The Other Way Out

Worth seeing to see Burl Ives as old man Doubleday.

Ross Martin (some may recall him from the 70's series "Little House on the Prairie" as the hapless general store owner, Alison Angrim's father).

Martin is an uptight businessman being blackmailed by someone who tells him to drive into the desert, and deliver blackmail money. Someone has witnessed a murder. Martin is good, we see the environs of the 1970's ; boat-like cars, plaid leisure suits. It is sort of a throwback in time to watch some of these episodes.

Chiller channel often shows many episodes of Night Gallery. It would be nice to get a complete set of DVD's to watch on a rainy night. Recommended.

This is my all-time favorite episode of Night Gallery; just thinking about it gives me gooseflesh! I vividly remember seeing this episode as a small child and being scared out of my wits! I literally had nightmares for days afterward. And the choice of Burl Ives to play creepy Old Man Doubleday is such a juxtaposition to his usual roles as to add to the creepiness tenfold. Years later, when I first heard the song "Hotel California" I was reminded of this episode. Watch it and you'll see why!

PS: The above reviewer is incorrect. Richard Bull played Nels Oleson on Little House on the Prairie.

There were a few aspects which kept this from being a great segment, and I'll get to them in a minute, but Ross Martin(Bradley Meredith)absolutely stole the show as a man who killed a dancer, although we never see any of it. Perhaps this was edited, but watching a scene like that would've enhanced this episode; in any event, Martin was in fine form. I can't say the same for Burl Ives, who basically mumbles his way for most of the duration, while clumsily playing a banjo; he happens to be the grandfather of the dead girl, and he figures out that Meredith was her killer, and he decides to torment him in a revengeful way, although I thought Ives could've added more to what was an interesting role. The creepy house(a Night Gallery staple)and surrounding foggy atmosphere was filmed well, as were the "escape" routes in said house. I was also a little disappointed when we finally meet Sonny, played by Adam Weed(his only acting performance), as the brother of the dancer. Martin makes up for these little fuzzy details that bug me, as he was very convincing as the confused man uncertain just what's going on in this house. Let me also mention the noisy dogs in the yard to add to the craziness.

Ross Martin plays philandering businessman Bradley Meredith, who returns from vacation and receives a threatening note about a go-go dancer he had an affair with and murdered, though got away with. He drives out to a remote location to pay the blackmail demand, but instead falls into a carefully laid trap created by her vengeful grandfather(played menacingly by Burl Ives) who wants him to pay for his crime, and offers him a stark way out of the trap as soon as Sonny comes... Best episode of this truncated season is a real knockout, with fine acting and quite a forceful script and direction. Mercilessly bleak of course, with a humdinger of an ending.

This is one of my favorate episodes of the show. It sort of plays out like a EC Comics Suspense Story, which were always formatted where the guilty maneuver themselves into their own poetic demise.

It's a simple premise which is what makes this work keeping itself simple. Burl Ives is great as Doubleday; he's a crafty old fellow. I really like how at first he displays himself as a simple old man whom may'be a good samaratan but then he really turns it around and we see it's no more mister nice guy which can be scary.

Instead of killing the slime Martin, he wants to play a game with him much like a cat playing with it's food before the kill. He throws him into a maze with limited ammo to defend himself with and a limited amount of time to find his way out before Sunny comes home.

I really like the set pieces of this maze, but I just really like the suspense that is just constantly builds. I really like how the Sunny character is built up, despite not seeing him he poses a omnious threat due to how Doubleday describes him, but as I said about Doubleday he's a crafty fellow so nothing is ever what it seems hense the first part of his name. You are on constant edge, you kinda already know that the slimeball is going to get it but you don't know how or when; but like all the guilty that pay for their crimes sooner or latter theres no way out.

Rating: 4 stars