User Reviews

Tales from the Darkside: Everybody Needs a Little Love is set during 1945 & starts with two bitter, divorced friends Robert (Jerry Orbach) & Curtis (Richard Portnow) drowning their sorrows at Benny's Lounge. Both drunk Curtis convinces Robert to go out with him & have some fun (not in that way...), Curtis ends up stealing one of the shop store clothe mannequins from where he works. At first it all seems like a bit of harmless fun but Curtis becomes obsessed with the mannequin & calls it Estelle after his ex-wife, he talks to it, cooks it dinner & even buy's it clothes & expensive jewellery. Robert thinks his mate Curtis is mad & tries to help him but things take an unexpected & sinister turn for the worse for both Robert & Curtis...

Episode 17 from season 3 this Tales from the Darkside story originally aired in the US during February 1987, written & directed by John Harrison under the pseudonym of John Sutherland one has to say that I really rather liked Everybody Needs a Little Love & I would go as far as to say it's one of the best episodes from season three. The script was based on a short story by horror writer Robert Bloch (who would go on to contribute one script for the series during season four called Beetles (1987)) & at least tries to be a spooky horror themed tale with a twist, this one actually feels a bit like a Tales from the Crypt (1989 - 1996) episode with some blood, some killings & a macabre twist ending that is maybe a little predictable but still very satisfying. The whole twisted love scenario has been done before, especially in these short horror anthology programme's & films but this is a good example set during the 40's with a good eerie story & at only twenty odd minutes it's short & easy to watch.

There's a really good atmosphere to Everybody Needs a Little Love, set during the 40's the photography is very impressive with good use of shadows & camera angles. The mannequin itself is sort of creepy because it has that almost human but totally blank look about it & the way it's shot also helps. There's a bit of blood in this one but nothing too graphic as we see someone with a knife stuck in their chest. The acting is good by the usual small but well chosen cast.

Everybody Needs a Little Love is a great Tales from the Darkside story of twisted love that is far better than most of the episodes from this show, definitely one of the stand out episodes in my opinion.

Cynical bachelor Roberts (an excellent performance by Jerry Orbach) becomes concerned after his cheery, but lonely pal Curtis (well played with considerable flair by Richard Portnow) develops an unhealthy fixation on a strangely lifelike female mannequin. Writer/director John Harrison relates the compelling oddball story at a brisk pace and does an ace job of crafting a brooding film noir mood. Moreover, the premise makes a poignant and provocative point about loneliness and the basic human need for companionship. Portnow and especially Orbach excel in their roles, with fine support from Teresa L. Jones as sultry and mysterious femme fatale Estelle. Robert Draper's stylish cinematography and the smooth jazzy score further enhance the overall sound quality of this neat and quirky episode.

Yep, you can't have a good anthology series without a mannequin episode, right? Well, add two veterans (the late, great) Jerry Orbach and balding Richard Portnow and a story by Richard Bloch brought to the television screen by Romero's frequent collaborator, John Harrison, to the mix and there just might be fireworks. Harrison goes for a hardboiled Raymond Chandler era presentation, focusing on boozing, divorce-wounded, working class stiffs (Orbach, a door-to-door salesman, Portnow , a store salesman) effected by a clothing mannequin. Naming the mannequin after his ex, Portnow persists that "Estelle" exists and that Orbach should quit mocking him and her.

The jazz that overlays the bar and interrogation scenes, as well as, the choice for the story to be set within a Death of a Salesman type of atmosphere, featuring leads falling into an entrapment of misery and liquor, really as a whole takes a rather silly premise of a mannequin come to life and gives it a solid foundation of quality. Orbach has that everyman New York City workaholic archetype down already, years before his Law & Order days, and that sense of loyalty to a friend, concern for his welfare, and curiosity in what Estelle is doing to Portnow is told in a realistic and convincing fashion. Portnow is seen in stages. He emerges the first time as a decent fellow a bit beaten up by life but happy-go-lucky because he shares his experiences with someone who understands at their local watering hole. The second time has Portnow bringing Orbach and Estelle home. The next time, Portnow seems rejuvenated, even making dinner for Orbach. It is when Orbach comments, in a snarky way, about this odd development with Estelle that Portnow starts to diminish. The next time, Portnow is a wreck, having stolen clothes and jewelry from his store just to try and satiate her increasing avarice for the finer things. Ultimately, Portnow has a knife stuck in him, Orbach gets laid out with a wine glass broken across his head, and Estelle is working as a supposed eyewitness against them both! Orbach is the classic example of the defeated innocent who has no chance by episode's end. These types of anthologies were chock full of episodes where some unfortunate patsy goes down thanks to a malevolent force he (or sometimes she) isn't able to overcome. Orbach insisting a mannequin killed his friend to a detective bookends the episode and he sadly sounds like a raving drunk with his back against the corner. We know different, though, don't we?

****SPOILERS**** Dropping into Bennies Bar to drink his troubles away just divorced insurance salesman Roberts, Jerry Orbach, has a chat with his good friend department store manager Curtis, Richart Partnow, about women ruining men's lives like himself by sucking them dry of their savings and leaving them for another man on in many cases in today's society woman. Curtis in trying to cheer his friend up invites him into his shabby one bedroom apartment to meet his new girlfriend that he picked up at his store, in the women's clothing department, Estelle, Teresa L. Jones, for a nightcap. Robert is shocked to find out that the lovely and hot to trot Estelle isn't human at all but a department store dummy!

At first playing along with Curtis Robert soon gets a bit tired pretending that Estelle is human and let him know about it. That's after Curtis told Robert what a great time he had with Estelle taking her down to Atlantic City where she won a few hundred dollars on the crap and black jack tables! This soon leads to a serious altercation between the two friends with them parting ways after Robert to show just how ridicules Curtis is made a pass at the dummy that had Curtis belt him cold.

***SPOILERS*** Things soon turn for the worst for Robert when the police call on him about Curtis being found brutally murdered in his apartment with him being the prime suspect in his murder! And the biggest shock is yet to come in who's the person who's an eye witness in Curtis murder accusing Robert of murdering him! That so-called wooden and lifeless dummy Estelle who wasn't what Robert thought that she was but what he accused her of being: Curtis' murderer!

I love and hate this episode the same time. I watched it two times so far 2 years ago. The 1980s was an extremely terrible decade for American fashion/hairstyles/ mannerisms. They had no manners they were plain disgusting those young people and terrible stupid hair. Non tailored, boxy suits stupid fedoras of 1980s.

This episode is about a drunk doctor who picks up a mannequin from the department store. She is a living doll and is very scary. It gives me the goosebumps and makes me want to cry and fear the 1940s black hair murdered women. I should not. He wants to have sex with her, his friend tries to stop him but he is stupid and disgusting. If I were him, I would burn and call the cops to shoot that stupid uglyass mannequin and shred it to pieces. I would also burn it and call exorcism and tie the mannequin to the gods so the mannequin can burn in hell and never come back to earth again and have its soul deep inside hell.