Outer Limits: Sixth Finger 1995 Horror Movie Review

This is the fifth episode in the series, and although a little slow at first, it quickly speeds up and becomes interesting towards the end.


Edward Mulhare plays Prof. Mathers, a cloistered scientist who has invented a device to speed up the process of evolution. He has already tried it on an ape and the results have proved to be successful, since the ape shows advanced form of intelligence. Enter Cathy Evans (played by Jill Haworth), a simple girl who finds out about Mathers’ invention and asks him to try it on her, so that she can become smarter. Unfortunately her blood type is not suitable for the experiment. However, she feels sorry for her friend Gwyllm Griffiths (played by David McCallum), since he is a low-paid uneducated coal mine worker, and asks the professor if he can try the experiments on him. Griffiths accepts the offer, and the Professor starts inducing him with advanced stages of evolution. Griffiths first shows some physical changes such as his head expanding, and wanting to acquire knowledge. But, the more he learns and evolves, the more irritated he becomes towards the current human species, which seem primitive to him. With his advanced powers and knowledge, will anyone be able to stop him?


David McCallum stands out in this episode as the eerie advanced form of man. I got shivers when he started smirking at the professor, or when he secretly entered the professor’s room at dawn, looking more creepy and advanced. The make up done for him was really good. This episode speaks in many levels, as people who are trying to discover anything in a new field, have to prepare for the consequences.


To quote Vic Perrin (The Control Voice): “An experiment too soon, too swift, and yet, may we not still hope to discover a method by which within one generation, the whole human race could be rendered intelligent, beyond hatred, or revenge or the desire for power? Is that not the ultimate goal of evolution?”