‘Monster in the Box’ Takes Many Forms Over 50 Years

The Museum of Television & Radio in Beverly Hills has transformed itself into a house of horrors with its “Monster in the Box: Horror on Television” festival, which kicks off Friday and continues through Dec. 10. During those weeks, the museum explores five decades of things that go bump in the night on the small screen.

Presented in six thematic packages, “Monster in a Box” features every horror imaginable: vintage episodes of “The Twilight Zone” and “Alfred Hitchcock Presents”; the campy shenanigans of “The Munsters”; contemporary shockers such as “Buffy, the Vampire Slayer;” and TV cult flicks such as “KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park.” Below are highlights of the festival:

“Director’s Showcase”

(Friday-Oct 1)

“Ford Startime: TV’s Finest Hour: The Turn of the Screw”: John Frankenheimer, one of TV’s most accomplished directors, is at the top of his form with this terrifying 1959 version of the Henry James classic ghost story that was telecast live. Ingrid Bergman, in her first American TV dramatic role, won an Emmy for her performance as a governess who believes her two young charges are possessed by evil spirits.

“Night Gallery: Eyes”: Back in 1969, NBC aired a horror movie trilogy, “Night Gallery,” which was penned by Rod Serling. “Eyes” is the best remembered of the trio because it marked the professional directorial debut of a young Steven Spielberg. He does a crackerjack job with this chiller about a wealthy blind woman (Joan Crawford) who wants to buy the eyes of an indebted gambler.

“The Twilight Zone: Night Call”: Director Jacques Tourneur excelled at atmospheric horror films as 1942’s “Cat People.” Tourneur works his magic in this episode of the Rod Serling series starring Gladys Cooper as an old woman who receives phone calls from beyond the grave.

Boris Karloff

(Oct. 5-15)

“Route 66: Lizard’s Leg and Outlet’s Wing”: When horror movies began to fade in the late ‘40s, Boris Karloff turned his talents to the small screen. In this 1962 episode of “Route 66,” Karloff teams up with veteran fright stars Peter Lorre and Lon Chaney Jr.

Die Laughing

(Oct. 19-29)

“The Munsters: Munster Masquerade”: Premiere episode of the 1964-66 CBS horror comedy turned cult classic finds the Munsters attending a masquerade ball.

“South Park: Pink Eye”: This 1997 installment of Comedy Central’s irreverent animated comedy series finds an attack of flesh-eating zombies mistaken for a conjunctivitis epidemic.

“The Simpsons: Halloween Special V: Treehouse of Horror V”: Fans of the long-running Fox animated comedy series always look forward to the annual ghoulishly fun Halloween tributes. This one from 1994 takes on infanticide, time travel and cannibalism.

Teen Terror

(Nov. 2-12)

“Buffy, the Vampire Slayer: Hush”: Joss Whedon, the creator of the WB’s fab vampire series, wrote and directed this Emmy-nominated episode in which the voices of the residents of Sunnydale are stolen by apparitions, and the episode is virtually without dialogue.

“Curse of the Blair Witch”: This 1999 faux documentary companion piece to “The Blair Witch Project” is actually much scarier and entertaining than the box-office hit. This mockumentary chronicling the history of the Blair Witch is so effective many viewers actually believed it was a true story.

Dark Fables

(Nov. 16-26)

“Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Man from the South”: Roald Dahl penned this 1960 installment of Hitch’s anthology series. It’s a deliciously creepy tale starring Steve McQueen as a Las Vegas gambler who accepts a particularly nasty wager from the mysterious and sinister Peter Lorre.

“The Twilight Zone: The Hitch-Hiker”: Originally a radio show penned by Lucille Fletcher starring Orson Welles, this 1960 heart-stopper finds a woman driving alone who keeps seeing a hitchhiker everywhere she goes.

Dangerous Investigations

(Nov. 30-Dec. 10)

“Kolchak: The Night Stalker: The Zombie”: David Chase of “The Sopranos” fame co-wrote this episode of the 1974 ABC series which finds reporter Carl Kolchak (Darren McGavin) getting into trouble with a vengeful corpse while covering a mob war.

“The X-Files: The Post-Modern Prometheus”: “X-Files” creator Chris Carter has long said “The Night Stalker” was an inspiration for his popular Fox sci-fi series. This 1997 episode of “X-Files,” written and directed by Carter, is a modern retelling of the Frankenstein myth shot in black-and-white and filled with the kind of tongue-in-cheek humor that permeated “Night Stalker.”

Midnight Screenings

“Trilogy of Terror” (Thursday): Karen Black plays four different roles in this 1975 cult fave that aired on NBC based on stories by Richard Matheson.

“KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park” (Oct. 28): In this 1978 NBC TV movie, the members of the rock group KISS battle android replicas of classic movie monsters.

“The Night Stalker” (Dec. 8): This clever, funny 1972 ABC horror film, which was the pilot “Kolchak: The Night Stalker,” finds investigative reporter Carl Kolchak trying to expose a present-day vampire in Las Vegas. It was the highest rated TV movie of its time.

* “Monster in the Box: Horror on Television,” takes place Sept. 22 through Dec. 10, at the Museum of Television & Radio, 465 N. Beverly Dr., Beverly Hills. Screenings are Wednesdays through Sundays at 1 p.m. and Thursdays at 7 p.m. “KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park” screens at 9 p.m.; “Trilogy of Terror” and “The Night Stalker” screen at 10 p.m. Admission is free in Los Angeles, but suggested contributions are $6 for adults; $4 for senior citizens and students; and $3 for children under 13. For more information call (310) 786-1000 or at https:// www.mtr.org.