A Most Unusual Camera - Twilight-Tober Zone

"A Most Unusual Camera" has an intriguing premise, but is it worth re-watching? Join Walter as he discusses this episode in the Twilight-Tober Zone.
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"A Most Unusual Camera" is episode 46 of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone. It originally aired on December 16, 1960 on CBS.
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[@ChannelAwesome]

What did everyone think of A Most Unusual Camera? Watch more Twilight-Tober Zone here - bit.ly/TwilightToberZone Follow Walter on Twitter - twitter.com/Awesome_Walter Follow us on Twitch - www.twitch.tv/channelawesome

[@trinaq]

It was a compelling concept that was held back from its full potential, in my opinion. Goosebumps arguably pulled the same concept off better.

[@williamcrowe2576]

I was kinda expecting something akin to the old Native American belief that a camera steals your soul.

[@shadowjudge921]

While not on my Top 5 or even Top 10, I do have a big love for this episode, merely because of how comedic it is. 😁

[@moonprincesst.s.h.4ever115]

This is my ultimate favorite episode! Rod Serling especially wrote this part in the episode of Paula for Jean Carson because he loved her voice. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Carson#Television

[@pattywilliams788]

I don’t agree with your overall analysis of this episode. I think that it is typical and classic Twilight Zone. There was no way that these four people were going to come out on top. They were criminals after all. The one moment when the thought of doing something good for mankind reared, didn’t last long because that’s not who they were. The only thing that I will agree with you on is the waiter. After he translated the words on the camera, his character could have just exited (although I always laugh when he screams out in French). I love this episode and I have no problem with watching it and rewatching it.

[@wakeangel2001]

the 3 stooges music is a good joke, but I would have added Goofy's iconic falling scream, it seems appropriate for such a comedic ending

[@kinyutaka]

Yaaaa-hoo-hoo-hoo-hooey!

[@random22026]

Good call! XD

[@yupeo]

IKR!!

[@naughtycicero1460]

I agree with adding the Goofy scream

[@Galantski]

Isn't the Goofy Scream really a modified Wilhelm Scream, recalibrated to account for a massive reduction of brain cells? Ditto the Homer Scream?

[@claytonrios1]

This premise could be used for a lot of interesting stories nowadays. Like imagine a camera on a smartphone with the same ability. That could make for an interesting update in my opinion.

[@Alejandroigarabide]

The rebooted series has an episode with a video camera that can rewind time.

[@claytonrios1]

@@Alejandroigarabide That's the opposite of this cameras ability but that's an interesting way to play around with the idea

[@trinaq]

Indeed, a similar anthology show could update this premise for a more contemporary audience.

[@piplup2009]

As long as it's not a haunted app

[@marcprophet]

Check out the movie “Time Lapse”. Similar concept.

[@Kentrc11]

The theme "camera tells the future" does get used often. Dave Chappelle used it in a comedy sketch called "Chappelle's Digital World".

[@trinaq]

When a Goosebumps episode (featuring a young Ryan Gosling) arguably does this exact same premise a whole lot better than the show it was inspired by, you know that it's a skippable episode!

[@randalgraves6979]

So this is kinda like “Say Cheese and Die” ? 🤔 Nevermind. I wrote this before he said it. 😐 But i did think it when i saw the thumbnail and title. Lol

[@anubusx]

Funny how he also starred in Are You Afraid Of The Dark?

[@melissacooper8724]

I remember that Goosebumps made a sequel called "Say Cheese And Die Again!"

[@calvinjackson8110]

That look on Woodward's face when he sees the picture of himself walking in the door and he slowly realizes that picture was taken BEFORE he arrived scared the shoes off me. The look on his face and that of the couple and the music as the scene comes to a pause as everybody is thinking is the part that does it for me. Man!! It makes you think!

[@debbieanne7962]

Woodward was a great character IMO

[@EGOS42]

2:25 When this was shot it was common to record audio to 1/4" reel to reel tape. The echo you hear is likely on the master tape. As the tape is spooled onto the take up reel louder passages can magnetize the tape nested beside it. That portion of nested tape happened to be very quiet so the transferred echo is prominent.

