Twilight Zone comparisons are silly. Just because they were made at roughly the same time, and that's it.
TZ is far superior, better writing, acting, greater impact, a classic known even by people who've never seen it. And TZ was never a horror series. It was sci fi + fantasy + occasional horror, thought provoking moral fables.
One Step Beyond is far more limited in its ambitions. True horror stories, and that's it. No sci fi or fantasy at all. No fiction, where zero of TZ claimed to be non fiction.
A better comparison would be to a series 30 year later, Tales From the Darkside. Even there it comes up short, and it has nothing to do with better special effects available.
Some OSB episodes are quite good, like the best of the old radio dramas creating mood through dialog. But many others are painfully slow and have no horror, suspense, or sense of dread. They just have a slightly shocking twist.
The ratio of bad to good episodes is about two to one. If you find an episode slow after its first five minutes, spare yourself the rest or fast forward to the last few minutes.
And spare yourself googling if these "true" stories are actually true. You know most of them have little to back them up.
TZ is far superior, better writing, acting, greater impact, a classic known even by people who've never seen it. And TZ was never a horror series. It was sci fi + fantasy + occasional horror, thought provoking moral fables.
One Step Beyond is far more limited in its ambitions. True horror stories, and that's it. No sci fi or fantasy at all. No fiction, where zero of TZ claimed to be non fiction.
A better comparison would be to a series 30 year later, Tales From the Darkside. Even there it comes up short, and it has nothing to do with better special effects available.
Some OSB episodes are quite good, like the best of the old radio dramas creating mood through dialog. But many others are painfully slow and have no horror, suspense, or sense of dread. They just have a slightly shocking twist.
The ratio of bad to good episodes is about two to one. If you find an episode slow after its first five minutes, spare yourself the rest or fast forward to the last few minutes.
And spare yourself googling if these "true" stories are actually true. You know most of them have little to back them up.