It Crawled Out of the Woodwork
STARRING:
Scott Marlowe, Barbara Luna, Ed Asner, Michael Forest.
A strange energy creature is kept locked up in an energy research lab.
This is probably the scariest of the series’ episodes. The featured energy creature, created via a variety of Special Effects, is unique, memorable, and pretty creepy. “Mary Tyler Moore” and “Lou Grant” fans will get a kick out of Ed Asner, in a confident, early TV appearance.
SYNOPSIS…
A scientist and his brother show up in L.A. The scientist goes to his new job.
The scientist dies, killed by a strange energy creature. The scientist is revived and fitted with a pacemaker. It shorts out when he falls into a bathtub, killing him again.
The scientist’s brother, a cop, and fellow scientists battle the energy creature. The creature is tricked back into it’s holding cage.
REVIEW…
Director Gerd Oswald’s IT CRAWLED OUT OF THE WOODWORK, is an odd, yet scary “Outer Limits” episode.
It’s fun to catch “Edward” Asner in an early career role as a cop. Asner exudes calm strength and confidence, and offers evidence of future TV greatness.
Some of the dialogue in the script, written by Producer Joseph Stefano, is rather campy. When scientist, Kent Smith, explains how the energy creature came into being, he states, “In the words of the cleaning lady, who unwittingly gave it life, it crawled out of the woodwork.”
Interestingly enough, cardiac pacemakers play a role in this episode. Apparently the devices were new enough, in the early sixties, to qualify as high-tech, futuristic gizmos.
Director of Photography, Conrad Hall, contributes to the episode’s odd, scary mood with tilted camera angles. The overall effect is like reading an old E.C. horror comic book, which was probably intentional.
The music in this episode is your standard spooky score. Dominic Frontiere is responsible for the familiar “shock” music.
The energy creature is a strange combination of smoke, explosions, animation, and stop motion camera work. The bizarre and effective FX were accomplished by Si Simonson, Ray Mercer and Company, and the Optical Effects Unit, headed by M.B. Paul.
IT CRAWLED OUT OF THE WOODWORK should be highly watchable for most Sci-Fi viewers. “Outer Limits” fans who missed this episode in its original release are in for a treat.
IF you liked THE INHERITORS, you should enjoy: Corpus Earthling, Nightmare, The Forms of Things Unknown.
