While not all of the stories were so intriguing that we couldn't take our eyes off of the screen, the majority of them were really good. The pilot episode is called "The Bride Possessed" and you can actually watch the extended version of it on the DVD. It's about a couple who are driving to their honeymoon. On the way, the bride suddenly knows her way around the area and tells her new husband where to turn. They end up on a cliff, and she suddenly becomes someone else. The woman who couldn't even drive before takes the car and leaves her husband stranded since she now has no clue who he is. The local police pick up the husband and are driving to try and find her when they see the car at a house nearby. The woman who lived there recently killed herself. The new bride is now convinced that she is this woman and that she didn't commit suicide; she was murdered. Very interesting, huh? I mean how could this woman who's never been in the area before know all sorts of information about a woman she had never met? Was she really possessed? Personally, this was one of my favorite episodes. I felt it was a wonderful way to start the series.
Another favorite episode of mine is called "Night of April 14th." When I saw the title, I knew the episode was going to be about one of 2 things, Lincoln getting shot or the Titanic hitting an iceberg because that's the two major disasters that have happened on my birthday in history. Of course, there has to be a Titanic story, it's the more likely to have a paranormal event about it. This one actually also deals with a newly married couple.
Other episodes include a story about a man who cannot die at the hands of the executioner. I could really see this one happening, but if it's not supernatural, he's just really lucky! There's also one about a man who visits an island he's never been to before, but all the inhabitants claim he has. They know all sorts of details about him and even little things like how he likes his tea, but he knows there's no way he could have been there before now! The story about the teenage girl with pyrokinetic powers is really powerful. While you might be thinking the power to burn things with your mind is cool, she just wants to be normal and has very little control over her power! There are so many stories on here, 22 of them to be exact. With that much entertainment, how can you go wrong?
One Step Beyond is in black and white. While normally I don't really like balck and white movies, I think that it fits the subjects well in this case. The quality is slightly bad on one of them, but given that it's 50 years old, that's to be expected, and it does clear up a lot in only a few minutes. It was a very minor annoyance that I quickly forgot about. There are also some special features available on the DVD. I already mentioned the extended pilot episode, but there's also a few more things that are really worth watching.
I really enjoyed One Step Beyond, so much so that we watched them all in under 2 days and can't wait on more! If you like mysteries and unexplained phenomena, or if you're a fan of The Twilight Zone, I highly recommend you go get One Step Beyond: Official First Season & 50th Anniversary Special Edition today!
