User reviews

There is an old adage which says, "throw ten people in a room together and they may not pick a leader but they'll darn sure pick someone to hate." Serling plays out this adage on the screen wonderfully. A normal street in a normal town in Anywhere U.S.A. is the setting. As strange occurrences begin to happen in the neighborhood, a child's explanation of the events sparks a wave of fear and prejudice in a group of neighbors. The ensuing panic causes otherwise friendly people to turn on one another. This is a short episode (30 min), but it is flawless in portraying the truth about how people can tear themselves apart when fear and panic set in. Pay close attention to the ending - it is a statement of the human condition that still rings true today. This is perhaps my favorite episode of the entire series.

Strange happenings drive ordinary neighbors into a frenzy of suspicion.

Serling takes on mob psychology in this cautionary tale about an ordinary American neighborhood with average looking people (a well-chosen cast for that effect), going about normal activities. An unusual noise followed by mysterious electrical stoppage soon has these same normal families in the street looking for those among them who may be disguised space monsters. Premise plays pretty well, considering production crew only has twenty-plus minutes to unravel a whole community, which they do, especially with a series of montage close-ups to convey the mounting hysteria. First one neighbor falls under suspicion, then another, as the most innocent daily activities suddenly become suspicious in the climate of fear, which is probably the most unnerving part of the story. The script does a good job of showing how the most ordinary pursuits can be reinterpreted as sinister undertakings once mob psychology takes over. No doubt, those familiar with the 50's will see a subtext paraphrasing the anti-communist hysteria of the time. However you take it, the theme remains an important and timely one.

The electric is off all over the street and cars with a full tank wont start. The residents of Maple Street live in 1960 so surely such rational people could not revert to the paranoia of an ancient witch hunting mentality? The supernatural may be replaced with a fear of alien invasion, but sadly people haven't changed. Steve Brand (Claude Akins) is the lone voice of sanity as Rod Serling eloquently shows us the thinness of the veil of civilization that covers madness in human societies. The 1960 trappings of the story only serve to make this a timeless piece of television allegorical for any society in any age. A crowning achievement from Serling. An unforgettable episode.

Character actors Claude Akins and Jack Weston are the most prominent names in the Twilight Zone Story about someone spotting a flying saucer overhead which gets all the neighbors out of their houses on Maple Street USA.

Then all kinds of strange things start happening. Power going on and off and all kinds of finger pointing is started. Could one of these neighbors not be what they seem?

Claude Akins for once not a cruel and psychotic villain tries to be the voice of reason. Counterbalancing Akins is Jack Weston who starts throwing suspicion in every direction.

The story fresh from the paranoid McCarthy 50s is a warning about not rushing to judgment and giving way to panic. We could use a little of that today, wisdom from Rod Serling in a timeless classic.

Almost like Vladimir Putin watched this show.

A great episode of the twilight zone based solely on the chilling true look at humanity. Hard to believe that all this time alter the same theory would probably stand true. This episode does a great job of using small tricks to make a big impact.

Chilling episode is quite possibly the series' best, as it tells the tale of the inhabitants of Maple Street, USA, which is experiencing bizarre happenings like the loss of all electricity and phone service, which creates fear and panic in the people. A young boy tells them that he thinks it the work of aliens, and though laughed at, this is exactly what takes hold of their minds, as paranoia and panic start to get out-of-control, and once friendly neighbors start hurling accusations, then objects, at each other, until someone pulls the trigger... Outstanding episode has fine performances by the cast, especially Claude Akins, Jack Weston, and Barry Atwater, all leading to a devastating finale(especially that final narration by Rod Serling) that may leave viewer speechless, at least at the time, and may still today.

This episode should be seen as essential viewing for all of today's Q-Anon conspiracy nuts. Serling understood that this kind of contagious paranoia is a natural resident of the human heart. A great episode with important illustrative lessons for today. I find it very depressing that after all the human race has come to learn over the millennia, we r]apparently remain limitlessly suggestible. Very sad. I guess we need to continue efforts to educate youth, especially in issues related to human history and critical thinking. They should be taught to question EVERYTHING, if for no other reason than that there will always be those who try to take advantage of those just too credulous to know when they are being deceived.

