The Twilight Zone (TV Series) Little Girl Lost (1962) User Reviews

Another dimension for real

[bkoganbing · 8/10 · 4 December 2013]

Back when I was a kid I used to imagine all kinds of goings on under the bed so this particular Twilight Zone episode has a personal meaning for me. But imaginings become real when a little girl crawls under her bed and can be seen but not heard.

That's what happens to the child of Robert Sampson and Sarah Marshall and aren't they lucky that they have a physicist as a neighbor. Charles Aidman comes over and he can hear the girl and the little dog that went in after her. And he finds an opening to another dimension.

The Twilight Zone always had that opening about traveling to another dimension, not only of sight and sound but of mind. This was the episode it actually happened and the journey was far from pleasant.

But it's a good half hour of television.

creepy, thought provoking, and wonderful

[Qanqor · 9/10 · 11 July 2009]

A great episode, one that definitely stays with you. One of the things which really makes it work is the excellent, creepy music (Bernard Herrman, I believe, so no surprise there).

The one thing which really mars the episode, for me, at least, was the awful obviously-dubbed voice of the child. It sounds so overtly like exactly what it is: a 32 year old adult trying to sound like a child. And it reaches an utter nadir at the end, when we get to hear a bit of the child's actual voice, immediately followed by more overdub. The two so obviously don't match. Beats me why that was done so cheesily. Surely they could've found a child actress who could actually do the lines herself; usually the Zone was much better about casting. I can only assume that they originally shot it with the child doing the lines, then decided that it was not usable, and had someone dub it at the last minute.

"Junctures between dimensions are freaks of nature that happen..."

[classicsoncall · 8/10 · 4 June 2010]

One of the truly horrifying episodes of The Twilight Zone. The dread of going alone upstairs to the attic in my home as a kid might have been subliminally influenced by this episode, but then again, I thought there might have been a gorilla up there. I used to watch Tarzan and Jungle Jim a lot too.

Whenever I watch an old, I mean 1930's or 40's sci-fi flick, I'm always on the look out for those neat sounding pseudo-scientific explanations for whatever might be at the cause of the horror. This one had a beaut - "...if enough of the lines are parallel in both dimensions in a given area, it might create an opening". Hey, that's good enough for me. I thought physicist Bill (Charles Aidman) went a little overboard with the theatrical flourish of his arms when drawing those circular arcs on the wall. He could just as well have made them straight, couldn't he? Quite independently of other reviewers on this board I came up with the thought of "Poltergeist" being influenced by Serling's treatment here. It's been a while since I've seen that flick, so I'll reserve any further judgment.

What's pretty cool I think, is the way part of Bill's rationale for the hole in the wall links up to the tag line for the series in this, the third season. When pressed by the Millers as to where the opening leads to, he responds - "I think, to another dimension".

One of the top ten of the series, with only one small flaw.

[rixrex · 15 February 2007]

This is the most memorable episode of my childhood years of watching Twilight Zone, and which also seems to have a part in inspiring the film poltergeist. It was likely more frightening because we kids had to go to bed right after the episode! Upon a recent viewing, the episode held up very well, and many things were distinctly apparent that were missed by the youthful viewer I once was. Set design was impeccable, the kind of house that would eventually become retro-chic and is so superbly done that it was hard to keep concentration upon the plot.

Regardless, the story is a 30 minute exposition that seems to go by in half the time, and leaves the viewer wishing it were longer. Yes, it seems to be the inspiration for Poltergeist, the expanded and more complete version we all wanted to see. Alas, the chalking of the wall showing the opening into the other dimension is particularly strange, as we see the neighbor scientist mark the borders in a rectangle, then oddly place unnecessary curves on the outside of the rectangle that have nothing to do with delineating the border, only to give him something to do while chatting an explanation. This was odd to me as a child and is still so.

