"The Twilight Zone" The Howling Man (1960)

User Rating:

8.4/10   

Director:

Douglas Heyes

Writers:

Charles Beaumont (writer)
Rod Serling (creator)

TV Series:

"The Twilight Zone" (1959)

Original Air Date:

4 November 1960 (Season 2, Episode 5)

Genre:

Drama | Fantasy | Horror | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Plot:

A traveler seeking refuge from a storm comes upon a bizarre hermitage of monks, who have imprisoned a man who begs for his help...

Plot Keywords:

Monk | Devil | Hermitage | Based On Short Story | Belief

US TV Schedule:

Sat. July 4

6:00 PM

SCIFI

The Howling Man

#2.5

Cast

John Carradine	...	Brother Jerome
H.M. Wynant	...	David Ellington
Robin Hughes	...	Howling Man
Friedrich von Ledebur	...	Brother Christophorus (as Frederic Ledebur)
Ezelle Poule	...	Housekeeper

Runtime:

25 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Filming Locations:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company:

Cayuga Productions

Trivia:

Charles Beaumont had originally envisioned that the monks would keep the Devil imprisoned by putting a cross in front of his cell door. Fearful of a backlash in the religious community, the producers substituted the "staff of truth," over Beaumont's objections.

Quotes:

David Ellington: Honest men make unconvincing liars!

Excellent Version of a Classic Story

This is a simple story that probably has its roots in Melmoth the Wanderer and The Monk. A man finds himself on a snowy night at some kind of monastery (hermitage). He meets a group of staff carrying bearded men. The man is not welcomed by his hosts and is about to be turned out into the cold. He passes out on his way out the door. They tend to him and when he awakens, the begins to search the building. He runs across a man in a cell who asks for help. That is what sets up the story. This is a story about trust and about evil. It is carried out very well. While the men who live in the hermitage may seem threatening, their role in life is greater than any one of them. I have always had a great interest in the idea of how literature portrays the idea of evil as an entity, as a Satan, as a corporal being. I found this a very satisfying portrayal of the mythos.