[@humanimalhedgehog123]

Odd... because I listened to a version that didn't have that issue.

[@dbefore7165]

The ‘echo’ is the tape audio layers bleeding into each other as they are all bound together on the reel.

[@KyleRobots]

For years, like consecutive years starting in 99, whenever I would go 'oh, it's sci-fi channel's new year's Twilight zone marathon' and switch it on, it was either this episode, or the first full one on after. Didn't matter when I did it, morning, noon, or night

[@gameskyjumper1721]

I adore this ep. That ending is funny as hell.

[@WildMen4444]

That Three Stooges joke near the end made me think you guys should do reviews of the Three Stooges in April

[@WalterCulture]

I'd love to do something on The Three Stooges.

[@WildMen4444]

@@WalterCulture Yay!

[@Oppeldeldoc1]

My problem with skipping this one is that no one could play a comical aggravated boss better than Fred Clark.

[@justanotherchannelonyoutub126]

I never really liked the fact that they were thieves from the beginning. Like I think the story would’ve worked better if they were regular everyday people that slowly became power hungry due to the camera’s power.

[@trinaq]

I agree, the protagonists might have been more relatable had they simply been decent people driven into corruption by their own greed, and the camera's toxic influence.

[@DracoMagnius]

I agree that might have been more interesting, but at the same time why become theives with a future telling camera when you could use it to gamble like they did at the race track? Stealing adds more problems where as with gambling you technically won the money you just had the benifit of cheating with future knowledge.

[@XenoSpyro]

They already did that in the genie episode

[@calvinjackson8110]

I agree.

[@elder-woodsilverstein7716]

If I'm going to be honest with you, I did not pick up that they were robbers when I watched the episode. I just zoned out, and thought they were just rich people due to the apartment they were living in. I think explains why making them robbers had very little baring on the story. You don't see them rob a place, and with execption of woodword breaking out of prison, they mostly do stuff thats leagle, like betting on a horse race. You really could just have made Chester and Paula rich people, or everyday citezens, and it would have made about as much sense.

[@jessetorres8738]

Someone needs to make a compilation video of all of the times people died falling out a window or off a building in The Twilight Zone. Seriously, there are at least a dozen episodes where this happens!

[@geoffreyfyfe2248]

It was an easy and censorship-friendly way to knock off people on a TV show in those days.

[@trinaq]

Indeed, I would love to see that special supercut compilation!

[@GregNumber5]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/b5vRZ3yQfcioa6M

[@Brenda-cg1px]

I can think of 6 episodes off the top of my head (not including this one): 1. What's in the Box 2. Perchance to Dream 3. The Fever 4. Escape Clause 5. The Encounter 6. Cavender is Coming

[@ctmdarkonestm]

Twilight Zone drinking game

[@ronaldeliascorderocalles]

The campiness of this episode screams "60s show" all over the episode.

[@miguelbranquinho7235]

That's what makes it fun.

[@kinyutaka]

It would obviously need to be retooled if revisited today The ambiguous picture of the frightened sister is good, it gets the boys fighting as they each assume the other betrayed them. The issue is with the last picture of the bodies on the street and her ultimately joining them. A better idea might have been to have the waiter be much more friendly, helping the sister out. She takes a photo of him before leaving together, the now worthless camera on the table, where the developing image reveals him to be the Grim Reaper.

[@ingamingpc1634]

That would have been better but would death still have treated her better You know before killing her

[@elder-woodsilverstein7716]

confusing? Yes A better ending? Yes

[@Enterthedarkness23]

One of my favorite episodes. So much rewatch value. It inspired the killer camera genre that Goosebumps would adapt later as "Say Cheese and Die".

[@I_am_Dane_Youssef]

And ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE DARK? used this as THE TALE OF THE CURIOUS CAMERA.

[@amazzonkane]

The idea was more interesting than the execution. An “Are You Afraid of the Dark?” Episode “The Tale of the Curious Camera” used this idea and made it genuinely creepy.

[@kfUNC1]

I know it’s not among the best of the series, but I love this episode. The interaction between the characters is hilarious. The ending could have been a little better written, but overall it’s enjoyable.

