The Outer Limits (TV Series) If These Walls Could Talk (1995) User Reviews

SF approach to haunted house theme

[Bored_Dragon · 8/10 · 1 February 2019]

The son of divorced parents, whose mother forbids him seeing a troubled girl, uses an abandoned house to still see her. But one night after going to the house they both disappear without a trace. Police believe them to be runaways, but the mother does not give up on the conviction that her son is dead and takes matters into her own hands.

The episode is totally unoriginal, but based on previous experience I didn't expect it anyway, so I won't take lack of originality against it. This is a classic story about a haunted house, only instead of ghosts it uses a quasi-scientific outcome and this combination of horror and SF is quite interesting and additionally empowered by solid acting and effects unexpectedly good for this type of series. If you're not a picky nagger, it's quite enjoyable.

8/10

Entertaining, but not special

[habren · 7/10 · 15 January 2011]

For me, what defines the quality of a sci-fi TV show episode, is the feasibility of the scientific oddity presented, the story of the characters surrounding it and the acting qualities of the actors.

The story about the struggle of divorced parents was understandable and I think the actors did a good job. Especially mom not approving of her sons girlfriend.

The science of the substance in the haunted house was entertaining, but it failed in having the victims remaining alive in some form. However, that did make for some nice special effects. Overall, this episode to me was entertaining, but definitely not the best in this series.

Good Special Effects; Recycled Plot

[Hitchcoc · 7/10 · 18 March 2014]

This is a haunted house story. It involves a couple of kids who enjoy drinking and fooling around in a spooky old house. One night they disappear without a trace. The focus then goes to two people, both of whom have appeared on a talk show that has investigated paranormal experiences. The woman is the mother of the missing boy; the man a debunker of supernatural experiences. The two come together as mild adversaries. She talks him into going to the house because in a previous visit, she has heard eerie sounds. As they test the waters, they begin to notice odd things happening and more strange sounds. He struggles to attribute them to natural phenomena. The police become involved when an unbalanced vagrant is found in the place and the strange events are attributed to him. Of course, this won't be the end of it. This is both a ghost story about a house that takes on an anthropomorphic presence and a story of people who have endured tragedy. If one watches enough movies and has had a dose of the X-Factor, this is pretty much old school.

A missed opportunity for something more profound

[hung_fao_tweeze · 7/10 · 17 May 2019]

Synopsis: A woman enlists the help of a paranormal skeptic to search for her missing son and girlfriend who have vanished after entering an abandoned house.

Review:

This seems like an odd subject for a series like 'Outer Limits' which survives on predominantly sci-fi themed tales. Yet, here is a woman who searches for her missing son in an alleged 'haunted house' and hears him calling to her. With a promise of $5000, she is able to convince a well-known published paranormal skeptic to accompany her to the house and assist with looking for her son. It plays like an all-too-typical haunted house story, sudden drafts, noises, and visions...nothing remarkable but everything very much what you might expect from a series like 'Night Gallery' or 'One Step Beyond'. Then they discover a hidden room and an object that manages to plant this episode back into the sci-fi realm. This is good because so far the episode was surprisingly unoriginal. Unfortunately, what is done with this plot device isn't original either. It is a cross of 'Andromeda Strain' with a smidgen of 'John Carpenter's The Thing' and an eventual nod to the original 'Poltergeist'.

Dwight Schultz and Alberta Watson do an adequate job of acting out the roles they've been given to a point. The episode's conclusion doesn't give them or the viewers much to work with. Most would agree that the best OL episodes leave a haunting residue embedded in the viewer's mind to toy with, ponder over. I waited for it...nothing. It was then that I was reminded of the second season of the original series and how nearly all of those episodes simply ended without much bravado. This episode would fit nicely into that uninspired period.

Conclusion: It is a shame that something more profound or enlightening couldn't have been done with this vehicle. The opportunities were there and were missed. The worst thing of all is that I feel any viewer will notice it. If this happens to be the first OL episode you've ever seen, there is every likelihood that you will walk away with little compulsion to prioritize yourself to watch another episode. There are many far better ones. Don't give up.

Possible scenario for The Thing.

[josephmiller-28358 · 8/10 · 26 December 2019]

The creature has traits very similar to The Thing. I almost think this is a what if scenario of The Thing, when it has escaped the colder climates and entered a remote country location. Although, it isn't clear if The Thing has a sensitivity to alcohol, since there was no alcohol present in the movies. Nor was it proven that the creature in this episode is sensitive to fire, acid and cold. Its ability to assimilate the lifeforms it consumes is reminiscent of "The Thing", with a major exception of it being able to also assimilate inanimate matter, albeit much slower rate.

Good episode/re-envision of "Don't Open Til Doomsday"

[robnero · 9/10 · 9 May 2019]

There is an episode from the original "The Outer Limits" called "Don't Open Til Doomsday". I wonder if this episode is a redo of that one. In it, a box is brought to house where a young couple celebrating their upcoming wedding. Their upscale family, Father, spinster woman, servant staff are inside. The box is left and brought upstairs, placed with the rest of the gifts. The fiance, wanders into the room, here's a sound coming from it, reads the note "Don't open till doomsday..." takes a drink and opens it. There is only a lense on it. He looks through and shouts in terror at something alien inside that has now latched on to his face, he is sucked inside. One by one the others are as well. An ex boyfriend shows up for one last attempt at reconciliation, no answer. A sheriff gets involved when no one can be found that should be there. In the end, some one is saved and the house imploded like this one, only this one looks even more like the poltergeist ending.. Creepy.