If I had to isolate one episode, this is my favorite. This has the most profound ending of all TZ episodes. There is not much you can say that wouldn't qualify as a "spoiler." If you've never seen this great episode, I wouldn't want to spoil the experience for you. The story is essentially a commentary on how intelligent human beings are, and always have been. Watch the episode and form your own conclusions.

Perhaps not for the most recent films or for temporarily popular cinema hypes, but definitely for classic movies and vintage TV-shows the ratings here on IMDb are very reliable and just. Take for instance the fantastic and legendary series "The Twilight Zone"… As good as ALL episodes are terrific and they averagely rate around 7 – 8 out of 10. So, when you encounter an outlier with a rating of 9 out of 10, you can be more than confident that the episode in question is extraordinary good. "The Monsters are due on Maple Street" has a very high rating and deservedly so because, apart from having a kickass title, it's also one of the best tales thus far, with a more than intelligent screenplay and a handful of deeply disturbing but truthful observations about the human nature. The story stars one of my personal favorite – and sadly underrated – actors, Claude Akins, as a very ordinary inhabitant of the very ordinary Maple Street. During a typically sunny Saturday afternoon, whilst all the neighbors in Maple Street are doing their own thing and minding their own business, they hear a strange and unidentifiable noise above their heads. Few moments later, all electrical equipment, telephone lines, tools and car engines inexplicably stop functioning. Quite rapidly, all these normally warm and friendly people lose their rationalism and start accusing the introvert neighbors of knowing more about these mysterious circumstances. Especially when a young child hints that this could be the start of an alien invasion, they all fanatically defend their own behavior whilst randomly attacking the others. It doesn't take too long before verbal threats turn into physical aggression. "The Monters etc…" is an exemplary episode, with non-stop and gradually mounting suspense and an atmosphere that goes from calm and peaceful to grim and unsettling in less than twenty minutes. Of course the subject matter is slightly exaggerated and dramatized, but the reactions and behaviors of the protagonists are nevertheless realistic; which automatically forces you to contemplate about how cowardly our species in fact is. Are there monsters prowling around Maple Street? Yes, there definitely are… The more experienced viewer quickly sees where the whole thing is going and the actual denouement is fairly easy to guess, but that certainly isn't a blocker since the entire episode is so compelling, intense and professionally crafted.

The Twilight Zone featuring Rod Sterling is one of the finest Sci Fi show made in the history of cinema. It is a cinematic genius.

Absolutely beautiful to watch the episodes from back to back and you will love it.

I truly believe that this is the best. The only small complaint of this episode is that some scenes may be viewed as a little dramatic by some people however it works for me. It might very well be the best example of mob mentality and paranoia ever performed and also has a lot to add in regards to conquering and manipulating others. The ending is considered to have a twist yet in my opinion its a natural reveal of identity but honestly it is a top 3 ending in the whole show which elevates that much further. Brilliantly smart, suspenseful and well though-out and should be the highest rated of the series.

This episode is an observation of human fears, paranoia and conspiracies and is as relevant today as it was during the Cold War, McCarthy era, lynchings and the Salem Witch Trials. When I was a little kid back in the early 60's I was so encouraged by the election of Kennedy, I felt the U. S. was entering a modern age where science and rationality was the new religion and the U. S. was leading the way. And I loved the Twilight Zone because it was one of the trending shows - smart but equally showing compassion for the human condition. In the show the good American folks of Maple street "lose it" with only one man keeping his cool. Fear of the unknown and events out of the ordinary stoked peoples paranoia until irrationality became the norm. Jumping to conclusions is also called pre-judging - or prejudice. Ever so quickly opinions morph into fact.

Times were scary back then; times are scary now.