[@blisswonder]

As someone that used to watch three stooges growing up I laughed out loud when that Columbia logo and music started up.

[@DerkMiester]

Same!

[@julieporter7805]

It's goofy but I love the "And Woodward" running gag.

[@DeadMoon1986]

Let's not forget Are You Afraid Of The Dark? 's "The Tale Of The Curious Camera"

[@geoffreyfyfe2248]

"AYAOTD" even did a previous episode with sinsister camera action in "The Tale of the Captured Souls", complete with Kiki's opening spiel about how some Native American tribes refused having their pictures taken because they feared a camera captured your soul (actually a true thing; the legendary Sioux chief Crazy Horse has no photos of him in part because he had this belief).

[@GabrielRuizBallard]

5:12 That actually got a laugh out of me

[@RegginaldRiglet]

These are so good. Twilight zone. Batman animated series. These video essays have gotten me to go back and revisit these shows. Thank you and keep them coming

[@glowworm2]

Surprised you didn't mention that Paula was played by the late Jean Carson. I didn't realize it at the time when I saw this episode, but she was one of the "fun girls" in the Andy Griffith Show. The one with the raspy voice, natch. Also, that Three Stooges joke worked like a charm.

[@phillipmorland7124]

I've always wondered how the French waiter died at the end. What, did he see there were four bodies so he jumped out to not make the camera a liar?

[@ZekeStaright]

The Three Stooges soundtrack really fits well with that ending, lol.

[@satisacro]

Next episode, Walter will do the same thing malls and supermarkets are doing right now: skip Halloween and go straight to Christmas!!!!

[@SnakeRoadComicsOfficial3677]

This was the first twilight zone episode I've seen. The ending was funny.

[@coolnerdlll6053]

Did anyone else read the title and immediately think of Goosebumps?

[@trinaq]

Yep, I thought of Goosebumps instantly!

[@geoffreyfyfe2248]

Surprised Walter did not even mention the episode features baby Ryan Gosling even though he showed a clip of him.

[@ThePkmnYPerson]

Yesterday was an episode I didn't realize was good and today's is one I didn't realize was bad. It's like A Most Unusual Camera got me interested enough in what was gonna happen next to make me overlook its flaws whereas The Trouble With Templeton was the exact opposite of that.

[@MinutesFromVegas]

I still think the waiter walked backwards in fear after seeing the photo and fell on accident. Although couldn't they have gotten 30 pictures of it if they just gave the camera to each other?

[@albertnormal6834]

Ha Ha, trying to use logic in the Twilight Zone :)

[@debbieanne7962]

Exactly what I thought!!

[@geoffreyfyfe2248]

It's amusing how both "Goosebumps" and "Are You Afraid of the Dark?" did this story at practically the same time (although with noted differences). Hell, the "Goosebumps" episode not only had the same director as the "AYAOTD" episode, but some of the same actors essentially playing similar roles.

[@pkmntrainermark8881]

Interesting...

[@wstine79]

This sounds similar to the episode with the dictator who had a mirror that showed the reflection of his friends trying to kill him.

[@geoffreyfyfe2248]

"The Mirror." That's next season, the one with Peter Falk playing a blatantly obvious Castro stand-in.

[@revacohen]

I agree about the waiter: his death never made sense, since it wasn't clear what caused him to fall out the window.

[@delliott7]

This is actually one of my favorites!!

[@chrisazylum6624]

Remember watching this as a kid! Next time Christmas episode!

[@jeremytung1632]

I think we’ve all seen evil camera stories.

[@daytimesky]

I actually liked this one. I watched it with my mom and we found it fun. I also noticed that this likely inspired the Goosebumps books mentioned in the review, which definitely did more with the premise!

[@kirk1701]

The actor who portrayed Woodward had a prominent role as a hood in the Alfred Hitchcock film _North by Northwest._

[@Shorai_3]

I'm surprised that Fun Girl Daphne didn't use the camera to finally get Andy.

[@mayhemx9]

The three stooges thing you said was very spot on. I could just see shemp doing that last part.

