User Reviews

It is hard to critique this episode without something of a spoiler but the Twilight Zone is so well known now that there can't be much left to spoil. That is except the qualities that made the episode worthwhile in the first place. I don't think any of the remake episodes in this series were a good idea with the exception of A Game of Pool which restored the writer's original ending that was changed in the original production. This one is a prime example of when it was a bad idea.

The original script focuses on the main character a young woman who can only remember one month of her life who goes to a department store where she eventually discovers that she is a mannequin who was given her turn to have a real life in our world and must return so that another can take a turn. She struggles but in the end she remembers and comes to terms with her destiny. There were virtually no special effects and the writing was about her character and gradual realization of who she really is and her relationship to the other mannequins.

This version cheapens all that to turn it into a short B-horror movie. The mannequins come after her in literal reality, hands without fingers and such details. She breaks a window and they chase her through the mall (an acceptable update from the multi-floor department store of the original although the non-existent 13th floor where mannequins are stored was a nice touch) looking evil and threatening. As they close in she begins to turn back into a mannequin one body part at a time. Leg turns to plastic, then an arm etc. The subtleties of character and acting of the original are gone in favor of special effects and makeup tricks. It is as if the episode had been moved from Twilight Zone to Night Gallery. It also went from a foot deep to an inch.

It was perhaps wise for the 80s Twilight Zone to offer their remake of The After Hours in one of their shorter segments. The Anne Francis version in the 60s is so eerie and odd, one of the classic series' best remembered, that attempting to duplicate its success would be a bit of a trial. So the cute and bubbly Terry Farrell (of Deep Space Nine fame) is the Francis version, with Ned Bellamy and Ann Wedgeworth as the mall mannequin occupants who insist that she return to her plastic form so another has the opportunity to spend life as a human for a month. Farrell resists, trying to flee the mall while Bellamy and Wedgeworth pursue, seemingly always one step ahead. Eventually Farrell's body relents, flesh giving way to plastic. Wedgeworth is mysterious and ominous while Bellamy has a rather friendly disposition despite his hands having no form in their fingers. Bellamy is the softer mannequin who appeals to Farrell to do the right thing while Wedgeworth approaches with seemingly sinister intent. Quick and painless is this version, recognizing that Farrell's peril makes sense if we put ourselves in her shoes: to be free from the bondage of the plastic shell, why wouldn't she run away, hoping to escape? I think the reason this doesn't necessarily compare favorable to the original is the department building was eventually shot rather creepily and the use of mannequins were far more unsettling.

This version of "The After Hours" is much darker than the original, but any semblance of a thoughtful plot is thrown out in favor of cheap thrills. Some of these are effective, like the box full of disembodied mannequin heads with moving eyes and mouths. However, the incessant and seemingly pointless chase scenes get old quickly. This episode would work better as a psychological drama in which the main character thinks she is undergoing a mental health breakdown as a result of increasingly bizarre events during a seemingly routine shopping trip.

"Lost and Found" feels like a time-crunched writer dug up a homework assignment from a Screenwriting 101 class, shrugged, and said, "Welp, it's better than nothing."

"The World Next Door" is the biggest letdown of any Twilight Zone segment I've seen so far. It has all the ingredients of a classic - a top-notch cast (including Norm from "Cheers," damn it!), a plot that features a tantalizing alternate universe (women don't dance but they do propose marriage, technology has developed at a different rate, etc.), and splendid cinematography. What we get instead is some aimless buffoonery followed by an ending that is both confusing and anticlimactic. What a shame.

The original (and if you don't know the twist by now, what kind of rock are you living under?) had a clear straightforward message; remember who you are, because if you forget and try to blend in with everyone around you then others will suffer as well as yourself. This episode takes away everything memorable about the first, discards it, and uses what's left. The mannequins weren't supposed to be evil or creepy by the end of the episode, they were supposed to be family or people she could identify with. She wasn't supposed to become a mannequin without her consent, she was supposed to embrace her identity willingly when she realized who and what she was. So, thank you VERY much TZ Remake for ruining one of the most memorable Twilight Zones of the original series.

The After Hours is about Marcia the mannequin, and is a remake of the original one from the 1960s. It's not bad, but the remake was simply a remake by the numbers, with no further twist.

I like the 80s reboot of The Twilight Zone.