Darkroom
July 14th 2010 04:14
At the eleventh hour the intended stories were abandoned (Roald Dahl’s Lamb to the Slaughter, John Collier’s Evening Primrose, W.W. Jacobs’ The Monkey Paw, and Alfred Bester’s Star Light, Star Bright were among them), and a entirely new series of original stories were created (some by Pyscho author Robert Bloch). All the tales lifted the technique honed by Dahl or an intriguing premise that ends with an ironic sting in the tail.
James Coburn in the darkroom
And then we’d be in the darkroom and James Coburn would turn off the red light, and slyly eye the camera, “Oh, it’s you,” he’d say, “Come, I want to show you something …” The photo he’d just printed would be the opening still of the episode’s first story. The pilot episode features two tales, one half-an-hour long, the other twenty minutes. The first, Closed Circuit, written by Alan Brennert and directed by Rick Rosenthal (who helmed Halloween II released the same year), is a prophetic nightmare of paranoia with a science fiction turn.
Robert Webber as George Conway
In the second tale of the pilot episode, Stay Tuned, We’ll Be Right Back, written by Simon Muntner and directed by Paul Lynch (who helmed Prom Night, released the year before), Charlie Miller (Lawrence Pressman) has bought his young son Kenny (Shane Butterworth) a crystal radio set, and Kenny is intrigued by the old music and announcements he’s picking up. After work, alte one night, Charlie decides to have a listen and much to his dark fascination he discovers the elementary broadcast contraption is receiving transmissions directly from 1942, the year his father died aboard the USS Bradley, after it was sunk by a German U-boat.
Darkroom - The Complete Series DVD (2-disc with wonderful original “Pressbook” notes) is courtesy of Madman Entertainment, many thanks!
Here’s the opening sequence:
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