[@melissacooper4282]

Nice touch to play The Three Stooges theme after the waiter fell out the window! "A Most Unusual Camera" wasn't a favorite of mine anyway.

[@gingaddict]

That window fall at the end is indeed goofy but not as goofy as the one in the episode 'What's in the Box?' - seriously, that one stands in a class all its own, when I first saw it, I burst out laughing!

[@josiahjenksisawesome]

Could we get a retrospective of the Dick Van Dyke Show as well? It was a really good series with great actors and more people should know about it.

[@merriquelynn866]

I really love the show. It’s still fun to watch.

[@madizzle90]

They could’ve done more with this episode, but I never thought it was boring.

[@PhoenixHealing]

Rod pushed him 😁

[@oliverdelica2289]

🤣🤣

[@BaronOfHell666]

I loved this episode.

[@poochyenarulez]

I really enjoyed this episode, it was fun.

[@matthewmcshane399]

I really liked this episode

[@BillGraper]

When I watched the episode where the man calls his widow from beyond the grave, I could hear the characters' voices a few seconds BEFORE they said them. This occurred throughout the episode. It was eerie. I'm not sure if that's in the actual footage, or some kind of problem with the audio on the streaming service, but it sounded just like this clip. It was very distant, but noticeable.

[@ThenewTchannel]

Thank you for mentioning the Goosebumps books

[@justsomeokami8867]

You said exactly what I thought! “This reminds me of “Say Cheese and Die” from Goosebumps”

[@tonys9102]

Good overview, as always. The audio echo you mention around 5:40 is mostly likely "bleed-through" from old magnetic tape. This happens as tapes age. If you have an old audio cassette you made yourself, play it and odds are you'll hear an echo of the starting sound just before the real audio begins. Whatever the case, this deficiency is easily remedies with a simple sound editing program, and I'm surprised they didn't fix it for the DVD.

[@labyfan1313]

I grew up with Goosebumps so as soon as I read the title I was hoping it would be about a haunted camera. I was surprised though that the camera turned out to be less evil and more just future telling and wish fulfilling (until the end of course). The Goosebumps books about a camera causing horrible things to happen to people still gives me chills even as an adult when I read it. Good to know this episode was where R.L. Stine got his inspiration though, because I know he's said that he's gotten ideas for many of his books from classic movies/TV, and I wondered if this episode was the inspiration for Say Cheese And Die. But I enjoyed this episode. For someone who's never seen it before I didn't know where it was going to go. I was waiting for the other shoe to drop the whole time, so I found it engaging.

[@compatriot852]

The 3 stooges joke matched up far more than it should have

[@labyfan1313]

Also it's hilarious how seamlessly that 3 Stooges outro fit at the end of this episode. lol But I agree it didn't make sense how the waiter fell out the window. I could see if he fainted and fell out but you hear him scream on the way down. Maybe the camera actually was evil and it sucked him out the window. Like whatever is in the picture has to come true, more like the Goosebumps book.

[@BigGrim87]

Holy shit the three stooges gag is so funny

[@smithno41]

I actually like this episode and watch it again from time to time.

[@XperimentorEES]

The indie film Time Lapse (2014) takes this concept a bit farther, worth a watch if you can find it.

[@albertnormal6834]

Thank you! I knew I'd seen a movie like that, but couldn't remember the title. I was hoping someone in the comments had mentioned it.

[@XperimentorEES]

@@albertnormal6834 You're welcome, been trying to collect the lost gems of movies myself, though still forget one occasionally unless I write it down lol.

[@pkmntrainermark8881]

I thought the waiter rushed to the window to see if there was another body and fell out.

[@jonmercano1138]

Since his back is to the window, I assumed he backed away in shock and also tripped, or tipped over when he hit the wall

[@titanguy7316]

I think it was meant to be implied that the fourth person to lie dead on the pavement had a heart attack, but it sure doesn't sound like someone having a heart attack with that out-of-place "Yelp!"

[@sirorliktheironclad]

5:10 That sound effect makes me laugh.

