark Room" with Cloris Leachman - about a strange man that consents to be photographed. "Echo" with Ross Martin, about a man's murderous past that catches up with him. Joanne Linville was in a couple and made an impression. "Delusion" starred the lovely Susanne Pleschette and "The Visitor" has a young and very handsome Warren Beatty.Highly recommended.

yesleo-1 I haven't seen OSB since I first saw it in the mid-late 60s. I remember being really spooked out by it and not wanting to miss it. I also remember the theme music, which alone sent a shiver up my spine. I remember in high school, when learning about jazz (which I'd never really listened to before), getting freaked out by George Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" because one of its themes sounded to me to be the theme from OSB.I'm glad to have stumbled upon this thread here in IMDb; I see now that I can likely find some copies of at least some of the shows, and maybe also see if the OSB theme and the "Rhapsody in Blue" theme I mention are really as close as it seemed to me that they were.Finally, in regards to the subject line of this comment: I would appreciate it if you all would please try to remember when posting, that the possessive "its" has NO APOSTROPHE. I especially ask this of those who promote themselves as College or University Professors!

theowinthrop I was born five years before Alcoa produced this wonderful series - and it is wonderful, even though I remain thoroughly skeptical about the "truth" of the stories that were presented. Hosted by John Newland, in a quiet, thoughtful, and urbane manner, it presented different types of occult phenomenon each week, in well produced half-hour shows. I did not see it until the 1960s, when it was in syndication as reruns. But it was certainly entertaining and creepy. I won't dare to rate it against THE TWILIGHT ZONE or THE OUTER LIMITS (in particular as they were outwardly fictional and frequently entered science fiction), but it was one of the top horror shows in television history.Newland would come out with his weekly introduction - just like Rod Sterling or Alfred Hitchcock on their shows. Sometimes he would bring a small prop or item related to the story. On one show he brings out an old watch, which he will look at several times in the half hour, telling the time on it. He says to the audience, when he first looks at it, "J.W.B. Those are the initials of the owner of this watch. They are the initials of a murderer." The episode that follows deals with the assassination of Abraham Lincoln (the watch being John Wilkes Booth's). It is not a simple retelling of the story of Lincoln's death. The episode describes the odd premonitions and signs that reportedly happened in Washington, D.C. on that date, and around the country. For example, Lincoln's relating several eerie dreams he had (one of which was of him in the East Room, being told that the visitors there were in mourning for the President - who had been assassinated).There were many odd stories. In one Donald Pleasance was a successful barrister, about to become a high court justice in Great Britain, when he is confronted by evidence that only he can understand that shows how he allowed an innocent man to be hanged years earlier at the start of his career (he was the prosecutor). Supposedly the truth was told to him by the so-called murdered woman (apparently not so murdered as she was supposed), but he never reported it to the authorities. Twenty years later and evidence that he destroyed reappears, forcing him to confess - and driving him insane in the end (he becomes a madman addressing the crowds in Hyde Park daily relating his evil act).An episode with Patrick Macnee about premonitions regarding the sinking of the Titanic ends with a reference which I can vouch for is true - that in 1898 Mr. Morgan Robinson wrote a novella, FUTILITY: THE WRECK OF THE TITAN, about the world's greatest ocean liner being sunk by an iceberg on it's maiden voyage with great loss of life. Another episode with Werner Klemperer dealt with an unrepentant Nazi, pursued by some malevolent spirit on a U-boat, who causes so much noise that the U-boat is forced to surrender to an allied naval craft or be blown out of the water. There was one curious episode about an evil aristocrat's diamond choker that picked up the vibes from her personality, and choked her to death (and later killed her maid who stole the choker as well). Elizabeth Montgomery played a young flirt on an old west cavalry post, who thoughtlessly forces a young officer to do a dangerous assignment that kills him, and yet, weeks later when the post has a regimental ball, is confronted before everyone by his ghost who dances with her until she dies.So it went on these episodes. Even if, like myself, you did not believe in the phenomenon that Newland's stories presented (and he never forced anyone to believe them) you got into the mood and watched some interesting stories, and some first rate acting (William Shatner, Charles Bronson, and Edward Binns were three other actors who appeared on the show). For a really spooky, but enjoyable experience, ONE STEP BEYOND was very hard to beat.

BrentCarleton This is a very worthy program that deserves revival, (preferably on DVD from 35 mm stock or original negatives). Comparisons with "The Twilight Zone" are really not terribly helpful inasmuch as they each have separate entertainment objectives."One Step Beyond" purports to dramatize actual psychic experiences. In this sense, its writers would have been working to depict (allegedly anyhow) first hand experiences with ESP etc.Irrespective of the truth of this, the show possesses a very singular, outre quality, quite unlike "TZ". Anyone seriously interested (academically or otherwise) in the paranormal would likely find this show of interest. A great deal of the oppressive mood of the episodes can be credited to Mr. Lubin's music, (some of which was released on LP--this is definately a record you should seek out)most especially the title theme.Mr. Newland made for an urbane and elegantly clad host, whose nebulous persona fit the mood of the episodes snugly. Not only was he personally interested in the paranormal, but he had a long stage, TV and film career already underway by 1959. Amongst other things, he was frequently featured on the excellent, "Loretta Young Show," and directed a film starring John Beale as a heart attack victim, (sorry the title escapes me at the moment). At all events, "Alcoa Presents One Step Beyond" merits reappraisal.