Submitted for Your Approval, Two Volumes of ‘Twilight Zone’

Its classically structured stories, macabre sense of humor, and obsession with the unimaginable and the weird have guaranteed “The Twilight Zone” a place of honor in the landscape of American pop culture. Six of the landmark television episodes of this series, which began in 1959 on CBS, have just been released on DVD by Panasonic in two volumes that include a small but fascinating collection of extra material.

First, there are the episodes themselves. Volume 1, “Treasures of the Twilight Zone,” includes great-looking transfers of the pilot episode (the nightmarish “Where Is Everybody?”); “The Encounter,” which was never picked up for syndication; and “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,” a stunning short film from France that was purchased by CBS to make up for budget overruns during the series’ final season.

The second volume, “More Treasures of the Twilight Zone,” delves into the series’ most splendid examples of pure horror, with “The Masks,” “The Howling Man” and the symbolic “The Eye of the Beholder.” The deceptive simplicity of these concepts and the way in which they are developed could give many contemporary filmmakers a clue or two about the art of storytelling.

Unfortunately, both discs contain exactly the same supplemental material, which fails to include a complete episode list. But a seven-minute pitch for the series, in which Rod Serling tells prospective sponsors a couple of “Twilight Zone” stories, is as compelling as watching the episodes themselves.

LaserDisc Releases

“Meet Me in St. Louis” (1944, Image): One of the coziest films Hollywood ever made, the Vincente Minnelli musical will transport you to an America that no longer exists. A stereo version of the wonderful musical score can be found isolated on the analog tracks.

“The Frighteners” (1996, Pioneer): The special edition of this not-altogether-successful horror comedy starring Michael J. Fox includes 12 minutes of previously unreleased footage, a commentary by director Peter Jackson, an original documentary, deleted scenes and bloopers.

DVD Releases

“The Mask of Zorro” (1998, Columbia TriStar): Thankfully, Columbia has been sparing on the DVD edition of this funny but slightly vacuous adventure flick. The movie is accompanied by a photo gallery and a featurette containing the usual polite comments from stars and crew.

“A Perfect Murder” (1998, Warner Bros.): The presence of an alternative ending gives this mediocre Hitchcock rip-off a whole new twist, turning it into a much more intriguing film than the one people saw in the theaters.

Ernesto Lechner can be reached at LechnerE@aol.com.