[@job489]

I watched this episode again and noticed the waiter's index finger on the photo. When he pulls the photo from the camera, his thumb is covering a part of the photo. When he's counting the number of bodies, his finger moves up and that's when he sees four bodies.

[@skarloey1214]

Great Video Walter.

[@tremorsfan]

I remember watching two movies in a row, one had Fred Clark and the other had Marcel Hillaire.

[@_captain_N]

the tale of the curious camera from are you afraid of the dark did the same thing as say cheese and die and a most unusual camera and that show had some of the same actors from say cheese and die and was directed by the same guy I believe if I can remember.

[@battleblitz2581]

I bet you he fell out the window by stepping back in shock and tripping over the lady's shoe.

[@mustbetheSUN]

I think a better twist would have been the waiter grabbing the photograph and saying "Jesus Christ, they're alive!". Then Paula goes to the window, she falls off, it is revealed that the photo showed her body down there too and the waiter smirks as he keeps everything.

[@lizd.8655]

That was a young Ryan Gosling in the Goosebumps ep!

[@dekumon1473]

This reminds me of this one movie from a few years ago with a similar premise. Only it was with a painter, his girlfriend, and his best friend. And the camera couldn't be moved

[@petergray7576]

Next Episode: S2E11 Night of the Meek Starring Art Carney as a department store Santa Claus. He would later star in another holiday themed show, The Star Wars Holiday Special.

[@gingergoddess8953]

The paranormal camera conxept was used again in the 2002 Twilight Zone remake episode Developing, only instead of the camera being psychic, the main character thinks her dead fiance is trying to contact her through it.

[@willwaggenspack6411]

Goose bumps ripped this off

[@alexgrant2602]

Well done Walter :) it did have a feel like the goosebumps episode

[@moonprincesst.s.h.4ever115]

This is my ultimate favorite episode! Rod Serling especially wrote this part in the episode of Paula for Jean Carson because he loved her voice. 📺🤩 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Carson#Television

[@mursubro1954]

Hello saturday and sunshine

[@nathanpeoples2319]

I love this episode!

[@colinwilliams553]

Yeah,a great episode, I've seen it a dozen times( I have the DVD box set) I like the premise of the storyline.Sorry, but I liked the episode more than he did.

[@Unownshipper]

Sorry Walter, we're just not on the same page here. Of all the "comedic tone" TZ episodes I've watched so far, I think this one is among the most entertaining. The commentary on humanity is darkly satirical, the characterizations are undeniably humorous, the actors are a riot, and the supernatural element, while seemingly straightforward, will leave you questioning whether you fully understood it by the end. I agree that the emotional stakes are low, but Chet, Paula, and even Woodward are just so charmingly common in their grifter machinations; they're what really carries the episode, not the camera itself. I can see how that could be a problem, but it wasn't for me. Theirs is the world of penny-ante crimes and working-class cons, so of course their use of this god-like tool is small-scale. I love how Paula promptly gets over the deaths of her husband and brother, I love how Chet plans to use the camera to help mankind but immediately trips out of the starting gate when he realizes he can use it to con the racetrack; they're delightfully awful and remind me of Rocky Valentine from "Nice Place to Visit." Finding a device that can predict the future and playing with the grim severity that entails was already done with "Nick of Time," and as mentioned, the concept would also be played for chills later on outside of TZ with Goosebumps. So with that in mind, I thought taking a comedic tone was actually more clever and unexpected a choice. About that supernatural element, I love how the the waiter recounts that there are 4 bodies in the courtyard, realizes the implication, drops the camera, and then we hear him fall out from offscreen. That got me. While the others merely stumbled, what was the force that drove him out the window? Was it shock, fate, the demonic power of the camera itself? I love that this otherwise simple episode dangles that little mystery at the end and I disagree about the notion that its clunky. Sudden? Sure, but I think it fit in with the tone for these low-brow thieves and two-bit shysters and served as a commentary about how human beings bring about their own downfall. Yes it's comedic, but darkly so in my book. I also enjoy how the first photo starts at the open window, and that's where the story ends for our leads; very effective, very clever. While perhaps not the number one, I'd argue this is Twilight Zone comedy done right.