Little Girl Lost

[maarck6 · 10/10 · 26 January 2017]

If I were to make a list of my favorite Twilight Zone episodes this one would be in the top five. I never get tired of watching it. Maybe its because it was written by Richard Matheson. Matheson spent his life writing about families, whether it be abusive ones (Mute, Born of Man and Woman) or ones in trouble (A Stir of Echoes, Little Girl Lost). His writings influenced both Steven Spielberg and Steven King, and Little Girl Lost later became the influence for the Poltergeist franchise. And at a half hour, there is no fat on this story of a child who falls through a temporary porthole into another dimension, where the same can't be said about Poltergeist.

Of course, no telescript is any good unless it's well acted and this episode is very well acted indeed, I was especially taken with the beautiful Sarah Marshall, who gives a great performance as a mother on the verge of a breakdown, being shell-shocked, dazed, and panicky over the loss of her baby, all at once. Oh, and if you think that the premise a little too hard to believe, then you're watching the wrong show.

Poltergeist Ripped It Off

[Hitchcoc · 8/10 · 4 December 2008]

When I was in high school a friend told me about this episode. I have known about it forever and now have finally seen it. The premise is great. What's disturbing are the histrionics of the main characters, especially the mother. There's also that thing where the guy they call seems to have things pretty well figured out. Nevertheless, the idea that there is an opening into another dimension is quite frightening. The use of a distorted lens is also pretty creepy. The one thing that bothered me is since the girl could hear them and vice versa, why didn't they try to communicate with her specifically. She seemed lucid. At least ask her a few questions about what it was like. I still enjoyed it very much.

Excellent episode!

[patricia-resnick · 9/10 · 13 March 2008]

Okay, the acting is a little over the top. That's really the only mild criticism I have of this episode. Overall the whole thing hangs together quite consistently. And besides, I'd be a little wild-eyed dealing with a situation like this one! You've got to cut the scientist a little slack. He's in three dimensions, and he's trying to represent, in two dimensions, the portal to a fourth(?) dimension. I see those curved lines as representing boundaries he can't draw with a two (or even three) dimensional medium. (And yeah, I know the chalk has depth, but you know what I'm trying to say!) This is one of my all time favorites. No surprise it's Richard Matheson.

The inspiration for Poltergeist?

[jezfernandez · 8/10 · 11 February 2018]

This is a creepy little tale because of how unexplained the whole thing is. A little girl disappears into another dimension and the parents can only hear her disembodied voice. Where is she and how do they get her back?

Like Poltergeist (1982), the most intriguing aspect is how an ordinary suburban home can become a portal to something terrifying.

A tight little episode, and classic Twilight Zone.

One of those nights.

[darrenpearce111 · 7/10 · 15 January 2014]

Tense and taut story from Richard Matheson about a couple who can hear their six year old daughter calling them in the night- but cant see her at all. The little girl is in the fourth dimension.

Chris (Robert Sampson) calls his friend Bill, a physicist, who has to work out a plan. The mother (Sarah Marshall) panics and shouts-well you cant blame her, can you?. Bill is the only character showing any logical initiative as they move around the house still hearing little Tina and the dog who follows her in to that dimension.

Enjoyable and impressive short fantasy drama. Some nice little deductions come from Bill about how the fourth dimension works. How do you get in and, more importantly, how do you get out?

Comments For after You've Seen The Episide

[CoastalCruiser · 10/10 · 29 July 2019]

This episode, and an Outer Limits episode called 'The Premonition' where a military pilot crash lands and is caught in a time warp whereby most everyone else appears frozen in time but in fact are just moving imperceptibly slow, really put the hook in me as a child. I've remembered those two episodes all my life as trippy stories I couldn't stop thinking about.

This episode entitled 'Little Girl Lost' has a clever twist that indicate the writer was really thinking. Notice that it was written as only the dog, with its extra-sensory faculties, that could find the way back to the opening. Another writer may not have thought to add that twist, which puts emphasis on the notion that space-time in the other dimension was not equivalent to our 3-dimensional world.

