Don't Look Behind You

I need to Google, to find out why they expanded "Alfred Hitchcock Presents," to "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour." It merely magnifies the horrendous hamminess of the original series.

This episode is cringe-worthy. The over-acting!

Vera Miles is a thirty-three year-old in medical school?

Jeffrey Hunter had already completed the "surfer Jesus," "King of Kings" big-budget mess? Kind of a step back.

The Hitchcock series were always just awkward, even when he directed a few episodes.

Everyone performing in this episode, is a hot mess.

Good to see the second "Leave It to Beaver" house, make a cameo.

A psychology professor (Jeffrey Hunter) has his fiancee (Vera Miles) to act as bait for a campus killer. Jeffrey Hunter is excellent as the professor obsessed with the psychological mind of killers and believes the bloodlust can be catching. Vera Miles is suitably frightened, though that doesn't stop her from walking through the woods alone, but this wouldn't be a thriller if she didn't. Dick Sargent is excellent as is the creepy guy who plays the piano. It's a moody and creepy chiller that gets its suspense from dialogue.

The plot is a bit contrived and confusing but those 2 make up for it. Rest in peace Jeffrey Hunter and may Vera Miles continue to be blessed and alive.

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.

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.