Richard Matheson Movies

Set within the popular bohemian coffee houses of the late '50s where beatniks gathered to recite poetry and perform, this sensationalistic detective drama centers upon the attempts of an insensitive police detective to catch an arrogant serial rapist, a rich young man who believes himself mentally superior and therefore beyond the law. His favorite victims are married women. When he learns that the detective is after him, the rapist targets the cop's wife. Later the poor wife discovers she's pregnant and cannot be sure who fathered her child. The film is alternatively titled This Rebel Age. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The first of Roger Corman's Edgar Allan Poe films, Fall of the House of Usher was originally released as simply House of Usher. Vincent Price stars as the foredoomed Roderick Usher. Living in his decaying family mansion with his young sister Madeline (Myrna Fahey), Roderick does his best to shoo away Madeline's fiance Philip Winthrop (Mark Damon). He tells the young swain that Madeline suffers from the family curse of encroaching madness, and thus cannot be permitted to bear children. After a series of suspicious, near-fatal accidents, Phillip insists that Madeline be allowed to leave with him at once. But Roderick sadly announces that this is impossible: Madeline has died, and is slated to be entombed. Informed by the family butler that Madeline has previously been prone to near-catatonic spells, Phillip angrily insists that the girl may very well have been buried alive. The climactic conflagration would be recycled as stock footage in future Corman/Poe efforts, as would the set representing the Usher home. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

While sitting in his office and discussing business matters with his secretary, Arthur Curtis (Howard Duff) is suddenly interrupted by a shout of "Cut!" Looking up from his desk, Arthur finds that the wall of his office has disappeared, and in its place is a movie camera crew and director (Robert Cornthwaithe). He then is told that he is not happily married Arthur Curtis, but instead unhappily married, alcoholic film star Jerry Raigan -- and that his entire life has merely been someone else's movie. This Pirandellian Twilight Zone episode was written by Richard Matheson and boasts a spinetingling "vibraphonic" musical score by Van Cleave. The supporting cast includes future Bewitched costar David White and prolific writer-director William Idelson. "A World of Difference" was originally telecast March 11, 1960. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The only pleasure afforded the half-crazed residents of a ghost town called Bonanza is the faded portrait of a beautiful woman which hangs on the wall of the saloon. When the portrait turns up missing, the locals blame the only stranger in their midst--namely, Paladin (Richard Boone). Ultimately, and for no other reason than to save his own skin, Paladin agrees to seek out the missing lady. This episode represents are rare collaboration between master fantasists Charles Beaumont and Richard Matheson, two of the most prolific contributors to the classic Rod Serling anthology The Twilight Zone. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The first season Twilight Zone came to a delightful conclusion on July 1, 1960, with this episode, written by Richard Matheson. Coming home early one afternoon, Victoria West (Phyllis Kirk) is shocked to find her playwright husband Gregory West (Keenan Wynn) in the arms of another woman named Mary (Mary LaRoche). When Victoria demands an explanation, Gregory is forced to reveal that Mary was purely a figment of his imagination, "invented" on the writer's tape recorder. To prove this point, Gregory not only makes Mary re-appear, but also a "huge, red-eyed element." But this is not the only surprise in store for the nonplussed Victoria West. The hilarious finale finds series creator Rod Serling joining in on the festivities. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Twilight Zone's only foray into old-time slapstick comedy, this episode stars the great Buster Keaton as Woodrow Mulligan, a 19th century janitor fed up with the hustle, bustle, and noise of "modern life." While working in the laboratory of scientists Gilbert and Fenwick (Milton Parsons and George E. Stone), Woodrow stumbles upon a newly-invented time helmet. Reasoning that he will enjoy more peace and quiet in the future, Woodrow activates the helmet and ends up in 1962 -- where, not surprisingly, he doesn't find things to his liking! The first half of this episode is delightfully staged in the manner of a silent movie, replete with flickery photography, gag subtitles, and a rinky-tink piano score (written by William Lava, performed by Ray Turner). The 1962 sequences are done in full sound, and they aren't quite as satisfying, though there's a terrific recreation of a key gag from the 1918 Fatty Arbuckle/Buster Keaton two-reeler The Garage, with Stanley Adams standing in for Arbuckle. Most of the episode was directed by silent-movie veteran Norman Z. McLeod, with the exception of an intrusive sequence set in a repair shop, which was helmed by Les Goodwins. Written by Rod Serling, "Once Upon a Time" was first telecast on December 15, 1961. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Master of the World was adapted by Richard Matheson from two Jules Verne novels, Robur le Conquerant (1896) and its sequel, Maitre du Monde (1904)--with more than a little of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea thrown in. Set in 1868, the story is galvanized by an ominous warning of impending doom, delivered in a disembodied but resonent voice from a huge mountain just outside Morgantown, Pennsylvania. Hoping to find the source of the warning, the members of the Weldon Balloon Society, headed by munitions manufacturer Prudence (Henry Hull), send a motorized balloon to investigate. Also aboard Prudence's balloon is his daughter Dorothy (Mary Webster), her fiance Philip (David Frankham), and taciturn pilot Strock (Charles Bronson). Before long, the little party is captured by the brilliant but unbalanced Robur (Vincent Price), captain of the gigantic, state-of-the-art airship "Albatross." Robur explains that he is a man of peace, and that he is using his huge airship to wipe out all warfare by obliterating every weapon of mass destruction on earth--and never mind that a few innocent bystanders may also be killed in the process. Admiring Robur's intentions if not his methods, Strock bypasses every opportunity to stop the madman in his tracks, and for this he is branded a coward by the hotheaded Philip, sparking a battle of words and fists that will persist throughout the film. Meanwhile, Robur attacks such strategic military locations as Paris, Madrid and North Africa (courtesy of stock footage from other films), and as the carnage continues, Prudence renounces his war-profiteering ways. As for Strock, his admiration for Robur does not prevent him from a desperate climactic effort to rescue Prudence, Dorothy and Philip by planting a time bomb in the "Albatross"--a bomb that very well may go off before the "good guys" get off. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