Some pretty decent special effects as well, considering all they had back then for effects were stone knives and bear skins.

I love the criticism leveled in a review entitled 'Who you gonna call?' when they chastise this episode's writing for having a physicist as a neighbor. Like its impossible to have a physicist living next door. Dude, it's not like all physicist;s live in a physicist-only enclave. They're people just like you and me (or at least me) who need housing.

The same reviewer also reveals that his next door neighbor is a dentist, and he would never call upon his dentist if the same thing happened. Right dude. That's why YOUR house was not used in this episode. They needed a house in a hood with a physicist. Dude, they only had a half-hour to come up with a solution. There was no time to channel Einstein, or fly someone in from the Hadron Particle Accelerator project (which actually was being planned back in the 60s).

The bulk of the other reviews are dead on correct when they single out this episode as one of the best TZs ever.

Netherworld

[AaronCapenBanner · 7/10 · 29 October 2014]

Robert Sampson & Sarah Marshall play Chris & Ruth Miller, parents of a young girl named Tina who one night cries out for help from her bedroom. Trouble is, they can't find her, but come to realize that she has somehow slipped into another dimension, at least that's what their friend and neighbor Bill(played by Charles Aidman) thinks, since by coincidence is also a scientist, and has always believed such things were possible, but also realizes that this portal will close soon unless one of them ventures forth into the portal to get Tina back... Entertaining if contrived episode isn't entirely believable either, but that glimpse into the netherworld is quite memorable and effective.

Out Of The Twilight

[telegonus · 9/10 · 28 July 2017]

Little Girl Lost is an offbeat, nicely done Twilight Zone from the show's third season. After some weak episodes, this one, written by Richard Matheson, really scores. I wouldn't call it one of the best of the series but its high in the second tier.

A young suburban couple are awakened from their sleep by the sound of their daughter's crying, but when they go to look for her she's not in her room. The family dog's bark can also be faintly heard; but he's not there, either.

A scientist friend is called and he tells them the bad news: the child and dog have slipped into another dimension. He doesn't call it the twilight zone must he may as well have, as that's what it is.

The scientist manages to find a spot in the wall behind the child's bed that appears to be a kind of hole in the wall,--only there ain't no hole, but his hand disappears into it when he touches it--and he proceeds to outline it with a piece of chalk.

In short time the father enters the twilight world into which his daughter has apparently, as the scientist puts it, "fallen into"; and the dog is there, too. It's weird and trippy looking, and it feels like a planetarium designed by a madman.

Not quite outer space, it's strange place with no boundaries. Nowadays we might call it a parallel universe. At the time the episode was made it was more like nowhere.

Kudos for the studio art department for creating this eerie and yet oddly seductive place. I'd love to have seen more of it. The child and her dog are saved, but just barely, as the hole in the wall was apparently in the process of closing up just prior to their return.

There's some food for thought in Little Girl Lost; and it's difficult not to be intrigued by its basic premise. The scientific ideas, such as they can be called, aren't all that well presented but they're good enough for a well above average half-hour of television.

Poltergeist without the pretention

[Coventry · 7/10 · 6 December 2020]

It's not a very popular statement to make within horror-loving communities, but I always thought the original "Poltergeist" was enormously overrated. However, the idea of a little girl trapped in an alternate dimension, yet still within the boundaries of her own house so that her cries for help remain audible to her helpless parents, is a genuinely petrifying one. My last bit of respect for "Poltergeist" thus vanished now, since the concept is blatantly stolen from this clever, tense and unsettling "Twilight Zone" episode.

"Little Girl Lost", scripted by the incomparable Richard Matheson, is simple but very effective. A father and mother hear their little daughter calling from her room at night, but she has inexplicable disappeared. As a parent of a girl approximately her age, I can assure you the thought alone is terrifying. A friend of the family discovers a doorway to another dimension in the wall of her bedroom, but it's slowly closing down. The dialogues are compelling even though I didn't understand half of the things Dr. Bill explained, the level of suspense is constant and tight, and Sarah Marshall and Robert Sampson are very convincing in the role of desperate parents. Good, memorable episode!

