Search - One Step Beyond, Vol. 11 on DVD

Probably the best volume of third season episodes

Daniel Jolley | Shelby, North Carolina USA | 02/22/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"One Step Beyond Volume 6 features four episodes from the middle of the show's third and final season. (I should note that I am going by the episodes listed on each DVD cover rather than the drastically different episode listings you will see on the product page). I have to say that I have only seen three of the four episodes on this DVD, although I would very much like to see The Executioner (original air date: January 3, 1961) because it apparently involves a Confederate soldier's life being saved by the ghost of his dog. As far as the three episodes I can comment on, The Last Round (original air date: January 10, 1961) clearly stands out as the best for a couple of reasons: one, it is the most chillingly weird of the bunch, and two, it stars Charles Bronson as an aged fighter entering the ring for what will be the last time. It must be remembered that the very premise of One Step Beyond was the claim that all of its stories were based on true events - that is what they claimed. The Last Round is set in London during 1944. Yank Dawson (Bronson) should not, medically speaking, be fighting, and his opponent's manager doesn't particularly want him to fight either - that's why he hires someone to impersonate the ghost of Paddy - it is said that any fighter who sees Paddy before a fight will die. You might be thinking that Yank actually sees the real Paddy and everyone just thinks he sees the fake, but there is a lot more to this story than you might expect. The Last Round is easily one of the best episodes of the show's third season.

The other two episodes are basically yawners, in my opinion. Legacy of Love (original air date: December 20, 1960) has a man and woman coming together, feeling an unexplainable attraction for one another, and spending one happy day together, only to learn that they have basically recreated a long-ago day in the lives of his father and her mother. Rendezvous (original air date: December 27, 1960) is a classic case of a dead man coming to the aid of his wife when her life is in danger. It's good, but it's far from chilling.

Among the volumes in this DVD series, this may well be the best collection of third season episodes. If you're an established fan of the show, it's definitely worth buying. If you've never seen the show, you would do much better to begin your journey into the unknown with a volume featuring episodes from the first or second season."

What's not Twilight Zone is still loads of thrills!

Red Wood | Omaha, NE. | 05/31/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"With the relaxed feel of Alfred Hitchcock, from his TV anthology, host John Newland leads us on a similar journey-this time the little gems are based on 'fact', though(most are linked to written or said happenings, anyway). Predating television shows of this type(and one season ahead of Rod Serling's "Twilight Zone"), this one still carries a bit of a chill, yet more child-safe than others, with the thrills more suggested. I'd seen these on cable's Sci-Fi Network in the early 90s(before such networks produced their own programming and relied on the great-and not so great-shows of the past). I found myself taken in by them at the time, although I usually don't care for shows of this type. A decade later, I came across these DVDs, and took a chance on this one.
For the most part, it's still as much fun as I remembered, although not quite up to the sophistication of the writing and acting of the better episodes of "Twilight Zone". This holds up fine with some of Serling's later entries on that program-and easily overshadows other similar outings, like Hitchock's "...Presents", "Thriller" and "The Outer Limits"(this latter one more due to its drawn-out hour timeslot-also a problem for Hitchcock and Serling when they attempted to double their respective show's length). If you found those shows interesting or liked other chilling anthology dramas of the day(does anyone remember the earlier "Lights Out"?)or the more contemporary anthology series, try this one for size. Perfect for family viewing!"