Richard Matheson Movies
Invalided out of World War II, American writer Richard Matheson majored in journalism at the University of Missouri. Unable to secure a job at a magazine or newspaper, Matheson turned to freelancing, scoring an immediate success with his first fantasy piece, 1950's Born of Man and Woman. He tried to break into movies as early as 1951, but it wasn't until Universal bought the rights to Matheson's novel The Shrinking Man that he gained access to Hollywood -- on his own terms. He agreed to sell his novel only on the condition that he adapt the screenplay: the result was the 1957 existential sci-fi classic The Incredible Shrinking Man. Matheson's specialty was unearthing horrific or fantastic situations in the most commonplace of locales; his characters often courted insanity as they vainly tried to convince those around them that "something is out there." While Matheson's best novel I Am Legend was never satisfactorily brought to the screen, the author has been otherwise well served by Hollywood. Richard Matheson's vast cinematic and television output has included his screenplays for Roger Corman's Edgar Allen Poe films of the '60s; his unbearably suspenseful Duel, directed for TV by Steven Spielberg in 1971; his adaptation of Jeff Rice's The Night Stalker, which became the highest-rated TV movie up to 1972; and his prolific scriptwork for Rod Serling's Twilight Zone, including the legendary marrow-chiller "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet." ~ 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
- Starring:
- Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, (more)
- 1962
Night of the Eagle was the second film version of Fritz Leiber Jr.'s Conjure Wife (the first was Weird Woman, perhaps the best of Universal's low-budget "Inner Sanctum" series of the 1940s). The film's title was possibly meant to invoke memories of the earlier Night of the Demon (58); both films involve a rational scientist (in the case of Night of the Eagle, Peter Wyngarde) forced to accept the existence of the supernatural. All evidence points to the conclusion that the scientist's American wife Janet Blair is the reincarnation of a witch, and a practitioner of voodoo. The actual villain is supposed to be a mystery, though the identity was made clear in the Leiber original and in both other film versions of Conjure Wife (there was a 1980 parody version titled Witches Brew). The supernatural aspect of Night of the Eagle is convincingly handled, including a knockout sequence with a wild eagle rampaging through the scientist's tranquil study. Adapted by Twilight Zone stalwarts Richard Matheson and Charles Beaumont, the British-made Night of the Eagle was released in the US as Burn, Witch, Burn. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Janet Blair, Peter Wyngarde, (more)
- 1962
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
American-International's standing "haunted castle" set is exhibited to peak advantage in Roger Corman's Pit & the Pendulum. Save for the climax, Richard Matheson's script bears but little resemblance to the Edgar Allen Poe original, though there are pronounced echoes throughout of Poe's The Premature Burial. Vincent Price stars as Nicholas Medina, the son of a notorious Spanish Inquisition torturer. Nicholas' wife Elizabeth (Barbara Steele) has died under mysterious circumstances, prompting Elizabeth's brother Francis (John Kerr) to arrive at the Medina castle to investigate. The tormented Medina believes that Elizabeth was buried alive, and is convinced that he can hear his wife's voice calling out to him. In truth, Elizabeth has faked her death, part of a plan concocted with her lover Dr. Leon (Anthony Carbone) to drive Medina mad. She succeeds in this goal (albeit to her own grief, as the film's very last shot reveals), pushing Medina over the brink. Convinced that he's his own father, Medina dons Inquisition robes, straps Francis to a table, and arranges for a huge steel-bladed pendulum to slowly, slooooowwly descend on his helpless victim. You'd never know that Pit & The Pendulum was shot on the budget and schedule of a B western; the film is consistently good to look at, with eerily evocative color camerawork (Floyd Crosby) and sumptuous art direction. Stock footage of the climactic torture sequence would later find its way into the 1966 spy spoof Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine, which also starred Vincent Price. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vincent Price, John Kerr, (more)
- 1961
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
- Starring:
- Buster Keaton, Stanley Adams, (more)
- 1961
Written by Richard Matheson, this is one of those classic Twilight Zone episodes that has remained in the collective memory long after other lesser episodes (and lesser anthologies) have been forgotten. The action takes place at a remote farmhouse, where a soil-stained farm woman (Agnes Moorehead) is forced to defend herself from a tiny spaceship and its equally diminutive occupants. Except for the final scene, the episode is entirely bereft of dialogue, affording Moorehead the opportunity to deliver a bravura pantomime performance. Originally telecast January 27, 1961, "The Invaders" was selected as the final Twilight Zone rerun of the 1961-62 season -- which at the time was assumed to be the series' very last installment. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Agnes Moorehead
- 1961
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
