Don't Look Behind You

I remember Jeffrey Hunter when he played Christopher Pike on the fStar Trek pilot episode, The Menagerie. He was a painful character then and here again. Here he is involved with the beautiful Vera Miles. There have been attacks on young women in a college town and he has decided to capture the perpetrator. He is a specialist in abnormal psychology and wants to invade the psyche of the killer. She is involved with two other men in a casual way. One is a co-worker and the other a concert pianist. They both have bland personalities. One of them is Dick Sargent who became the second Darren on Bewitched after Dick York left. The problem with this one is bad acting and a slow, ponderous pace which may be a problem with the full hour Hitchcock episodes.

Why is it so many lovely young women walk through creepy woods at night, when I turn on my TV. You think they'd know better. But then I'm glad they do since it's really a great hook. Here it's the fetching Vera Miles traipsing through one of the creepiest woods on record. And guess what—she gets menaced by something sinister. What a surprise! The next fifty minutes is figuring out who's in the woods with her and why.

Sounds like a great episode, but I'm sorry to say it's not. The script is a real awkward stretch, while Jeffrey Hunter telegraphs by overacting egregiously. And since he's really central, the entry collapses with him. Too bad that marvelous actress Miles has to stand around and look interested; plus, why would she trust Hunter who's obviously a lunatic if not the killer. Too bad a really evil studio forest is largely wasted, including the dark imaginings of Gothic director John Brahm. Meanwhile, I'm telling the girls to stick to city streets. Uh oh, maybe that's not a good idea, after all.

Title: The Alfred Hitchcock Hour - Don't Look Behind You - Season 1 Episode 2

Director: John Brahm

Details: Crime, Drama, Mystery; Release date (September 27, 1962 ); B&W

Starring: Jeffrey Hunter, Vera Miles, Dick Sargent

Synopsis: An unknown assailant has been attacking women in the college town of Woodside and it looks like medical student Daphne (Vera Miles) might be next on the list. Despite all of the nefarious goings-on, Daphne doesn't seem too concerned about walking through the woods alone at night or keeping doors and windows shut and locked. Her psychologist boyfriend (Jeffery Hunter)suggests she become a decoy to draw the attacker out into the open. Should be the makings of of a top rate thriller but.....

Quick Review: This episode is pretty much DOA from the git-go due to the cartoonish portrayals by the principle characters as an unbalanced bunch given to silly psycho babble and involving themselves in just generally inconceivable situations. Probably the weakest season one offering.

Rating: D

A previous poster called her Madge "Batman" Kennedy. Madge Blake played Aunt Harriet Cooper on Batman. Madge Kennedy played Aunt Martha on Leave It To Beaver.

"Don't Look Behind You" is a very flawed episode of "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour". While the plot idea itself isn't bad, the characters are mostly awful...one dimensional weirdos who just don't exist in the real world. This alone ruined the episode for me.

Daphne (Vera Miles) is supposed to go to a faculty dinner at some college and her boyfriend Harold (Jeffrey Hunter) is supposed to escort her there. But he's late, and she goes through the woods to get to the dinner. On the way through these woods, she feels as though someone is following her and towards the end, she rushes through the place as quickly as she can. Now this makes no sense, as apparently a woman was slashed to death in these same woods....and so Daphne goes there?? What also doesn't make sense are the weird professors at the party....who talk about the murder and say all sorts of things that would seem to incriminate themselves! As for Harold, she shows up a bit late and is the weirdest of all...talking with a strange earnestness which is just baffling. Sure, he's a psychology professor, but he sounds so excited about the killing that it's just creepy and makes little sense. Later, he and Daphne go through the woods AGAIN and find a woman who's been attacked and bloodied but is still alive. Again...why go through these woods...especially at night?! What's next? Well, rest assured none of it makes a lot of sense and the characters are just plain weird.

While the episode did a great job in setting a scary situation, it really fell down when it came to the characters in the show. I really felt bad for some of the actors as they could act given better material...and Jeffrey Hunter...well...he was amazingly goofy...even more than the rest of these knuckleheads. The show also had no idea when to end and really could have used a trimming. Overall, a really poor installment...one that really annoyed me because it was so shoddy and didn't need to be.