It Crawled Out of the Woodwork

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")

Weird episode over two brothers who goes to California to works at Norco, a center of studies and research of experimental physics, the old brother Dr. Stuart was hire, however he was induced to enter in a narrow passageway that ends up in a pit, two doors control the access, suddenly the last door opens and release an unknown creature of utter energy of a dust shape, he died of fear, it was appeared on the lab out from nowhere, therefore the director Dr. Bloch got to rise again with a special cardiac peacemaker, but no longer as a usual human being, the young brother Jory Peters received a sudden visit of the disappeared, after a little chat on the bathroom he feels that his brother is too shallow and odd, Dr. Stuart fell down in bathtub, in contact with water he receives an electric discharge from the peacemaker and going to die, aftermath on the lab the Seargent Siroleo has been making his regular inquire, then Jory appears later, together they can solve the murders and what's really was the unrestrained creature!!!

Resume:

First watch: 2019 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 7

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.

I was 8 when this show aired. All of us kids in the neighborhood were nearly traumatized by it every week yet couldn't not watch it. Yet nothing but nothing terrorized me more than the truly alien "life form" of this episode. As frightening as the Zanti Misfits were, this is the only thing from my entire childhood besides Margaret Hamilton's Wicked Witch of the West that actually gave me nightmares. Superbly imaginative rendering of a thing as truly alien and terrorizing as could be. The film noir and desolate presentation is reminiscent of Carpenter's "The Thing".

Ed Asner is right; it is a terrible script, not helped by Scott Marlowe chewing scenery in a role he was far too old to do. All of the "scientists" are deadly dull, the monster is poorly animated, and the first half is plagued by the slow-pacing-and-overly-dramatic-music so typical of Outer Limits. Joan Camden must have been bored out of her mind.

But now for the good news: the director makes interesting use of shadows and lighting, and the pacing picks up as the story progresses. While Michael Forrest's naturalism warms the first third, the mid-show picks up with Barbara Luna's energy -- sadly wasted, as the script basically runs out of things for her to do. But the final third is enlivened by Ed Asner, who holds our attention despite the so-so scripting. Acknowledgement must also be made for Ted de Corsia's security guard, who is equally convincing in his small role.

Star Trek connections aplenty, with Michael Forrest and Barbara Luna on screen, Vic Perrin as voice-over Fred Phillips doing make-up, and Gerd Oswald directing (noticeably similar to his work on TOS "The Conscience of the King")