A complete disappointment after so many great ones.

[mark.waltz · 3/10 · 3 September 2019]

This is an episode that requires aspirin. Parents Robert Sampson and Sarah Marshall hear out of the blue their daughter wailing and rushing to help her find that she has somehow vanished into thin air even if her voice is echoing out of some hidden element. The sound of the whining little girl in a space where nobody can find her is perhaps the inspiration for "Poltergeist", but I found this to be totally boring and irritating rather than mysterious and touching. "Twilight Zone" had done other episodes in similar themes that are much better written, and even with some odd special effects towards the end, this is one that had me longing for the 25 minutes to be over.

This episode is a critical junction point in the twilight zone

[stevenpaulmaxkeith · 21 August 2011]

I watch this show constantly ever since I bought the DVD set a year ago. I was a big fan growing up, watching as a frightened kid and eventually coming to respect everything about the show. In fact I carry the dvds around like a bible of sorts. I even have some residual subconscious notions about the Twilight Zone being a real place, left over from childhood. A kind of other dimension, as Rod's classic introductory monologues indicate.

Anyways, about this particular episode I've noticed a number of interesting things. My thesis amounts to this: Little Girl Lost is essentially a "critical point" within the very fabric of The Twilight Zone, as it connects with other episodes in interesting ways and deals with the subject of "another dimension," the very thing we are told the Zone is. Listed below are some of the ways in which this episode folds over and touches on other points throughout the series, similar to the way the physicist in Little Girl Lost describes the "intersecting points" of other dimensions!

#1: The lost little girl's name in the episode is Tina. She happens to also appear in the later 5th season episode, Living Doll. As I'm sure those reading are aware, the doll in Living Doll's episode is named Talky TINA. The little girl's name there is Christy, incidentally.

#2: The dad's name is Chris. Another connection can be made with Living Doll here; in Living Doll, the estranged stepfather, Eric, tells Christy (our Little Girl) "I'M NOT YOUR DADDY!" As to who is Christy's daddy, this is not discussed. But our CHRIS in Little Girl Lost could very well be CHRISTy's daddy, or at least the names can connote this notion.

#3: Chris can't find his daughter, so what does he do? He calls Bill, his physicist friend, on the telephone. Interestingly enough, the actor playing Chris was in another episode called Long Distance Call. That episode is one of the three TZ episodes that feature Billy Mumy. In Long Distance Call, Billy Mumy's character is named Billy! And, in case you don't know the plot, Billy's dying grandma gives him a toy telephone and tells him he "can always talk to Grandma." Billy does so even after she passes away. At one point Billy nearly drowns and it is Chris who picks up the toy telephone and asks his mother to return his son. Much as the Chris in Little Girl Lost seeks the return of his daughter, 'from beyond.' The reason I bring this up is, as he is on the phone with his physicist friend, he calls him "Billy" !

#4: Bill the physicist is also a repeat cast member, having appeared in only one other episode: And When The Sky Was Opened. 1st season. His character in that was Ed Harrington. The plot goes like this, Col. Clegg Forbes visits his wounded fellow pilot Maj. William Gart in the army hospital. He tells Gart that Col. Ed Harrington has gone missing, and that nobody remembers him having ever existed! Gart doesn't know anyone named Harrington either, he says Forbes must have made him up.. I won't spoil the ending but Bill the physicist played the part of the mysteriously disappearing Ed Harrington early on in the series, which may be what makes him the go-to guy in Little Girl Lost. Although he claims not to be "an expert in these things." The actor's name is Charles Aidman, and he was also the narrator for the 1980s Twilight Zone revival series! THE MORE YOU KNOW

