The Big Whatsit

To celebrate one of the very best television shows in history (and because I’m off work this week), TBW presents a week of articles looking back over my personal favourite episodes from The Twilight Zone. These aren’t necessarily the ten best stories, more those that have gripped me the strongest - I’m sure your own top ten will be very different. Please feel free to comment and make your recommendation.

Though many of you will have seen these episodes previously, possibly on a number of occasions, I am aware there are those who haven’t, and I have structured these pieces with a short, spoiler-free synopsis at the start to whet your whistle. Afterwards, I go into a little more detail about the episode, discussing nuances of the plot that will almost certainly and unapologetically give away its intricacies - you have been warned! In any event, the Zone is available on DVD, and it’s easy enough to discover episodes on the Internet, where Google is always your friend.

So without further ado, submitted for your approval…

10. The Howling Man (Season 2, 1960)

‘The prostrate form of Mr David Ellington, scholar, seeker of truth and, regrettably, finder of truth. A man who will shortly arise from his exhaustion to confront a problem that has tormented mankind since the beginning of time. A man who knocked on a door seeking sanctuary and found instead the outer edges of the Twilight Zone.’

Synopsis
Twenty years ago, a man who finds himself lost and caught in a storm comes across a remote castle. This is occupied by an enigmatic Brotherhood, a religious order, who claim to have locked up the Devil. However, the prisoner tells a very different story.

Review
It isn’t hard to be drawn to stories about the Devil, just as in the episode Ellington (HM Wynant) is tempted into seeing and ultimately freeing the prisoner, despite the best efforts of the Brotherhood and in particular Brother Jerome (Horror veteran John Carradine) to persuade him otherwise. As in every Zone yarn, there is an underlying theme, and in The Howling Man it is that of temptation. It’s obvious who the prisoner is from the moment Ellington first meets him, and when Jerome explains the identity of the howling man to him we know he’s telling the truth. The episode isn’t a guessing game, nor is there a typically Zone twist e.g. I half expected Ellington to turn out to be an acolyte, when in fact the story isn’t really interested in delivering that kind of plot-driven revelation. The theme is strong enough to pull the tale along, suggesting that people are drawn inevitably towards evil. It’s in our nature, and just to underline this the Devil is freed twice during the course of the episode.

It’s only once the yarn reaches its conclusion that the subtlety of various elements within it start making sense. Carradine appears to give an overly mannered performance as Jerome, reaching Biblical levels of over-acting when describing his exploits in capturing the Devil. It doesn’t help that he actually looks like a Hestonesque Moses. Later, you realise that Carradine intentionally played him that way. You’re supposed to believe that he’s a bit of a nutter, and that the prisoner - who tells Ellington he’s been locked away for kissing Jerome’s sweetheart, and that the order is ruled by insanity - is completely rational. Indeed, considering he’s the prisoner, the Devil (Robin Hughes) delivers an altogether quieter and less bombastic turn, howling aside. This helps to expand on the theme of temptation, the prisoner working deviously on Ellington’s innate sense of right and wrong in order to get himself released.

When Ellington is alone, the camera is placed at an askew angle, filming at a diagonal to heighten the character’s feeling of disorientation and confusion. It’s only when he is with Jerome or the prisoner that it rights itself, as though these figures offer a degree of clarity, and even then this isn’t always the case. Of course, Ellington eventually frees the prisoner, which turns out to be pathetically easy - he’s bound symbolically rather than by chains and locks. It’s then we get to see the ragged, bearded figure’s transformation into Satan, a masterpiece of revelation and make-up (he becomes more ‘Devilish’ every time he walks behind a column on his stride towards freedom). Though the Devil in his real form conforms to stereotype images, all theatrical cloak and horns, it’s an impressive effect. Naturally, he’s far scarier when all you get as a clue is his incessant howling.

The Howling Man was written by Charles Beaumont and adapted from his own short story. Originally, it was envisioned that the Devil was to be imprisoned by a crucifix, but concerns over upsetting the religious community meant this was changed into the ’staff of truth,’ which actually ends up conjuring a much more subversive image.

It really is a fine little tale, which ends on a devastating note. Having spent 20 years tracking down the Devil who he originally freed, Ellington finally imprisons him once more. The story of their meeting is told in flashback, to a chambermaid, when Ellington reveals that thanks to his action World War II and the Korean War have taken place. As soon as he leaves to contact Jerome and let him know he’s recaptured the Devil, the chambermaid instantly sets him loose.