Unlike "The twilight zone", "The outer limits" deals with science fiction and horror but psychological horror aka claustrophobic paranoia (invasion-conspiracy-hallucinations) in "The architects of fear" and "Nightmare". The series has a tremendous visual identity that lacks in Rod Serling's work. Its stylish approach makes each of the episodes look like a film. The German expressionist mood (low key lightning, chiaroscuro, the use of the depth of field and the extreme close-ups with a wide angle lens, tilted framings, optical special effects, gloomy sets) is due to three men : writer-producer Joseph Stefano, director Gerd Oswald and director of photography Conrad Hall. The creator of the series, Leslie Stevens, and his friend-composer Dominic Frontiere, fashion a world of nightmarish fairytale, politic-fiction fable, gothic parable, Shakespearian tragedy, pessimistic vision of the future, symbolic and human-like monsters and ill-motivated characters. This maverick series is still a reference today because of its high-concept, its poetic flavour, its black and white innovative cinematography and its philosophical issue, for instance in the masterpiece episode, "The sixth finger" which shows the dilemma of the Darwin's theory of evolution. "Your ignorance makes me ill and angry. Your savageness must end," these sentences, culled from this episode, summarize the orientation of the entire show. Unfortunately, the odd formula never works in the 1995's new version which can be re-titled "The under limits". It's awfully true. I hope one day the two pilot-episodes, "Please stand by" and "The unknown", will be available.
Review of The Outer Limits
The Outer Limits
(1963–1965)
The most expressionist sci-fi anthology series ever created.
16 April 1999