It Crawled Out of the Woodwork

Yet another energy being creates death and terror.

This series was beginning to repeat itself in plots and the lead actor (Scott Marlowe) is now way too associated with another Limits episode (The Forms Of Things Unknown) where he played a much more memorable/colourful character: "Andre".

I am so glad that shows like The Outer Limits and QM's The Invaders had a massive parade of guest stars each week, it gave the shows variety in faces on the screen, the only negative side to that is that both shows often demanded each guest star come back for a second or third episode playing a totally different character in the same series. Not a big issue but in the case of "Woodwork" this got on my nerves.

"Woodwork" might not be a favourite but it is still good entertainment.

A cleaner at a research Centre hoovers up a piece of dust, which for no fathomable reason transforms into a mindless, shapeless killing machine, rather than destroy it, The Director at The Centre uses it for his own purposes.

Some episodes are bizarre, this one is downright zany, but you have got to hand it to writer Joseph Stefano, he absolutely nailed it, to take something so inconsequential as a dust ball and turns it into such a destructive force, that took some doing.

This is definitely one of my favourites, I loved the many thoughts about energy, some very interesting ideas about how destructive a force it can be, and one that must be endured.

Expect lots of pyrotechnics and the appropriate special effects for the time, with a limited budget they made it look pretty good.

I thought Ed Asner was terrific as Sergeant Siroleo, a prolific, talented, much missed actor, someone I always picture as a villain, but he played the part of the straight talking cop very well.

One of the best, 9/10.

A creature of sheer energy is released by a poor cleaning lady at a facility called Norco. The people who run the place have a kind of pacemaker attached to their chests, allowing them to continue living. A young scientist goes to work and is soon dispatched because he has become privy to the evil doings of the people there. A guard tries to warn him off and he makes the mistake of telling the head of research. Meanwhile, his brother, who is supposedly twenty years old (he looks thirty-five) becomes embroiled in the mystery of his brother's death (there's even more I won't tell you). Ed Asner (looking younger than I've ever seen him) is a police detective who, after the brother's death, begins snooping around. An attractive young female scientist is mixed up in all this, but we don't know why. Asner confronts her and that leads to the ultimate resolution. As is the case with this series, they were very good at producing cloudy monstrosities that overwhelm their victims. This is a decent episode and worth a look.

Prof. Stuart Peters is hired by NORCO physics research center and his younger brother Jory Peters drives him to California in his car. They receive a strange note from the security guard warning them that the place is doomed. On the next morning, Stuart has a short interview with Dr. Bloch that takes him to Prof. Stephanie Linden´s laboratory since they will work together. Stephanie closes Stuart in a corridor and releases an energy-being; Stuart has a heart attack and dies. Meanwhile Jory lodges in a nearby hotel and feels worried with the disappearance of Stuart. Out of the blue, Stuart returns with a pacemaker but he accidentally slips and fall into a bathtub being electrocuted by the device. Detective Sgt. Thomas Siroleo is in charge of the investigation but in accordance with the autopsy, there is something strange in the death of Stuart. Now he will investigate the mystery.

"It Crawled Out of the Woodwork" is a reasonable episode of "The Outer Limits", with the storyline of an energy monster accidentally created in a power plant and the insanity of its creator. Unfortunately the intriguing storyline is wasted by a confused screenplay. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Ele Veio das Profundezas do Inferno" ("It Has Come from the Depth of Hell")

Well, we had a pouring night here in NYC yesterday...the perfect weather for taking in yet another ubercreepy episode of "The Outer Limits." The episode for me last night was No. 11 in the series, "It Crawled Out of the Woodwork." I had not seen this episode in a good many years and only recalled a few spotty scenes from it; never a good sign, going forward. And now, for the life of me, I don't know why I had such a poor recollection of it, as this turns out to be still another dynamite episode from this landmark series. This ep was created by perhaps my favorite triumvirate of "OL" talent: It was scripted by series producer Joseph Stefano, directed by Gerd Oswald, and featured ever-impressive, moody, noirish cinematography by the great Conrad Hall. These three would go on to work together on three more excellent "OL" outings, namely "The Mice," "The Invisibles" and "The Forms of Things Unknown," those latter two being in my personal Top 5 "OL" episodes. Anyway, this episode concerns the strange happenings that have been transpiring at the NORCO research lab in California. After a night-shift cleaning lady vacuums up a strange dust ball, the darn thing is somehow transformed into a ravening energy monster, similar in appearance but swifter- and jerkier-moving than the one that had appeared in episode No. 4, "The Man With the Power." It is a tremendous special effect, actually. Later, when a rising physicist, Stuart Peters (played by future "Star Trek" alumnus Michael Forest), starts his new job at NORCO, he is trapped in a corridor with the energy monster and is scared to death. The head of the facility (Kent Smith, who had starred in one of my favorite films of the '40s, "The Spiral Staircase," here sporting a superthick European accent) brings him back to life by dint of some revolutionary pacemaker device (as he has apparently done with numerous other NORCO employees), although Peters later dies again when his brother accidentally propels him into a water-filled bathtub. That brother, Jory, played by Scott Marlowe, becomes suspicious, and with his new galpal Gaby (another future "Star Trek" alumnus, the yummy Barbara Luna, who now, pretentiously, spells her name BarBara), starts to snoop around. A police officer, Sergeant Siroleo (very well portrayed by Ed Asner...it really IS a top-notch cast in this one!) goes to NORCO also to do some investigating, leading to all sorts of mishegas, as the energy monster is released from its confining Pit. This episode showcases some very impressive acting by all concerned and another highly literate Stefano script, although the Luna character is a bit undeveloped (scriptwise, not physiquewise, of course). The scene between the two brothers in the bathroom is particularly well played, and the actors who come up against the energy monster (including film noir character actor Ted De Corsia) all manage to look convincingly scared out of their wits. The episode features one tremendous moment guaranteed to make anyone jump; the one in which Jory speaks of his brother's "nice smile," and we jump cut to a close-up of Stuart's death grimace, as he lies on the floor at NORCO. Asner is given my favorite line of this particular episode, when he discusses Stuart's autopsy, and remarks "If he'd been in any better health they'd have given him a morning show on television." Funny! Unusual for Season 1, this episode features no teaser going in; we cut straight to that cleaning woman in the NORCO lab. I've always liked the mini teaser that "TOL" gave us at the outset, as when the actual scene crops up later in the show, it usually feels like the return of a recurring nightmare; like a bad deja vu. Anyway, the bottom line is that this is still another terrific episode, as Season 1 continued to blow the minds of its 1963 audience.