Corpus Earthling

The "OL" episode that I reacquainted myself with over the weekend is my personal favorite of the entire series, and one that producer Joseph Stefano once said he thought was so frightening that, after he initially watched it, he wished he could refuse to show it on TV. And it really IS the scariest "OL" of the bunch, for my money. The episode is "Corpus Earthling," in which Mr. Outer Limits himself, Robert Culp, stars in his second of three appearances. (Culp had already appeared in the Season 1 masterpiece "The Architects of Fear" and would go on to appear in what is perhaps the finest hour of Season 2, "Demon With a Glass Hand.") Here, he plays a doctor who has a metal plate in his head, the result of a war injury, which enables him to hear the sinister conversation that is taking place between two rock samples in his wife's geology workplace. These rocks soon take over geology lab worker Barry Atwater, who follows Culp and his wife (statuesque blonde Salome Jens) to Mexico, to which the couple has fled. In one of the scariest sequences in TV history, and one that is highly reminiscent of a similar scene in 1956's "Invasion of the Body Snatchers," Culp discovers that his wife has been zombified by the rock creatures herself, and is now looking decidedly ghoulish. This episode features an amazingly high degree of paranoia and a downbeat ending that is fairly devastating. Culp is simply tremendous in the lead role, and the FX in the episode are of a fairly impressive order. Television surely has rarely been more chilling than this. I just love this episode to bits....

It's become apparent. It seems they made sure to cast Robert Culp in the best Outer Limits epsidoes. He was in "Demon With A Glass Hand" and "Architects Of Fear", two episodes that are in almost everyone's top 5 Outer Limits episodes. But this one should not be overlooked. "Corpus Earthling" is dramatic and it's real scary. Old fashioned true pure horror with real creatures and an ordinary man who becomes a monster. Suspenseful creepy music. For a dream vacation spot the couple travel too, it certainly looked dark and gloomy. But that's where all the ultimate climax action takes place. Don't miss Corpus Earthling. It's solid. Rated an 8/10.

The geologist Dr. Jonas Temple keeps two rocks in his laboratory without knowing that they are indeed alien invaders that plan to slave the human race. When Dr. Paul Cameron, who has a metal plate implanted in his skull, arrives at Temple´s laboratory, he overhears the conversation of the alien rocks. They try to force Cameron to commit suicide, but he is saved by his wife Laurie. Cameron believes he is deranged and travels to rest with Laurie to Tijuana in a second honeymoon. But the rocks sends D. Temple to hunt them down.

"Corpus Earthling" is so far the silliest episode of "The Outer Limits". The idea of alien beings that resemble rocks does not work. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Corpus Terreno" ("Corpus Earthling")

A bunch of talking rocks. I just can't get past it. Unfortunately, the creatures look a bit like lumps of tar flavored Jello. They are apparently set on taking over the world, one person at a time. They can transform themselves into silly looking spider like creatures. They have the ability to control minds which would lead one to believe that they could be more efficient. Robert Culp is the one that can make out their verbal offerings and starts to go bananas, running off with his wife to Tijuana. Unfortunately, they are able to follow him there. He must deal with paranoia and the deaths of a friend. The good part of this has to do with the atmosphere developed, particularly in the latter portion of the show. One thing that I couldn't put aside is that there is a sort of narration remindful of "The Attack of the Crab Monsters." For those of you who remember that classic film.

After a laboratory mishap leaves him with a concussion, rock scientist Robert Culp (as Paul Cameron) begins hearing the voices of two rocks, positioned on a shelf in the lab. They wobble for the camera, but go unnoticed by Mr. Culp, assistant wife Salome Jens (as Laurie) and geologist colleague Barry Atwater (as Jonas Temple). Culp thinks they may be diabolical life-forms from another planet, seeking to parasitically take over the bodies of humans, or a paranoiac reaction to his concussion and the upper metal plate in his head (holding him "together" after a brain injury). This is a typically excellent "Outer Limits" episode, featuring great direction by Gerd Oswald and wonderful photography by Conrad Hall, who give lovers of the female figure an arousing look at Ms. Jens in her slip.

******** Corpus Earthling (11/18/63) Gerd Oswald ~ Robert Culp, Salome Jens, Barry Atwater, Ken Renard