anyway i might have missed something or gotten some of my facts wrong but i was tripping out about all the synchronicities in this episode. One other thing along the lines of #1 is that in Living Doll, Christy's mother is yet another repeat cast member, having appeared as the lovely Mary in A World of His Own. Her character also appears and disappears throughout the episode. The playwright that repeatedly creates and 'uncreates' Mary is Mr. Gregory West, played by Keenan Wynn. At the end of that episode we see that Mr. West has an envelope with Rod Serling's name on it. This particular episode marks Rod's first on screen appearance during an episode, and also his only direct interaction with a cast member. The playwright acknowledges and directly addresses Rod, and then throws his envelope into the fire, causing him to DISAPPEAR! Rod says "Well, that's the, way it goes" and fades away. Also, Keenan Wynn, who played Gregory West the playwright, is the son of Ed Wynn, famed actor who appeared in two other episodes, One For The Angels and Ninety Years Without Slumber, and was also in Rod Serling's first venture into television, Requiem for a Heavyweight, which was a kind of predecessor to the Twilight Zone.

Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed some of these ideas and maybe you're inspired to try to find other connections and inter-Zone interplay. What I like to do now that I have the dvds and know the show so well is to try and weave a thread from episode to episode, keeping in mind a connecting theme or prop or word or phrase or whatever. THANKS and god bless

Excellent alternate dimension bizarre episode

[UniqueParticle · 10/10 · 15 May 2019]

A family gets confused about where their daughter disappeared to realizing there's a portal in the wall in her room. Not much else needed to be said. Among the best episodes ever!

Easily one of T.Z.'s finest episodes

[donovandesign · 10/10 · 23 October 2020]

Also one of the most intrigueing, spooky and science fiction-ish of all TZ episodes. Terrific acting all around. Though one small flaw was the overdub of the child's voice. Surprisingly cheesy for such a mature and well done concept. But all-in, it doesn't get any better than this great and memorable episode.

Another dimension

[kellielulu · 10/10 · 17 December 2022]

This episode really does enter another dimension. The visuals are quite effective even stunning.especially considering the era . It set in a classic middle class to upper middle class neighborhood with a typical middle class family in a mid century house . Even the decor is very much of the time. It all feels very early 1960's even the fascination with all things related to science. I say that because of the plot of the episode and that one of the characters is a physicist (Bill) who anchors the episode as he explains what he thinks is happening as he and the parents ( Chris and Ruth Miller ) search for their daughter Tina. They think she just fell out of bed but in the process she falls into another dimension. The family dog Mac is on it already as Bill points put animals sense these things better than we do. This is one of the episodes that is both entertaining and thought provoking. It's a spare cast which I think adds to it effectiveness and there is no padding in this one . Once again the visuals add a great deal to this episode showing the how different and confusing and yes spacey the dimension is.

Definitely one of my favorite episodes.

Where did the little girl go?

[Woodyanders · 9/10 · 1 June 2018]

Tina Miller (adorable Tracy Stratford) slips through a portal into another dimension. It's up to Tina's parents and their helpful physicist friend Chris (a fine performance by Charles Aidman) to figure out a way to retrieve Tina from said other dimension.

Director Paul Stewart does an ace job of crafting an eerie and intriguing enigmatic atmosphere and keeps the absorbing story moving along at a brisk pace. Richard Matheson's compelling script neatly sets up the central situation with admirable economy and delivers an especially chilling close call at the climax. Robert Sampson and Sarah Marshall are both credible and sympathetic as the worried and concerned parents, with Marshall a particular stand-out as Tina's distraught mother Ruth. The scenes in the alternate dimension are really freaky and disorienting. The fluid cinematography by George T. Clemens and Bernard Herrmann's moody score further enhance the overall sterling quality of this classic episode.

An interesting idea--though there isn't a whole lot to this episode.

