This is a reprise of other Outer Limits episodes where a beautiful young woman needs to mate (or absorb) men to carry out a mission which is not revealed until the end. In this one, a plant arrives on Earth and is found by a woman who is obsessed with her little growing things. The poor unsuspecting lady is suddenly attacked by the tendrils of this thing and sucked dry of all her bodily fluids. Suddenly, living in her apartment, is a gorgeous, sultry young woman, who puts the make on the male of the young couple down the hall. She approaches him on several occasions, offering herself to him, until one day, when his fiancée is out of town, he finally succumbs. He is not only guilt ridden, but his back is covered with enormous gashes, causing him intense pain. As is often the case with this series, it is dark and depressing. Still, I really wondered how all of this would reconcile itself in the end.
2 Reviews
The Outer Limits - Flower Child
Scarecrow-8823 August 2016
Warning: Spoilers
Jud Tylor is sultry planetary invader from a now extinct race (besides her) landing in a flower garden, blossoming (at first) into an unusual plant soon to absorb a woman from the neighborhood. Commandeering her apartment, Tylor's alien, humanized from plant (no other way to describe it!) after draining the victim of her "nutrients", sets sights on bicycle courier, Jeremy London, hoping he'll "give her seed" so she can replenish her race! Rebecca Reichert is London's fiancé, a veterinarian who convinced him to move in together. After a cat is absorbed, its remains studied at Rebecca's office by her boss (Ken Tremblett, not to subtle about his feelings for her), it isn't long before Jud is suspected of something nefarious. Upon meeting Jud, Rebecca just knew something wasn't right about her. Jud goes out of her way to seduce Jeremy as he tries to dissuade her advances. An aroma Jud emanates seems to work as a type of aphrodisiac drawing men to her
but when they do, whoa Nelly! Kavan Smith is Jeremy's hedonistic, relationship-phobic pal who makes the misfortune of attempting to confront Jud about hurting his best friend.
Really wonderfully icky episode succeeds when Jud goes "plant" or leaves a scratch (or scratches) that infects on Jeremy's neck and back. The opening kill is ace, with sticks and branches reaching from a flower pot to suffocate the first victim, gradually sucking her fluids, showing a half-formed Jud on a wall. The final scene where the "seed" is released is a special effect quite dated, but the idea of it is quite horrifying. Working off the old "colonization of Earth, replacing the human race with another" is rather shopworn, but Jud is an effective threat. Jeremy is more or less the hapless dope who lets his guard down and pays a heavy price for doing so, somewhat undermined by his paranoia regarding Rebecca's "hands on" employer, thinking perhaps she'd rather choose him instead of a courier. The apartment complex super's demise is a grisly bit of business as we see that Jud's talons can be quite merciless.
Really wonderfully icky episode succeeds when Jud goes "plant" or leaves a scratch (or scratches) that infects on Jeremy's neck and back. The opening kill is ace, with sticks and branches reaching from a flower pot to suffocate the first victim, gradually sucking her fluids, showing a half-formed Jud on a wall. The final scene where the "seed" is released is a special effect quite dated, but the idea of it is quite horrifying. Working off the old "colonization of Earth, replacing the human race with another" is rather shopworn, but Jud is an effective threat. Jeremy is more or less the hapless dope who lets his guard down and pays a heavy price for doing so, somewhat undermined by his paranoia regarding Rebecca's "hands on" employer, thinking perhaps she'd rather choose him instead of a courier. The apartment complex super's demise is a grisly bit of business as we see that Jud's talons can be quite merciless.
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