Nightmare as a Child

Were I giving out TZ Oscars, I'd give one to Janice Rule for her compelling turn as the troubled Helen Foley. And while I'm at it, I'd give a junior-sized one to little Terry Burnham as the sinister 10-year old girl, Markie. Between them, they really grab viewers though nothing much happens except the subtle dialog. Just who is this kid, and how is it she knows so much about the adult Helen and her mother's mysterious death. Overall, it's psychological drama at TZ's most insidious, and more dependent on good acting than most.

I really like that initial staging where little Markie sits on the stairs as if she's just stepped down from above, like from Helen's brain or maybe the Twilight Zone itself. Plus, she's so angelic looking. Could she be Serling's version of the Bad Seed (1956) despite her innocent looks. All in all, it's another first-rate installment from the series's magical first year.

This is a little more human episode. Are we dealing with the memories, repressed at childhood, or are we seeing the supernatural at work. Whether the young woman is actually experiencing this or thinking it doesn't matter. It is in her psyche and she must try to come to grips with it. The little girl's presence is certainly eerie, but this is about loneliness and fear and reclamation. The acting performances are quite good and the little girl is better than most. Serling loved to work the the ghosts of people's pasts, but usually it was some thing that they had done and they are now being punished for. This has a little of the lady caught in the bus station. Those observing would say she was on the brink of insanity. The difference comes in; the understanding. A good episode.

Not the best of the show, not as exciting as other stories but cool to watch, agreeable enough to justify the twenty six minutes watch. It is question of nightmare, childhood trauma, the eerie and fantasy elements that could have made this story included in ONE STEP BEYOND tv anthology show, also dedicated to unexplained events, some kind of cousin anthology series to TWILIGHT ZONE. So, yes, this is a cute story, that you can easily show to your family. This plot could have been made for a long length movie. I love the woman lead character, her face, her eyes, she is vvery convincing in this role.

Only a classic television series could have a story that's totally predictable and still be a decent watch that's not a time waster. Rod Serling certainly succeeded on achieving creepiness and intensity. Me personally I prefer more of an unexpected surprise ending. Perfect casting and strong performances by Helen Foley (Janice Rule), Peter Selden (Sheppherd Strudwick), and Markie (Terry Burnham). The most clever aspect of the writing was young Markie appearing to warn Helen of the coming danger. At the end we see Morgan Brittany replacing Markie on the stairs. Who "The Andy Griffith Show" fans will remember as Mary Alice Carter who dumped Opie (Ron Howard) after she accepted a dance invitation.

Janice Rule stars in this Twilight Zone story about a woman who has blocked out a memory of a terrible tragedy from her childhood. She went away after the murder of her mother, but now is back and is actually teaching grade school.

Outside her apartment she meets a most strange little girl played by Terry Burnham who keeps bringing up some repressed memories of what happened. Just in time as Sheppard Strudwick who knew her back as a child and exudes more and more menace as the episode goes on.

It's rather obvious what's going on here, still Rule, Burnham, and Strudwick deliver some fine performances.