It is hard to critique this episode without something of a spoiler but the Twilight Zone is so well known now that there can't be much left to spoil. That is except the qualities that made the episode worthwhile in the first place. I don't think any of the remake episodes in this series were a good idea with the exception of A Game of Pool which restored the writer's original ending that was changed in the original production. This one is a prime example of when it was a bad idea.
The original script focuses on the main character a young woman who can only remember one month of her life who goes to a department store where she eventually discovers that she is a mannequin who was given her turn to have a real life in our world and must return so that another can take a turn. She struggles but in the end she remembers and comes to terms with her destiny. There were virtually no special effects and the writing was about her character and gradual realization of who she really is and her relationship to the other mannequins.
This version cheapens all that to turn it into a short B-horror movie. The mannequins come after her in literal reality, hands without fingers and such details. She breaks a window and they chase her through the mall (an acceptable update from the multi-floor department store of the original although the non-existent 13th floor where mannequins are stored was a nice touch) looking evil and threatening. As they close in she begins to turn back into a mannequin one body part at a time. Leg turns to plastic, then an arm etc. The subtleties of character and acting of the original are gone in favor of special effects and makeup tricks. It is as if the episode had been moved from Twilight Zone to Night Gallery. It also went from a foot deep to an inch.
The original script focuses on the main character a young woman who can only remember one month of her life who goes to a department store where she eventually discovers that she is a mannequin who was given her turn to have a real life in our world and must return so that another can take a turn. She struggles but in the end she remembers and comes to terms with her destiny. There were virtually no special effects and the writing was about her character and gradual realization of who she really is and her relationship to the other mannequins.
This version cheapens all that to turn it into a short B-horror movie. The mannequins come after her in literal reality, hands without fingers and such details. She breaks a window and they chase her through the mall (an acceptable update from the multi-floor department store of the original although the non-existent 13th floor where mannequins are stored was a nice touch) looking evil and threatening. As they close in she begins to turn back into a mannequin one body part at a time. Leg turns to plastic, then an arm etc. The subtleties of character and acting of the original are gone in favor of special effects and makeup tricks. It is as if the episode had been moved from Twilight Zone to Night Gallery. It also went from a foot deep to an inch.