The Bride Possessed

As the rest of this very long fantasy and anthology show from America, this story strongly reminds me two of Lewis Allen's films from the late forties: THE UNINVITED and THE UNSEEN. A mix-up between horror, thriller, mystery and fantasy. Gripping, riveting, what could we expect more? Skip Homeier is good in this non villain role, for once. This won't be the first episode to present such plot, there will be similar stories, more or less the same. But let's forget it and focus on this one. Just avoid to watch the ONE STEP BEYOND TV show episodes in a row. You could be puzzled and confound all those fantasy and sometimes disturbing plots.

This was the first episode of "One Step Beyond", officially sponsored by Alcoa, whose name is included in the title! This would be a typical series entry, as Skip Homeier plays newlywed Matt Conroy, whose pretty Louisiana born wife Sally(played by Virginia Leith) has a startling change of personality and accent on their honeymoon, which leads him to take her to see a doctor(played by Harry Townes) with knowledge of the new personality in Sally that leads back to a woman named Karen Warden recently killed in an accident off a cliff - or was it murder? Interesting plot is reasonably well handled, though abrupt nature of conclusion is unusual.

The first episode of "One Step Beyond" starts as newlywed couple Matt (Skip Homeier) and Sally (Virginia Leigh, who sports a rather silly southern accent and would go on to star in the cult b movie classic "The Brain That Wouldn't Die" three years later) when on there honeymoon, Sally begins to behave strangely, running off and not even recognizing who Matt is. He manages to track her to a house with the help of a police officer, and Sally begins explaining that she is someone else. She is taken to the local hospital where, the doctor (the great Harry Townes) reveals to Matt that she isn't his wife anymore. Is Sally crazy or is she really a bride possessed?.

Overall, I though this was a pretty good way to start the series off, the acting is pretty solid and John Newland is great in the opening and closing segments in his Rod Serling-esq role, the ending however is my only real problem it seems rather forced and abrupt, but still a solid first entry.

"The Bride Possessed" was the first episode of "One Step Beyond"--a suspense anthology series much like "The Twilight Zone"--though it was aired several years earlier.

A man marries a southern lady but on the way to their honeymoon something weird happens--she begins behaving like she's someone else! She has memories flooding in which are those of a murdered woman! At first, they assume she's crazy and she's hospitalized but because of all the specific details she knows about the dead woman's life AND the voice change, they start to wonder... Unfortunately, while an interesting premise, it did seem to end abruptly--a bit too abruptly. Not a bad episode but hopefully they'll get a bit better than this.

Matt Conroy ( first time I see Skip Homier not toting a six-gun!) is startled when on their honeymoon his wide-eyed, Louisiana-drawling wife Sally suddenly becomes a determined and demanding woman with no accent who denies even knowing him.

A watchable chiller about a murdered woman possessing a newly-married wife. It has some creepy atmosphere and good acting, especially from Virginia Leith, who is very convincing. The episode ends on a nigh, with the murderer confessing his crime but via the narrator.