- Starring:
- Vincent Price, Charles Bronson, (more)
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
- Starring:
- Vincent Price, Mark Damon, (more)
- 1960
Richard Matheson's first full-fledged Twilight Zone script was written for this February 5, 1960, episode. Kenneth Haigh stars as Flight Lt. Decker, a WWI British flying ace who passes through a queer-looking cloud in 1917 -- and ends up on an American Air base in the year 1960. Naturally, no one believes Decker's wild story, but General Harper (Alexander Scourby) and Major Wilson (Simon Scott) are in for quite a jolt when elderly British Air Marshal McKaye (Robert Warwick) pays a visit. The stunt flying sequences were handled by Frank Gifford Tallman. "The Last Flight" received the ultimate accolade when excerpts were included in the Twilight Zone advertisements shown on local CBS affiliates in early 1960. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kenneth Haigh, Simon Scott, (more)
- 1960
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
- Starring:
- Howard Duff, Frank Maxwell, (more)
- 1960
Director Richard L. Bare made an impressive Twilight Zone debut with this classic episode. Fritz Weaver and Joe Maross star respectively as scientist William Sturka and test pilot Jerry Riden, who, aware that their country is on the brink of nuclear war, conspire to rescue themselves and their families by blasting off in an experimental spaceship. But first, the fugitives-to-be must escape the watchful eye of odious government functionary Carling (Edward Andrews). Though the episode's punch line is tipped off by its title, "Third from the Sun" scores points with some truly remarkable camerawork, courtesy of director Bare and cinematographer George Clemens. Scripted by Rod Serling from a short story by Richard Matheson, this episode first aired January 8, 1960. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fritz Weaver, Joe Maross, (more)
- 1960
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
- 1960
Future Star Trek captain William Shatner stars as Don Carter, who is on his honeymoon with his perky young wife Pat (Patricia Breslin). Stranded in a small town while their car is being repaired, Don and Pat wander into a diner, where their attention is diverted by a curious fortune-telling machine. Out of amusement, they begin feeding coins into the machine -- and before long, Don has become "hooked" on the sinister device. Stafford Repp, who later played Chief O'Hara on TV's Batman, appears as a mechanic. Written by Richard Matheson, "Nick of Time" made its Twilight Zone debut on November 18, 1960. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Shatner, Patricia Breslin, (more)
- 1960
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
- Starring:
- Keenan Wynn, Phyllis Kirk, (more)
- 1959
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
- Starring:
- Steve Cochran, Mamie van Doren, (more)
- 1959
Richard Matheson was first represented on the Twilight Zone with the December 11, 1959 episode "And When the Sky Was Opened," adapted by Rod Serling from Matheson's short story "Disappearing Act." After an experimental space flight crash-lands, the three crew members -- who have miraculously survived -- begin experiencing strange sensations. As the episode develops, it becomes obvious that no one but the crewmen have any memory of the crash. . .and before long, no one has any memory whatsoever of the crew itself! This tricky, complex set-up was brilliantly handled by director Douglas Heyes (making his own Twilight Zone debut) and by a topnotch cast, including Rod Taylor, Jim Hutton, and Charles Aidman as the benighted astronauts (also, keep an eye out for Sue Randall, aka "Miss Landers" on Leave It to Beaver. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rod Taylor, Charles Aidman, (more)
- 1957
The screen's great existential science fiction film, The Incredible Shrinking Man stars Grant Williams in the title role. While catching some rays on his brother's yacht, Scott Carey (Williams) is enveloped by a mysterious dark cloud. Soon after, he discovers that he's getting thinner -- and smaller. Despite the assuring attitude of his family doctor (the inevitable William Schallert), Scott is losing an inch's worth of height with each passing day. It is finally determined that he has developed an "anti-cancer," a by-product of a new strain of insecticide. By the time he's reached the size of a small boy, Scott has become world-famous. But the phenomenon has adversely affected his personality, turning him into a tyrant, lashing out at the world in general and his faithful wife in particular. An anti-toxin briefly halts the shrinking process, whereupon Scott joins a midget troupe, where he is briefly "accepted" for what he has become. But before long he's shrinking again, becoming so tiny that he is forced to live in a dollhouse. When Scott is attacked by his pet cat, his wife assumes that he's been killed; in fact, Scott, by now so minuscule that even a garden-variety spider poses a deadly threat to him, is hiding in his cellar. By film's end, Scott is no larger than an atom. Uncertain of what is in store for him, he steps out into the mists, summing up his newfound philosophy: "Smaller than smallest, I meant something too. To God there is no zero. I still exist!" Adapted by Richard Matheson from his own novel, The Incredible Shrinking Man is enhanced by its superb special effects. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Grant Williams, Randy Stuart, (more)
