The Outer Limits (1963) 1.14

The Zanti Misfits

starring Michael Tolan, Olive Deering, Robert Simon, Claude Woolman, Bruce Dern

written by Joseph Stefano

directed by Leonard J. Horn

Professor Stephen Grave (Michael Tolan) arrives with Major Roger Hill (Claude Woolman) at a secret US Air Force base, run by General Maximillian Hart (Robert Simon), in the California desert town of Morgue. Grave is there to observe the arrival of an alien spaceship which is about to land in an adjacent plot of land. Grave, Hart, Hill and the others only know that the aliens are Misfits from the planet Zanti.

Two outside elements, Ben Garth (Bruce Dern) and Lisa Lawrence (Olive Deering) break into the restricted area while running from the law. Ben sees the Zanti ship and decides to investigate. One of the Zanti, revealed at this point to be large bug like creatures, attacks and kills him.

Professor Grave investigates the landing area with the permission of General Hart. He finds Lisa Lawrence and brings her back with him before the Zanti can kill her. The Zanti misfits follow Steven and Lisa back to the base and attack the detachment of airmen running the base. The Zanti all die in the attack as do some of the airmen.

Thoughts

The Zanti are really creepy looking. I think it is their faces that make them so creepy. The stop motion animation amd chittering noises they make also contributed to the creepy vibe of the aliens.

I find the explanation for why the Zanti are on Earth to be a bit lacking. Similarly the rationale for why Ben and Lisa broke into the restricted area is also lacking but a little easier to square. What really matters is that the Zanti are there and they aren't there to make friends.

Why does Ben investigate the spaceship? It's there. Does he need another reason? The all out fight between the humans and the Zanti in the last 5-7 minutes of the episode was straight out of a monster film. The special effects in that final fight scene aren't on the whole quite as impressive as earlier in the episode.

This isn't a great episode but I can see how some people might love it. 

Notes

I can't find any reliable source to confirm this but I am pretty sure that the spot where the Zanti ship landed was filmed at Vazquez Rocks.

This is the only episode of this show in which Michael Tolan appeared. He was also in one episode of The Invaders. This is the only episode of this show in which Olive Deering appeared. She was also in one episode each of Alfred Hitchcock Presents and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour.

This is the only episode of this show in which Robert F. Simon appeared. He was in one episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, 1.11 Guilty Witness. He also appeared in one episode each of The Twilight Zone (1959), Kraft Suspense Theatre, and The Six Million Dollar Man. He played the part of J. Jonah Jameson on the 1970s Spider-Man live action TV show.

This is the only episode of this show in which Bruce Woolrich appeared. It is his first screen credit according to IMDb. This is the only episode of this show in which Bruce Dern appeared. I saw him most recently in an episode of Kraft Suspense Theatre, 1.10 The Hunt, which first aired just a couple weeks before this episode of The Outer Limits.

This is the third of 12 episodes of this show that Joseph Stefano wrote. He was the producer of the first season of this show. He also wrote the screenplay for Psycho (1960). 

This is the second of three episodes of this show that Leonard J. Horn directed. The previous episode he directed was 1.06 The Man Who Was Never Born. He also directed two episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955).