The Outer Limits (TV Series) Nightmare (1963) User Reviews

My Favorite Outer Limits Episode.

[lrcdmnhd72 · 9/10 · 16 July 2006]

I have always liked good science fiction. The Outer Limits is one of the best of the science fiction series. These 1960's episodes were shot in B&W which added to their moodiness and effectiveness.

In "Nightmare," a group of soldiers land on planet Ebon to fight. They are captured and become POW's. Their alien interrogator uses all sorts of mind bending, hallucination type of devices to extract information from these POWs.

This is a VERY powerful episode. It depicts the brutality of POW interrogations. I think this episode, along with the movie 36 Hours (1965), should be MANDATORY viewing by anybody undergoing POW resistance training.

The ending of this Outer Limits episode will blow you away.

Nightmare

[Scarecrow-88 · 8/10 · 14 November 2011]

Thought-provoking, absorbing episode of The Outer Limits questions how a select group of soldiers (from different countries uniting to protect Earth) would react under extreme duress if captured by an alien foe responsible for a seemingly deliberate attack (the alien planet is Ebon, the race called Ebonites) on Earth. Considered prisoners of war, we watch as an Ebonite "interrogates" the group, one member at a time, trying to secure the coordinates of another Earth ship's approach, hoping to kill them before they can strike the Ebon planet. But there's more to this than meets the eye… Strong acting from the cast, as fingers begin to point as the pressure cooker situation of "who told the aliens our secret?" begins to escalate, producing increasing tension, with the "drawing of straws" to determine who kills the traitor resulting. We see the psychological strain that can result from hallucinogenic images used to perhaps draw confessions from the soldiers (Where will the next earth ship be located?), even if they didn't intentionally give away the information in their possession. A young Martin Sheen portrays a soldier so hotheaded and emotional, he cannot keep from buckling under the pressure of the Ebonite using his mother and a certain whisper into her ear as a means for maybe drawing information from him. I think the mistake of this episode is showing certain military brass, in turn, giving away a nice twist that would have been more surprising if revealed closer to the end. That said, there's a certain sweaty, uncomfortable edge to this episode: to see these men passing judgment on each other after learning of an admission to the Ebonite, with a distrust/discord that is palpable, you just wonder when they will tear each other apart limb for limb. Especially discomforting is seeing the Korean officer, Jong (James Shigeta, who is very good), whose arm is damaged by torture, subjected to the interrogation of the other soldiers, chosen as the traitor without definite proof he was the one responsible. Screen veteran Ed Nelson is Colonel Stone, the leader of this group, morally upright and by-the-book, has the role of a military man fully loyal to the code of ethics instilled in him during his years in training as a soldier—he's the one who instigates the demise of Jong, totally convinced he is the traitor and should be dealt with as so. The end, when a man is shot, proves fatally and tragically that secret interrogative techniques used to test soldiers for their mental and emotional durability if captured by the enemy can come with a heavy price. The use of Ebonite's wand, used to damage the five senses of humans, is pretty disconcerting, such as when one soldier is rendered blind, another without the ability to talk. The sets are sparse, except for some rocks and vast spaces without anything, as if the crew shot mostly on an empty soundstage, barely dressing it, truly forcing the cast and ominous alien form to take control of the disturbing plot.

Despite minimalistic sets, it's one of the better episodes of the series.

[planktonrules · 9/10 · 6 March 2012]

"Nightmare" is an episode of "The Outer Limits" that would be easy to dismiss. After all, the sets are minimalistic and the show, like the rest of the series, features aliens which look a bit silly today. But don't give up on this one--it's very good and well written.

The show begins with a group of soldiers from Earth traveling by rocket to fight in a war across the galaxy. The ship is captured and they awaken to a hellish prison run by a scary looking alien who seems almost godlike with his powers. He torments them by blinding one and making another mute. He restores these powers later but seems like an incredibly nasty alien bent on breaking their wills and making them betray their planet. But naturally, there is a BIG twist.

Clever writing and a nice twist makes this one worth seeing. It also gives you a chance to see a young Martin Sheen in a rather emotionally-charged role.

Incredible - one of the most memorable Sci Fi TV shows ever

[mike-ryan455 · 10/10 · 4 March 2008]

This episode has horror and effectiveness, and yet is so simple. There is hardly any set or decoration. A couple of quite bare rooms and little more than scene cubes on a bare sound stage floor for the prisoner of war camp. The "enemy" was in make-up, yet there were just two of them. Everyone else was in off the shelf uniforms or costumes. There were very few props and almost nothing in special effects.

