A Question of Fear/The Devil Is Not Mocked

I loved Night Gallery when it was first run just as I loved the reruns (was too young for first run) of The Twilight Zone. And while I've seen endless reruns of The Zone on cable, including the SyFy marathon every year I hadn't seen an episode of Night Gallery in years.

Two episodes of the series always stuck with me over the years though, the one in the pilot about the man scaring his father to death with paintings of the graveyard adjacent to their house and this one; A Question of Fear.

Since I couldn't find the series streaming anywhere I bought the first three seasons on DVD and just watched this episode for the first time in decades. A lot of these old shows don't hold up well over time, something we don't realize until we finally watch them again. The Zone is NOT one of those shows, it holds up perfectly. And I have to say that while I haven't watched any others yet this episode of Night Gallery has also held up very well.

Yes, the special effects are rudimentary compared to today but that really doesn't matter because everything else; the acting, and most of all the story, are just as good as I remembered them to be. And even though I already knew the plot twist at the end it didn't matter. It was a joy to finally watch this episode again and I look forward to working my way through all three seasons I have on DVD.

I highly recommend this series. It's aged very well and still provides great entertainment. The likes of Rod Serling will not pass this way again, mores the pity.

'A Question of Fear'. Scripted by Theodore J. Flicker, based on a story by Bryan Lewis. Leslie Nielsen stars as Colonel Dennis Malloy, a veteran mercenary who prides himself on never feeling fear. Not putting any stock in superstition, he accepts a bet from a man named Dr. Mazi (Fritz Weaver): spend one night alone in a supposedly haunted house, earn $10,000. Malloy figures it'll be money in the bank. Well, he does experience some general weirdness, but he doesn't suspect what actually lies in store for him. This segment is a pleasant surprise, given that it marks a directorial effort for series producer Jack Laird; Laird was usually responsible for the forgettable comic interludes on the series. While never actually scary (and that's not really the point of the segment, anyway), it does have an appealing "lost in the funhouse" vibe - until the big twist is dumped into Malloy's lap. We then see how suggestible he really is. Taking up almost 80% of the total episode run time, 'A Question of Fear' is very engaging entertainment, with fun performances by Nielsen and Weaver. 11 years later, they were both in the anthology feature film "Creepshow", although they appeared in different segments there.

'The Devil Is Not Mocked'. Scripted by Gene R. Kearney (who also directs), based on a short story by Manly Wade Wellman. Host Rod Serling explains the effectiveness of the basic premise beforehand: what if one villain is faced with a different, even more insidious evil? Top Nazi von Grunn (Helmut Dantine) and his troops enter the Balkan castle of an unnamed Count (the well cast Francis Lederer), intending to expose the Count as the leader of a resistance. But von Grunn is going to get a nasty surprise from the Count. Again, we are treated to some great acting from the principals, with an officious Dantine and an amiable Lederer commanding our attention. The viewer might get the twist ending spoiled for them elsewhere, but yours truly will leave it to you to see for yourselves.

Familiar faces in bits include Jack Bannon and Martin Kosleck.

Seven out of 10.

"A Question of Fear" has the time-honored premise of a boastfully fearless man dared to spend a night in a haunted house, though there is a lot more to it than that (I won't spoil). It is a long, measured horror/ghost story that is genuinely unsettling, but not for its special effects or gruesome makeups. While some of the effects are indeed startling, the makeup is shockingly amateurish. Fritz Weaver's spraycan white hair (which ostensibly turned white from shock) is downright embarrassing, and the makeup on a recurring apparition wouldn't pass the muster in a community theatre. What makes the story so scary is its implication and the performance of Weaver who describes a series of horrors in so chillingly that it doesn't need jumpcut scares and horrible faces. Leslie Nielsen is good as the ultra-macho "hero," but it is Weaver who really smacks this one out of the park.

"The Devil is Not Mocked" about a group of Nazis arriving at a Balkan castle to take it over during World War II is competently done, but anyone who cannot see the punchline coming a kilometer away should stop watching horror films. Particularly unnecessary is a wraparound sequence about a doting grandpa telling his grandson what he did in the great war.

This episode is worth watching largely for "A Question of Fear."

Hidden behind a Phantom of the Opera mask and make-up for his previous Night Gallery appearance, Leslie Nielsen is more recognisable this time around, although he does sport an eye patch and a bushy moustache, and his hair isn't white. Dr. Mazi (Fritz Weaver) thinks he might be able to change that last detail: he challenges fearless Colonel Dennis Malloy (Nielsen) to spend a night in the haunted house that caused his own hair to go white. If he can survive the night without dying of fright, the colonel will receive $10,000.

A night of eerie events ensues, but Malloy manages to keep his calm, making it through to morning, when Mazi reveals his true colours: he is seeking revenge for his father, who Malloy tortured during World War II. He informs the colonel that, while he was asleep, he was injected with a serum that will slowly turn him into an earthworm. Now that is something I would have loved to have seen... Leslie Neilsen transformed into a writhing worm... but it doesn't happen. The colonel shoots himself instead, after which Mazi reveals that he was bluffing. I wanted an earthworm Leslie Nielsen, goddammit! I feel cheated.

Tale number two is wholly predictable: during WWII, the German army arrives at a castle in the Balkans which they suspect is the HQ of the resistance. No prizes for guessing that the count who owns the castle is Dracula and his servants are werewolves.

'A Question Of Fear' - Leslie Nielsen plays a mercenary who accepts the bet made by a man(played by Fritz Weaver) who challenges him to spend the night in a haunted house for money. The mercenary scoffs at the cheap horror tricks on display in the house, but a hidden agenda comes into play, as the mercenary is faced with another horror entirely unexpected... Memorable tale is equal parts fun and menacing, with surprises and a nifty double twist ending.

'The Devil Is Not Mocked' - Francis Lederer plays a Transylvanian count who finds his castle invaded by the Nazis during World War II, but it then becomes a fight of who are the worst monsters... Most satisfying tale with an unbeatable premise of real vs. "unreal" monsters. Lederer's casting is most clever, having played this role before in "The Return Of Dracula".