Outer Limits: Demon With Glass Hand 1995 Horror Movie Review

Some things should not be remade—this episode of “The Outer Limits” is one those timeless pieces of drama that shouldn’t be touched by another production team.

”Demon With a Glass Hand” is one of those jewels you keep looking at over and over again throughout the years. Sure it has rough spots—the shower caps and eyeliner is one of those. To me, that makes this episode all the more endearing.

The eerie Black & White cinema photography (it was shot in 1964 when TV still had access to older film crews who had come through the studio system learning their craft on great B&W motion pictures back in the 1930s and 1940s) stirs a noir sense about the piece. It’s got sort of a “Casablanca,” “Lady of the Lake “and “D.O.A.” feel to it. If it were to be remade today, this would most certainly be out the door (unless Ridley Scott wanted to do it, but he’d probably say he’s already done this type of film before).

Set in the distant future, Robert Culp is Trent, and he has a mission of protecting humanity all of whom are stored on a copper wire. He’s got to recover several “fingers” from his glass hand, which in reality is a computer/navigation/advisor for Trent.

Stuck in the remarkably timeless Bradbury Building in L.A. (seen Blade Runner?  Then you’ll know it.) Trent moves through the action of the plot in a literal up-and-down linear fashion—unable to leave the building due to a force field. He battles beings from another time that, predictably, want to snuff out humanity. Along the way, he teams up with a woman who owns a dress making shop, Consuelo Biros, who starts to develop feelings for Trent.

I don’t want to give too much away, just watch this episode.

An aside: Robert Culp is a real performer. He’s not only an actor but a writer and director and a craftsman. It shows in his work. His three episode work on “The Outer Limits” sort of identifies him with the show to my mind. He was in “The Architects of Fear,”“Corpus Earthling” and “Demon With a Glass Hand.” All excellent, individual episodes, and probably the best, if not certainly three of the top five, from “The Outer Limits” vault.