In this day where CGI can make anything appear, what made the episode so effective? To begin with, a wonderful cast. A young Martin Sheen played a pivotal role. Sad, wise looking John Anderson was under the alien make-up. Their talent helped. But that wasn't all.

The story resonated within us. It showed the true monster and enemy of mankind - man himself. Every inch of it lead to that final, wonderful last decision.

See this for yourself if you ever can.

Tense and Thought-Provoking Episode

[claudio_carvalho · 8/10 · 24 February 2018]

In the future, Earth is attacked by the planet Ebon and now is in war. A group of human soldiers travel to Ebon to fight the Ebonites but their rocket is shot down. They are taken as POW and sent to a work camp. Soon they learn that the Ebonites are capable of controlling the human senses and they will be interrogated by the enemy that wants to know details of the next attack from Earth. The first to go is the mentally unstable private Arthur Dix, who was deprived of speaking by the Ebonites and returns speaking again after the interrogation. One by one, the earthlings are interrogated by the Ebonites also increasing the mistrust on each other. Soon the interrogator discloses secret information and the military suspect there is a traitor in the group. What is the secret of the Ebonites?

"Nightmare" is a tense and thought-provoking episode of "The Outer Limits" and certainly one of the best of the series. The idea of an experiment to analyze people under stress is a great theme explored in few films and in 2001 it was produced the excellent "Das Experiment", a masterpiece of the genre. "Nightmare" is certainly one of the first movies to explore this theme in a sci-fi genre in a period of great tension of the Cold War and it is worthwhile watching. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "O Pesadelo" ("The Nightmare")

Stalag in Space

[wes-connors · 8/10 · 28 February 2012]

During an interplanetary war, a UE (Unified Earth) crew of human men is taken as prisoners of war on the enemy planet Ebon. Elected leader Ed Nelson (as Luke Stone) demands to be the first interrogated, but the aliens choose mentally unstable Martin Sheen (as Arthur Dix) instead. Ironically, Mr. Sheen has just been relieved of his ability to speak. One by one, the Ebonites use sensory powers on their prisoners. They want to know some details about an impending attack from Earth. As the aliens acquire information, the men begin to suspect a traitor among themselves. Beautifully written by "Outer Limits" producer Joseph Stefano, "Nightmare" is an excellent and thought-provoking episode of the acclaimed series.

******** Nightmare (12/2/63) John Erman ~ Ed Nelson, James Shigeta, Martin Sheen, Bill Gunn

The Sets, The Aliens, The Cast, The Music: Love It

[StuOz · 27 June 2014]

US soldiers are sent to an alien planet as POWs.

First viewed in the 1980s when I was very young, I was turned off by the "stage show" feel of this hour but always liked Time Tunnel's Whit Bissell appearing as a General...again.

Viewed again this year when I am older...now I love it. I love everything about it! The sets, the aliens costumes, the tone, Martin Sheen, Whit Bissell, the beginning/closing narration and the well matched music score.

The IMDb has revealed that a third season classic Star Trek got some ideas from this hour. I will need to re-watch that Trek!

When Do We Turn on Each Other?

[Hitchcoc · 9/10 · 6 January 2015]

This is quite a good study in human nature and includes some fine acting performances, including one by Martin Sheen. A group of intergalactic warriors are put in a prison camp on a remote planet and interrogated by the aliens there. Their understanding is that they are at war with these folks and the revert to the old name, rank, and serial number stuff. Unfortunately for them, the tactics employed are those often used. Divide and conquer, keep them guessing, turn them against each other. The aliens have a kind of want/weapon that can steal a person's speech or make them blind, or whatever is necessary to put them in a weakened position. The neat thing about this episode is that there is a kicker her which I will not mention. The interaction among the players is quite realistic and the audience is left out of the loop for most of the show. This is as much a psychological drama as it is science fiction. Well written and well presented.

Alien P.O.W.s

[profh-1 · 7/10 · 27 September 2009]

MAN! Talk about intense and disturbing!!

This whole thing could easily have been a stage play (it sure looked like one). A prime example of good writing and almost non-existent budget.

And what a cast! Ed Nelson, Martin Sheen, James Shigetta, Whit Bissell...

It was amazing that, even though the audience knew something wasn't right, when they showed the 2 military guys thru the window early on, you still didn't know what the HELL was going on.

When they finally had the big reveal, and you find out there was no war, that the "first strike" was just an accident, that the aliens were friendly and trying very hard to be helpful... THEN you see who the real "bad guys" of the story are.

I LAUGHED when one of the officers in charge got shot accidentally. Serves him right!

That Joe Stefano was one sick F***, wasn't he??