According to this Richard Matheson-scripted Twilight Zone episode, there is such a thing as too much nostalgia. While visiting his childhood home with his new wife Virginia (Phyllis Thaxter), Alex Walker (Alex Nicol) begins exulting over the artifiacts of his youth -- toys, books, clothes, and the like. What Virginia doesn't know until it's too late is that Alex has fallen under the spell of his late mother (Helen Brown), who intends to reclaim her "little boy" at any cost. The ending is hardly satisfactory, but this cannot be blamed on Matheson, who had an entirely different (and infinitely more suitable) denoument in mind. "Young Man's Fancy" was originally telecast May 11, 1962. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Roger Corman's Tales of Terror stars Vincent Price in a trio of short stories, liberally adapted by Richard Matheson from the works of Edgar Allan Poe. The film gets off to a rousing start with "Morella," in which Price's bitterness over the long-ago death of his wife results in tragedy for his estranged daughter Maggie Pierce. The last of the three terror-filled tales, "The Case of Mr. Valdemar," finds Price being put into a state of suspended animation by the diabolical Basil Rathbone; when Rathbone claims Price's bride Debra Paget for himself, Price briefly revives, only to melt before our eyes (this horrific image was reproduced on the film's advertising posters). The film's best story is its centerpiece, "The Black Cat," which weaves elements of "The Cask of Amontillado" into a mordantly funny revenge tale concerning Price, his bitter enemy Peter Lorre, and Lorre's two-timing wife Joyce Jameson. This is the one in which a besotted Lorre walls up Price and Jameson in his cellar, then endures a hellish hallucination of Vincent and Joyce playing a football game with his head! A mixed bag, to be sure, but Tales of Terror remains one of the best of Corman's Poe cycle (though it does lose a lot when not shown in its original Cinemascope form). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

D-Day has come and gone, and the men of King Company are advancing ever deeper into Nazi-held France as Combat! begins its first season. The current assignment facing Sgt. Saunders (Vic Morrow) and his squad is to locate a hidden German gun emplacement somewhere along the Vire River. The squad's only hope for success--and survival--would seem to rest in the hands of a curiously likeable German deserter (Albert Paulsen)...but can he really be trusted? This episode was written by Richard Matheson, using the pseudonym "Logan Swanson". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Scripted by Richard Matheson from his own short story, this episode stars 13-year-old Ann Jillian as the title character, a nonverbal young girl named Ilse Nielsen. Apparently the sole survivor of a fire, Ilse is unofficially adopted by Harry and Cora Wheeler (Frank Overton and Barbara Baxley), who cannot understand why such an intelligent child lacks the power of speech. What the viewer knows, but the Wheelers don't, is that Ilsa is telepathic, raised by telepathic parents -- and her special powers may cause her more harm than good. This 60-minute Twilight Zone episode was first seen on January 31, 1963. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Cited by many aficionados as the all-time best Twilight Zone episode, "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" benefits immeasurably from a bravura performance by star William Shatner. While travelling through rough weather on a passenger plane, former mental patient Bob Wilson (Shatner) peers out of his window -- and sees a hideous gremlin balanced on the plane's wing. Doubting his own sanity, Bob tries to convince himself that he is merely hallucinating. . .and then the gremlin begins to tear the wing apart. Adapted by Richard Matheson from his own short story, "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" was originally telecast October 11, 1963. The basic story was later incorporated into the omnibus theatrical feature Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983) and has since been mercilessly lampooned in TV comedy series ranging from The Simpsons to 3rd Rock from the Sun. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide