He’s met the man in the cell, the supposed Devil, and for a Devil, the guy seems pretty reasonable. But poor Ellington is faced with a dilemma. So, Jerome has Satan locked away in a cell, and the Devil keeps howling, but that’s a small price to pay.
On The Twlight Zone, given the time limits, it makes more sense to work in generalities. This isn’t an episode of Buffy The Vampire Slayer or, again, Supernatural those shows use specifics to help ground arcane concepts. (Not explained is how, if Satan is powerful enough to be responsible for the first World War, he feels he needs to take the time to get one on one with a small town in central Europe.) Jerome never tells us how he did this, but that lack of information works to the story’s advantage. The village near the monastery is such a friendly, peaceful place, the Devil can’t resist paying a visit and trying to ruin everyone’s lives, and the last time he did this, Jerome managed to catch him. Jerome used to live in the modern world, but he decided the simple life of not shaving and wearing robes had more appeal, so he retired to the Brotherhood for a life of Staff-holding and poor body hygiene.
The twilight zone eye of the beholder full#
Ellington has listened to Brother Jerome (Carridine, in full Moses mode) explain the situation. The best example of the success of Heyes’ approach comes near the end. If you like Dutch angles, then boy howdy, do I have an episode for you. Whether or not that feel works for you will go a long way towards defining what you take from these half hours. Director Douglas Heyes goes all out here both episodes this week are showcases for directors who were willing to take big chances, and those risks help to give “The Howling Man” and “Eye Of The Beholder” each their own distinctive feel. But “The Howling Man” hits all my particular pressure points, and it does so with a gusto that helps me overlook the big weak spot.
That’s not to say everything before this has been a slog-I hope at this point it goes without saying that The Twilight Zone is by and large terrific, and even the groaners have at least a few moments to make them worth watching. This has to be one of the most purely pleasurable episodes of the show I’ve seen so far. For all the potentially silly elements, “The Howling Man” never feels silly, and that makes it all the more fun to watch. Calling it “campy” comes close to nailing the overheated, cartoonish vibe, but it also does the episode a disservice. There’s no winking in “The Howling Man.” Even Serling’s narration, though purple as ever, never lets on that what we’re about to see is anything else than deadly serious. Ha ha, look at all the goofy haunted-house stuff, isn’t this hilarious, and so on. Lucifer pops in on Supernatural from time to time, but he doesn’t have horns or a magnificently malevolent cape, and when Supernatural, or really any genre series, goes the “dark and stormy night” route, they do it with a certain amount of self-awareness. It’s hard to imagine a modern show pulling off this level of camp with a straight face. More than that, it’s pure period-appropriate horror, with thunder, lightning, a spooky mansion, and John Carradine. Charles Beaumont’s script (his first for the second season) is pure pulp. Spelled out, this is a goofy story, pleasing in its circularity, but ripe in the detail. But the man in the cell keeps howling, and he tells a plausible story about jealousy and crazy religious people. Since then, the world has been in relative peace. According to Jerome, he managed to capture Satan five years ago.
It turns out, he’s responsible for the Great War-at least, that’s what Brother Jerome wants you to believe. (And be sure to note the the miniature version of the Staff our hero is using at the end.) They also have the Devil locked up in a cell, and I don’t mean a demon, or an evil man, or a monster. It has a hero who, during a walking tour of Europe, stumbles across a monastery where the monks call themselves the Brotherhood of Truth. “The Howling Man” is a generally absurd episode. I’ve had nightmares like this, I think, and even if I haven’t, I still recognize the language of bad dreams. This one tells you where it’s going right from the opening shot: a man, desperate, begging the audience to believe him as the camera slow tilts. In which you’re better off listening to the guy with the Staff of Truth…
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