: )

I've seen several other stories like this over the years-- an "interrogation" that turns out to be not quite what it seems... but, as usual, NOBODY every did it as good as this. Not a fave episode by any means... but, like I said... MAN! What an intense viewing experience.

The Enemy Within...

[poe-48833 · 10/10 · 19 April 2017]

With the possible exception of THE TWILIGHT ZONE (The Original Series), no television show managed to capture the SPIRIT of pre-Comics Code Authority Horror Comics like THE OUTER LIMITS- and the episode NIGHTMARE is a perfect example of this: with its dark, minimalist sets and John Anderson as the very bat-like Ebonite interrogator, NIGHTMARE boasts not only one of the SCARIEST-looking Creatures ever featured on the show, but one of the most Literate and Interesting scenarios as well. It's very much an anti-war story, with a twist that you just don't see coming (a twist that those of us living in the Age of "the so-called "united" $tate$ of ameriKa" can certainly appreciate). More than anything else, though, THE OUTER LIMITS owed much of its reason d'etre to the pre-Comics Code Horror comics of the early 1950s.

Nightmare

[Prismark10 · 6/10 · 14 April 2023]

Nightmare is a very stripped down episode of The Outer Limits set wise. Somewhat reminiscent of The Manchurian Candidate.

There certainly must have been an emphasis on Psychological Operations in the Korean war. That war is mentioned in this story.

Earth is involved in an intergalactic war with the planet Ebon. A group of international soldiers from Earth are captured by the Ebonites and held in a prisoner of war camp.

They have to endure Ebonite interrogation techniques and torture. Psychological warfare, the men do not know what is real or not.

The demonic looking alien Ebonites seem to have advance powers and show immense cruelty. One man loses his voice, another his sight.

Nightmare is effective regarding what humans will do under immense pressure. The twist is that the Ebonites are working for the army top brass on Earth. It is they who are carrying out the experiments.

The twist was less of a surprise, I kind of expected it. It was still an eerie strange episode. The best known guest star is Martin Sheen.

Scary episode but well-written and thought-provoking

[mackaroni · 9/10 · 20 October 2009]

This episode was by far the scariest I ever saw, especially the frightening make-up used to show what the Ebonites really look like. It also was another example of the incredible writing found in so many episodes of this series bringing out the horrors of POW torture tactics and how our government sometimes is involved in shady operations. I was intrigued by some of the elements shown in this episode such as mind-altering drugs creating hallucinations which seemed pretty strong for television of that era and a bit ahead of its time. Although I believe that Martin Sheen might have overacted a bit in this episode, it still had some powerful performances and of course we all know that Sheen went on to become a fine actor. This episode was appropriately titled "Nightmare" since it actually gave me a few nightmares after viewing it but the ending was so clever and full of morality with the interesting variation on the word "gentlemen". This was truly one of the best episodes of "The Outer Limits" and one which would certainly provoke much thought in today's society with the role of our government in handling the war in Iraq and terrorism.

"It's pointless to fight against brain work..."

[classicsoncall · 7/10 · 27 April 2022]

Too many imponderables in this story make it somewhat less than credible. It starts right out of the gate when a spaceship bearing six military officers from Earth are dispatched to the distant planet Ebon which is presumably at war with our world. So I have to ask, what difference would six soldiers possibly make? Immediately upon arrival, Colonel Luke Stone (Ed Nelson) and his crew are taken captive by the Ebonites, and subjected to various mind probe techniques to learn when subsequent arrivals from Earth would take place. Eventually we learn that it's not the Ebonites who are pulling the strings on the six man crew, but a pair of Earth generals experimenting with just how much physical and mental stress Earth soldiers could endure in the face of an alien enemy before they broke down to give up what knowledge they had. At this point, I have to ask why the advanced Ebonites would ever have agreed to such an experiment, seeing as how they didn't have a bone to pick with Earth, while stating that a prior attack was inadvertent and accidental. They had the technology to make Private Dixx (Martin Sheen) speechless, and Lieutenant Willowmore (Bill Gunn) temporarily blind, so with power like that, why go along with the seemingly cruel and inhumane experiments? It just didn't make sense to me. However I did enjoy Martin Sheen's maniacal performance when he was rendered mute by the Ebonites. I like to think his portrayal served as a role model for son Emilio Estevez as the crazed gunslinger Billy the Kid in 1988's "Young Guns".

One Of The Very Best "OL" Episodes

[ferbs54 · 10/10 · 26 April 2017]

Last night I continued to wend my way chronologically through my DVD set of "The Outer Limits," and it was episode #10...another one of the very best episodes, the Joseph Stefano-scripted "Nightmare." In this one, a sextet of men from Earth is captured by the gargoylish, bat-caped inhabitants of the planet Ebon, with which Earth is at war, and all six are subjected to a hellacious interrogation. The episode features one of the series' most intelligent and literate scripts, and fine ensemble acting from a cast of genuine pros: Ed Nelson, James Shigeta, Martin Sheen, John Anderson (what a makeup job on him, as the Ebon Interrogator!), and the ubiquitous Whit Bissell, all of whom turn in very fine performances. This episode is a very minimalist affair, and viewers would have to go to the very last episode of "The Outer Limits," episode 49, "The Probe," before encountering a show with a more barren set. Indeed, the feel of "Nightmare" is almost that of a TV play, filmed on a nearly barren soundstage, and the net result is, appropriately enough, strangely nightmarish; a perfect example of the show's creators achieving maximal results on a minimal budget. The episode manages to work in a surprise ending of sorts at the tail end, but one that had certainly been suggested throughout the episode. Stefano manages to make scathing commentary about the military in this outing, which in itself makes "Nightmare" a bit ahead of its time. The look of the Ebonites themselves is very convincing, and indeed, this alien race might just be the most memorable of all those to be found in "The Outer Limits" pantheon...at least, one of the most memorable HUMANOID aliens. (No aliens could possibly be more memorable than those darn Zanti misfits!) And in an episode just chockful of wonderfully written dialogue, my favorite line just might be this one from the James Shigeta character: "An uneducated man rarely refuses the opportunity to speak." Love it! In all, surely one of the finest episodes of this extraordinary series, and one of my personal Top 10....

An anti-war episode, six soldiers under psychological distress!!!

[elo-equipamentos · 8/10 · 12 August 2019]

One of the most creative plot ever made on The Outer Limits series, which is one my favorite, due this has a science fiction background, on a near future the Earth has an unique army Unified Earth, which was raided by the Ebonites from the distant Planet Ebon, After sent several missions to fight at Ebon, somehow the last spacecraft was attained and all crew are arrested in sort of POW, each one has been forced by Ebonites to confess where they planned to strike on their planet, a strange device discharge a sort of laser, wounded the soldiers on many ways, clearly an anti-war episode, due they quote Korean war, suggesting that the soldiers at POW under the worst psychological distress, they confess even the undisclosable, smart screenplay letting us to think about a true nightmare that war offers, and remarkable and unexpected final!!

Resume:

First watch: 2019 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 8.5

Joseph Stefano vs. Rod Serling.

[TomReed · 9/10 · 8 March 2008]

This episode brought Joseph Stefano, the series creator and writer of this episode, into conflict with Rod Serling. Serling fully supported the military and authority, and many of his "Twilight Zone" episodes revolved around the military. In Serling's script for "The Rack," a man who broke under torture in the Korean Conflict is blamed for being weak and failing America. In Serling's view, the military was always right.

"Nightmare" is a new view of this situation; the quotes of the general in the episode are essentially correct about the number of American prisoners who were broken in the war. Serling couldn't imagine American soldiers permitting torture, especially on other Americans. This despite such things as the Tuskeegee Syphillis Project and the exposure of soldiers to atomic blasts to determine the effects of radiation. One wonders how he'd react to Abu Gareb, water torture, and the show "24" in which torture is approved as standard American heroic action.

For those who think these "old TV shows" were simplistic compared to today's shows with CGI, sexual content and viral-marketing web sites, consider this; have there been any modern shows that dared raise a debate about their premises like the ones raised by Stefano and Serling? Would anyone produce a series arguing against the right-wing paranoia presented in "24?"

Lots of tension and paranoia in this great episode.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 9/10 · 8 April 2023]

Set In the future, Earth is at war with the planet Ebony, A small unit of soldiers travel to Ebon to fight, but their rocket is shot down, and taken to a POW camp.

The Ebonites are very well designed, they've got plenty of powers and abilities, they made for an interesting foe.

I think this rates as one of the best episodes I've seen so far, I thoroughly enjoyed it, and arguably this is the most ambitious one so far.

Several impressive elements here, I loved the visuals, the sets, the ebonites, but best of all was the atmosphere of stress and paranoia, credit to the writer, this was a quality story.

Prisoner of War camps were very much still fresh in the minds of many people, several wars still in the recent past, this would have resonated with many viewers, it's a powerful story.

9/10.

Horrific Side of Humanity

[AudioFileZ · 8/10 · 12 March 2013]

Nightmare is a simple exploration of the removal of all certainty in trust in a soldier's ingrained belief system. A mix of world soldiers journey to the planet Ebon to fight, they are told, hostile aliens that have imprisoned several past exploratory missions.

