Very Best of One Step Beyond (2006)

Platform:  DVD MOVIE Publisher:  MILL CREEK ENTERTAINMENT Packaging:  DVD STYLE BOX Produced during the same time-frame as the more recognized Twilight Zone this series capitalized on the country's burgeoning interest in paranormal mysteries in a unique fashion. This weekly series presented the viewer with tales of the paranormal based upon "real" stories of the supernatural such as ghosts monsters mysterious disappearances and documented events. Each story was supposed to be a dramatization that was both entertaining and thought provoking making the audience wonder if the event depicted was as real as it was portrayed. The program went on to a successful syndication run that intrigued viewers for years.Included:1. One Step Beyond - Aerialist The2. One Step Beyond - Anniversary of a Murder3. One Step Beyond - Brainwave4. One Step Beyond - Captain's Guests The5. One Step Beyond - Clown The6. One Step Beyond - Dark Room The7. One Step Beyond - Dead Man's Tale8. One Step Beyond - Dead Part of the House The9. One Step Beyond - Dead Ringer10. One Step Beyond - Delia11. One Step Beyond - Delusion12. One Step Beyond - Devil's Laughter The13. One Step Beyond - Doomsday14. One Step Beyond - Dream The15. One Step Beyond - Earthquake16. One Step Beyond - Echo17. One Step Beyond - Executioner The18. One Step Beyond - Explorer The19. One Step Beyond - Forked Lightning20. One Step Beyond - Front Runner21. One Step Beyond - Gypsy22. One Step Beyond - Hand The23. One Step Beyond - I Saw You Tomorrow24. One Step Beyond - Inheritance The25. One Step Beyond - Justice26. One Step Beyond - Last Round The27. One Step Beyond - Legacy of Love28. One Step Beyond - Lovers The29. One Step Beyond - Make me not a Witch30. One Step Beyond - Message from Clara31. One Step Beyond - Moment of Hate32. One Step Beyond - Night of April 14th33. One Step Beyond - Night of Decision34. One Step Beyond - Open Window The35. One Step Beyond - Ordeal Product Description

Review of Disk, not Content

This is a review of the DVD itself and NOT content. The DVD wouldn't load. I don't have the "newest" DVD player. From what I understand, if you have a new (last few years) DVD player there shouldn't be a problem. But just know that if you have one that is more than a few years old, you may not be able to play the disks. This has only happened one other time, so even if you have had no problems before, just know it's a possibility. August 8, 2008

the very best of one step beyond

For any one step beyond fans. I highly recommend this video. the bad part being my computer, burnt the last two disks. So, I guess I'm going to order another one and not play it on my computer. July 14, 2008

NO WORDS CAN EXPRESS HOW I FEEL!!

This will be short and sweet. I simply cannot express how happy and completely satisfied I am with this purchase...I watched these episodes as a very young person and have always wanted to own copies. They are black and white but I haven't had a problem with the quality of the pictures at all. I LOOOOOOOOOVE my dvd's and can't believe the price..So far though, I have watched only 2 of the dvd's and am so excited to see the others/ June 11, 2008

Well worth the money. And the stories are based on truth.

Better than The Twilight Zone (and other similar series) which was all fiction. One Step Beyond is all based on fact, which makes it all the more interesting and in some cases, disturbing. This is a very well presented, value for money set, packaged economically in that you don't get loads of unnecessary packaging, but just a straightforward dvd case with all the discs safely fixed on their individual holders. Also contains some foam squares to protect the discs from maybe getting scratched, which is a further nice touch on the part of the manufacturer.
Some very good stories, very absorbing to watch and with some wellknown names appearing too. Vague recollections of childhood watching and being fascinated by the stories. There are fifty of them on here, which is excellent value for money. It doesn't look as though the picture quality has been cleaned up much, if at all, but for the price and otherwise all round good quality of the packaging, I don't think anyone can complain about that! And truth be told, the picture quality is not at all bad and certainly no worse than anyone should expect given the time scale involved. June 4, 2008

A delightfully eerie blast from the past.

This "One Step Beyond" DVD compilation brings together slightly more than half of the total episodes from the series, on four well-formatted disks. As other reviewers have noted, the episodes are in terrible shape, full of scratches, gaps and blips. It seems unlikely at this point, alas, that anyone will take the trouble to restore them. "One Step Beyond," in any case, always seemed to belong to the very early days of television; shot on cheap videotape, the series never had the production gloss of "The Twilight Zone" or "Alfred Hitchcock Presents." (Watching multiple episodes of "One Step Beyond," the series' low budget becomes apparent in how often the same sets were used.) It was a shock for me, in fact, to find out that "One Step Beyond" premiered only a few months before "The Twilight Zone;" I had always assumed it dated from the very early '50s. In a way, however, the wavering, flickering images add to the eerieness of the show, making the performers seem like ghosts captured during a seance.

Unlike "The Twilight Zone," "One Step Beyond" always dealt with the paranormal, and always insisted that all its stories were based on fact. (In an interview shortly before his death, John Newland said all the stories used on the show had either written or anecdotal evidence of their truth.) The best episodes of "One Step Beyond" were those that either captured the audience with a last-second, throat-catching surprise (I particularly liked the one about the London housewife and her presumably imaginary lover) or that had particularly fine performances. In the interview, Newland said his favorite performance in the entire series was that of the character actor Alfred Ryder, playing a condemned man who grows progressively more arrogant as his executioners fail, again and again, to hang him. That indeed was a fine performance, but there were others. I particularly loved the performances of the very young Cloris Leachman and Jean Renoir favorite Marcel Dalio in a tale of ghostly doings in provincial France, and also of Norman Lloyd as a wormy little psychic and the very young Suzanne Pleshette as the tart whose future he foresees. There are interesting combinations of actors throughout the series, such as the episode featuring Joan Fontaine and the very young Warren Beatty (who, it is apparent, was still learning his craft). There also are performances that have taken on an unintentionally creepy frisson (such as Robert Blake as a prison inmate, five years before "In Cold Blood" and 45 years before his own murder trial).

Every series has its Achilles heel. "The Twilight Zone" always faltered when it tried to be funny, and "One Step Beyond" had a sentimental streak that doesn't play well with contemporary audiences. (One episode, featuring Mickey Shaughnessy as a mute clown and Yvette Mimieux as a jealous man's child bride, is particularly icky.)

The personality who tied "One Step Beyond" together was Newland, who appeared in (and directed) every episode, sometimes as the omniscient narrator and sometimes as a "John Newland" character who interpreted for the other characters the inexplicable events they had just lived through. An elegant, ironic yet soothing presence, Newland was the perfect host for the series and deserves to be much better remembered than he is today. (His interview revealed him as a thoroughly pleasant, thoughtful man.) In any case, this "One Step Beyond" compilation pays ample testimony to his artistry, and should prove rewarding to all fans of the creepy, eerie, and bizarre on TV.

May 31, 2008

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