It would be impossible for 'The Twilight Zone' to keep up the standard it set with the trio of episodes that preceded 'Judgment Night' and so it falls to this episode to finally end a run of classics. Which is not to say 'Judgment Night' isn't a good episode, it just suffers by comparison.
In common with 'Where is Everybody', 'Judgment Night' features a main character who cannot remember the details of his own life but this time he has more pressing matters to consider. Aside from being the only German on a ship of Brits during WW2, Carl Lanser is also sure that there is an enemy submarine stalking the ship but he can't explain why he is so sure of this fact. The terrible truth is that he was once the commander of that enemy submarine and he is now in hell, reliving the fate of the passengers on a ship he sank for eternity.
The script, despite having some impact, drops in too many obvious clues pointing to what is going on so the twist comes as little surprise. The first half is slow and full of tedious nautical dialogue and most viewers will have probably worked out what is going on by the end of the first act. Despite this, the second act is executed brilliantly with Lanser becoming more and more frantic in his attempts to save those around him. The image of the ghostly crew staring blankly at him as he yells at them to get to the lifeboats is the most enduring moment of the episode and the actual attack is a thrilling little action sequence. However, Serling lays it on a bit too thick with the scene that follows in which a camply evil Lanser discusses damnation with James Franciscus, an actor in possession of the least convincing German accent in the world. Franciscus's dire performance drags down an already unnecessary, time-filling scene which is the equivalent of Serling with a megaphone yelling "Do you get it? It's hell! He's in hell!"
Despite its shortcomings, 'Judgment Night' is still an effective episode, Lanser's chilling fate of an eternity of confusion and death proving a hard-hitting climax despite its predictability. Nehemiah Persoff turns in one of the most over-dramatic performances I have ever seen but thankfully John Brahm's slick direction of everything else overcomes this sometimes hilarious problem. 'Judgment Night' is an episode that sometimes drags and is dogged by poor performances but when it comes to life in its second act all this is easily forgivable. It is an old fashioned ghost story crossed with a war film that works a treat once it quits toying with the viewer and gets to the meat of the story.
In common with 'Where is Everybody', 'Judgment Night' features a main character who cannot remember the details of his own life but this time he has more pressing matters to consider. Aside from being the only German on a ship of Brits during WW2, Carl Lanser is also sure that there is an enemy submarine stalking the ship but he can't explain why he is so sure of this fact. The terrible truth is that he was once the commander of that enemy submarine and he is now in hell, reliving the fate of the passengers on a ship he sank for eternity.
The script, despite having some impact, drops in too many obvious clues pointing to what is going on so the twist comes as little surprise. The first half is slow and full of tedious nautical dialogue and most viewers will have probably worked out what is going on by the end of the first act. Despite this, the second act is executed brilliantly with Lanser becoming more and more frantic in his attempts to save those around him. The image of the ghostly crew staring blankly at him as he yells at them to get to the lifeboats is the most enduring moment of the episode and the actual attack is a thrilling little action sequence. However, Serling lays it on a bit too thick with the scene that follows in which a camply evil Lanser discusses damnation with James Franciscus, an actor in possession of the least convincing German accent in the world. Franciscus's dire performance drags down an already unnecessary, time-filling scene which is the equivalent of Serling with a megaphone yelling "Do you get it? It's hell! He's in hell!"
Despite its shortcomings, 'Judgment Night' is still an effective episode, Lanser's chilling fate of an eternity of confusion and death proving a hard-hitting climax despite its predictability. Nehemiah Persoff turns in one of the most over-dramatic performances I have ever seen but thankfully John Brahm's slick direction of everything else overcomes this sometimes hilarious problem. 'Judgment Night' is an episode that sometimes drags and is dogged by poor performances but when it comes to life in its second act all this is easily forgivable. It is an old fashioned ghost story crossed with a war film that works a treat once it quits toying with the viewer and gets to the meat of the story.