Before the soldiers actually engage the Ebonites they're captured and offered humane treatment in exchange for cooperation. The cooperation is based on information as to the next eminent attack mission. By a strange series of individual interrogations all trust each man has for his fellow soldier is systematically destroyed. What will the end result be? As each man is broken each reacts differently except for the belief someone is a traitor. This sum of all fears provokes a needless reaction: death. The Ebonites never wished to harm humanity at all, yet humanity itself insists upon deadly retribution based on the primal human psyche. This questions the supposed order we believe to be so-called "civilization". Is man civil at all? Not when he seeks to destroy those he perceives "different" than himself seems to be the message. A powerful episode based on mankind's sordid history of conquering all he doesn't understand due to his own shortcomings. Horror is truly frightening when a mirror is turned on our own failing to live and let live.

A excellent episode with such minimal sets proves real horror lies deep within man's propensity for mistrust and the breakdown that follows.

Human Captives

[AaronCapenBanner · 10/10 · 11 March 2016]

Ed Nelson stars as Colonel Luke Stone, leader of a multinational team of Earth soldiers who have been captured by the Ebonites and taken to Ebon, an alien planet that they are at war with. The chief interrogator(played by John Anderson) takes each man of the team one by one for questioning, including an overly emotional Private Dix(played by Martin Sheen) and ultra calm Major Jong(played by James Shigeta). The men are tricked and prodded into giving them information, but just what is the nightmarish truth at the heart of this ordeal? Stunning episode may be the best of the series, with a provocative, intelligent script, lively direction, fine acting, effective makeup/costume of the Ebons(quite memorable) and the stark, bare sets that lead to a brilliant twist ending that ranks with anything that Rod Serling may have thought up.

An interesting premise ruined by idiotic characters and a laughable plot-twist.

[fedor8 · 21 April 2021]

This overly theatrical mono-setting story is based - at least initially - on the absurd premise that Earth would keep sending its troops to a completely unknown enemy planet where each previous ship had disappeared without a trace. This seems a very daft strategy. Couldn't they just send robotic exploratory missions?

This absurdity is later resolved when it turns out that the whole thing was an elaborate hoax, a test. Of course, none of the soldiers ever asks WHY each new crew is being given secret info about the NEXT mission, or WHY robotic missions aren't sent instead. That would be too logical for this goofy premise.

A very dumb, far-fetched plot-twist. Apparently, the Ebonites' attack on Earth was an ACCIDENT. How did this happen? Why? How much damage? It's rather far-fetched to have an advanced alien species attack another planet by accident. "Oops, sorry, didn't mean to. Sometimes we get a little confused. The planets are all so similar: all of them are round!" The writer predictably avoided explaining this, because he had no clue how he could pull it off.

In return for their mistake, the aliens decide to help out Earth's military by conducting a series of experiments on the behaviour of prisoners of war. It is a plot-twist as dumb as it is completely silly. An example of overly eccentric writing. Just how many more crews were they going to check for loyalty? Millions? This futuristic US military sure is paranoid about their own soldiers, doubting their loyalty to the extent that they'd go through such an elaborate scheme. Don't they have anything better to do with their time?

Martin Sheen plays Private Dicks (spelled Dixx) and I can't help but wonder whether this was a private joke or something, or unintentional. He hams it up badly, but so do some of the other actors too. The combination of awkward, preachy dialogue and occasional overacting ruin the episode's potential before the great reveal even occurs. The interactions between the humans are so unrealistic that they seem more alien than the aliens themselves. No, this was NOT intentional irony.

The POWs instead of trying to attack the alien - and they get plenty of opportunity to do so - draw straws who will kill their Chinese colleague! They want to execute him for treason despite there being no evidence that he did it. In fact, he is the only one who underwent torture, so if anything he should be the least suspicious.

The military decides to TORTURE their own soldiers just for a few daft tests?! They couldn't test the soldiers WITHOUT inflicting physical pain and mental suffering on them? Really? With the upper echelon this sadistic and this eager to hurt their own army, these soldiers don't really need any enemies!

Muddled writing, bad acting, dumb dialogue, a stupid premise, and unconvincing characters sink this. Only at the end, when the aliens are just about to reveal the scam, do the POWs attempt to subdue one. What follows is a comedy of errors as in a dumb cartoon.

The fact that the soldiers almost killed an alien, and the fact that several people lost their lives in this shoddily conceived and almost pointless "controlled experiment" just proves how inept both the aliens and the human military are. Hence the story is utter garbage.