[@MrYTGuy1]

There was also an episode of 'are you afraid of the dark' with a very similar premise as well.

[@acimagination7982]

i saw it once. kind of reminds me of that episode "the mirror".

[@WasabiSniffer]

I think the strangest thing I learned was Ryan gosling’s role in goosebumps

[@TheGoodWario]

This episode is probably regarded by some people as the inscription would appear on a video camera in the Jordan Peele reboot.

[@debbieanne7962]

My household rate this episode highly. It's my 2nd favourite episode after World of difference and my partners favourite. We like to daydream about finding a similar camera!! Rod Serling wrote this episode especially for Jean Carson who played Paula. I thought Adam Williams who played her brother Woodward was quite funny

[@tenkou]

I wonder if that episode of Are you Afraid of the dark with teh gremlin in the camera also was inspired by this twilight episode.

[@geoffreyfyfe2248]

It would not be surprising. "AYAOTD" creator D.J. McHale has been very open about "TZ's" influence on his show. The whole "Submitted for the approval of the Midnight Society..." thing is a direct nod to Rod Serling.

[@desiv1170]

Hey, another humorous episode... Wonder how much the reviewer hates this one? Yep, predictable... Too bad... Anyway, this is a fun episode... IMHO Not everything has to be so serious... ;-)

[@seanromine3932]

There were 4 as a means of wrapping the episode up but if the final destination series should teach you, death has a plan, a schedule. Accidents can happen, happy or otherwise, but in the end there were 4 in that photograph. If he didn't fall or slip he would be forced. Just another rule of the camera.

[@heidifedor]

It’s was dark yet funny at the same time.

[@jonathanzuckerman520]

You didn't mention Jean Carson aka Daphne, "Hello, Doll,"

[@glowworm2]

Yes! I actually didn't realize it was her when I saw this episode, but she's one of the "fun girls" from The Andy Griffith show.

[@dawnmcauley6411]

The change I would've made is after the waiter says there are three bodies and the wife falls out of the window, have the waiter with a self-satisfied look on his face place the picture down, take the money and leave the room. The final shot is focused on the picture with only two bodies present.

[@BYERE]

There was also an episode of Are You Afraid of the Dark that used this concept, "The Tale of the Curious Camera". Whether it was inspired by this or just made to rival Goosebumps, I don't know, as it came out ~2 years after the book, but ~2 years before the Goosebumps tv series did it (the Goosebumps book was released in 1992, the AYAotD episode was in 1994, and the Goosebumps tv episode was from 1996)

[@STSGirl05]

I have a soft spot for this one 😂

[@kuitaranheatmorus9932]

Well this was awesome

[@ThatPurpleGirl81]

Rod did love his karmic retribution didn't he? 😁

[@danielcharland1374]

I remember seeing a Jetson episode with almost the exact same premise, only it was glasses showing the indicate future instead of a cameras. They use it to win a ton of money at the race track, but the glasses end up breaking and they have to pay almost all of the money in taxes. I guess now I know where those ideas came from.

[@thelonegunman2157]

An other episode!! Just give me the time to put my nostalgy costum on!!

[@wrtlpfmpf]

Well that kind of echo appears on all kinds of magnetic tape. If you store it without occasionally rewinding it, the tape will magnetize other parts of itself. Over years this can lead to some very noticeable echo. However usually tape is wound in a way that causes it to have a pre-echo. That's why some broadcasters in Germany wind it the other way whenever possible to get a less annoying post-echo. Also the period seems to be a bit long. Maybe they got the audio from a spool of magnetic track film?

[@Dboy21ish]

I saw a trailer for a movie where 3 teens find a big device in their deceased neighbors apartment that takes x-ray pics of what will happen to the other tenners.

[@mam162]

There was also an Are You Afraid of the Dark episode with an evil camera, The Tale of the Curious Camera. And much like the Goosebumps books Walter mentions, I thought it had a better story than the Twilight Zone version.

[@subzippo]

This reminds me of the Twilight Zone pinball machine. Maybe next year you can review other Twilight Zone media like the movie, the pinball, the later series and whatever other odd media is out there.