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 17 May 2010]

If I was given the job of summarizing all the episodes of "The Twilight Zone", I think I could do the briefest summary of this particular show, as there really isn't a lot to the plot--though I must admit it is interesting. The show starts with a little girl disappearing and when her parents look for her, they can hear her voice. However, she has apparently slipped into another dimension (don't you hate when that happens?!) and the parents are baffled about how to get to her. Eventually, the dad finds that there is a blank spot where whatever you put into it just disappears--seemingly to this other dimension where the girl is. So, in desperation, he eventually goes in--praying that the folks tethering him don't let go! All in all, this is a show that is good but you really can see this show being just as effective if done in 5 or 10 minutes--as it's a very, very simple idea. Too bad the show didn't have a format like "Night Gallery"--I really think this one might have been a bit better being a bit shorter and more to the point. Good--not great.

Spielberg should be happy this mind blower wasn't written by Harlan Ellison

[whatch-17931 · 9/10 · 13 January 2021]

Been watching lots of TZ lately, and running out and finally watching the last few that "sound boring".

Wow, this one most certainly is not, and I was quite amazed how incredibly mind blowing and ambitious this is. Talk about another dimension. And the presentation is incredible.

Sure, the mother is kind of over the top, but it's all standard period melodrama.

But, similarities to Poltergeist? This IS Poltergeist.

I was rather struck by how effective the views in the portal were, even today. Distorted, spinning, echoing, it's one of the most effective alternate dimension type frictions I can think of.

Who you gonna call?

[adguy1014 · 7/10 · 1 January 2016]

This is one of the more bizarre episodes, and that's really saying something. I can buy into the whole premise because it is, after all, just a TV show. The parents can hear their child crying but can't find her. So who should they call? The police? No, they call their neighbor the physicist. Really? That's the first person you thought to call? This probably would have made a great 1-hour episode. I think the writers came up with a pretty interesting premise and then realized they had less than 30 minutes to explain it. They're pretty lucky that their neighbor happens to be a physicist. My neighbor is a dentist. He's the last person I'd call if my daughter mysteriously vanished into my house.

Where is she?

[gregorycanfield · 8/10 · 15 October 2021]

This episode strikes me as the Twilight Zone venturing into Lost in Space territory. People slipping into "another dimension" was a common Lost in Space theme. This episode plays out in a very subtle way. Perhaps, the episode works for this reason. The little girl can be heard, but not seen. What else would the parents do, but to look under her bed?! The dog (Max) keeps barking. Of course, the father tells him to "shut up," not taking into account that the dog is barking for a reason. Max is the first one to discover the opening to the other dimension. Thus, another example of how much smarter dogs are, compared to people. Also, this couple was lucky to have a friend, who just happened to be a physicist! I've watched this episode before, but this time, I was struck by the Sarah Marshall character. She looked like she was either wearing no make-up, or was made up to "look that way." Very rare, for any actress to sport a "natural" look. I'm not sure why, but her "natural" look improved everything about the episode! Perhaps, a mother so worried about her child, that she didn't care how she "came across." That's beautiful! Overall, an unusual and enjoyable episode.

I'm Some Place Where I Don't Know Where I Am

[buccola13 · 7/10 · 18 May 2019]

Simpsons did it.

Good episode. Creepiness doesn't hold up.

Had potential, but not great.

[bombersflyup · 3/10 · 30 October 2019]

Little Girl Lost has a good premise, but the amount of belaboring in this show's nuts. The father doesn't bother to look under the bed, then the dog goes through and neither of them go under the bed still, with looks of "I need a sound explanation before I do anything." The show never has typical believable reactions. Now the physicist friend says not to go in there, that they'll come out apart from each other, but these other characters wouldn't be thinking that way and that's the problem. It's all one thought as a whole and not character based at that point in time. Not that they're thinking like the physicist, but they're not having thoughts at all and not doing anything. All planned out, unrealistic and bad. Serling always has to say this and that happened after to sum it up, it's a bloody made up story... certifiably bonkers I tell you.