The Zanti Misfits

The Earth is forced to take a small number of Xanti criminals, and house them in Morgue, California, a small patch of desert land is allocated to them, and an instruction given, not to approach them.

Joseph Stefano wrote what I would call a classic with The Xanti misfits, it's definitely science fiction, but it has a true horror element thrown in, and decades on, it's still an unsettling watch.

There are so many great themes and ideas, the best of all I thought being The Earth held to ransom by The Zanti. You just know things are going to go wrong, if The Zanti can't deal with their own criminals, it was obvious they were going to cause chaos.

The Zanti really were very well designed and realised, lots of people hate bugs and creepy crawlies, so I can imagine this one unsettling many viewers.

Well acted, well paced, this one is a classic.

9/10.

Even by 1963 standards, the audience must have laughed much at this episode. instead of guns, guys, didn't the air force (SAC) issue you boots?

The US military must deal with insect-type aliens.

I like this episode a lot but the effects are not up to the standard of other episodes.

However, the nice contrast of alien insects, the US military and the drop out character played by Bruce Dern make this hour fun to watch. Also, the plot is very interesting.

The music is well matched to the hour and the location filming is pleasing to the eye.

If you like Bruce Dern in this I would consider tracking down QM's The Fugitive series as Bruce Dern appeared in that show FIVE times. I would be curious to know if Bruce Dern has ever commented on the Outer Limits over the years or if he even remembers doing it.

The Zanti Misfits is directed by Leonard Horn and written by Joseph Stefano. It stars Michael Tolan, Olive Deering, Robert F. Simon, Claude Woolman and Bruce Dern. Music is by Dominic Frontiere and cinematography by John M. Nickolaus Jr.

Season 1 - Episode 14

The planet Zanti requests Earth to provide a penal colony for its misfit criminals, the ship must not be in anyway interfered with or Earth will face dire consequences. Ceding to the demand, the ghost town of Morgue, California, is set up to receive the criminals, but just as the penal spaceship lands, a fleeing bank robber and his girlfriend put everything on red alert...

The Zantis of the title are a grotesque creation, unsettling in appearance and audible sounds. It may now be true to smile at the rudimentary primitive effects work, but the impact the creatures have remains to this day capable of raising the gooseflesh on your skin. Horn directs some smart set-pieces once the Zanti have been unleashed, all building up to a terrific final reckoning.

Once the episode reveals its hand, with a caustic observation on the human species, we end up with easily one of the best and most memorable episodes from out of the entire Outer Limits catalogue. 9/10

Here are some little-known but unverified facts about this episode :)

* The given name for the Planet Zanti is Zant; Zanti is actually a nickname. Zanti was chosen as the planet's name to make it less than obvious that the planet was named for an ant. It's also because it rhymes with "auntie", as in "Zanti Mame". The large mounds of earth and rock near the Zanti spaceship are known as "zanthills".

* The inspiration for the humanoid faces on the Zantis was the 1958 horror film "The Fly", which featured, near the end of the film, a fly with the head and arm of a human being (Al Hedison). However, the fly even sounded human ("Help me! Help me!"), having exchanged atoms with a scientist, whereas the Zantis only buzzed, disturbingly so. "The Fly" then evolved, or de-evolved (either word is correct depending upon your point of view) into the 1986 film version, in which the entire scientist becomes a hybrid of a fly and a human being.

* Ben Garth, the Bruce Dern character, didn't use the gun in the glove compartment to attack or defend against the Zanti Misfits, because he knew it wasn't loaded.