One Step Beyond
Cult Films and Midnight Movies
: "From High Art to Low Trash" Vol 1
By
Tom Baker
I've been swept up lately in a few obscure old television shows. Well, two obscure, and one less so, but both dated. One, "One Step Beyond," almost qualifies as the OTHER "Twilight Zone," with its handsome, dapper, gentlemanly host, John Newland (who was also director), giving a similar take on opening monologues as the iconic Rod Serling. However, whereas "Zone" focused on metaphorical, allegorical sci-fi and fantasy (and sometimes horror) themes, the stories culled for the ninety-five or so episodes of "One Step Beyond" (which may qualify, right beside "In Search Of" with Leonard Nimoy, as my favorite show) were taken from the actual old annals of the unexplained, the famous psychic stories of yesteryear, some updated versions of hoary old world Victorian chestnuts.