MovieChat Forums > The Machinist (2004) Discussion > Didn't 'The Machinist' seem like a 'Twil...

Didn't 'The Machinist' seem like a 'Twilight Zone' episode?

posted 11 years ago by Cinemaskype
5 replies | jump to latest

Aside from a touch of Hitchcock in the score during mostly the urgent chase scenes, didn't the overall score, pacing and several story elements remind you of the classic "Twilight Zone" TV series? Consider:

1) hallucinating self-destructive insomniac who "hasn't slept in a year" + scary amusement park ride = Twilight Zone episode about the man afraid to sleep who "hasn't slept in weeks" because in nightmares an amusement park sideshow woman tries to scare him to death on a roller coaster;

2) child/merry-go-round + child getting "hurt" on/by amusement park ride + child by amusement park ride is HIM = Twilight Zone episode of man wishing for simpler time visiting his hometown and after discovering a triple scoop chocolate ice cream is still ten cents sees a younger version of himself carving his initials into merry-go-round/bandshell;

3) brassy blonde hooker with heart of gold = various Twilight Zone episodes, including the "Room for one more, honey!" one where a platinum blonde stripper's bad morgue dreams foretold the crash of the plane she was about to board;

4) jazzy sixties music playing when he enters the bar following Ivan = every third "Zone" episode; and finally (a stretch)

5) paranoia = Twilight Zone "communist subversion" episode where aliens easily turn Everytown USA against itself just by playing with the lights, and the "where is everyone?" pilot "isolation" episode where everyone's vanished (isolation and communism being common Twilight Zone themes).

[–] Army_Of_Dorkness 10 years ago

I agree. I have been having a refresher watching all the Twilight Zone episodes on Netflix and it seems like it could have been one of those old looks-like-live tv episodes that you see in the series.

**Peace

[–] zilla7777 10 years ago

I also agree completely. Nice analysis.

[–] versetrack9 10 years ago

I know it's been said a million times but I kept thinking Hitchcock while watching this. Such a great film.

[–] TarkusLV 10 years ago

I was thinking both Hitchcock and Twilight Zone, but mostly the latter.

[–] iheartnormi 9 years ago

I agree all through out the movie my dad kept saying this is like a Hitchcock film. I agree it had that mysterious vibe. I was almost ready to turn it off when I realized that Ivan wasn't real and that he was hallucination almost everything but no where in a thousand years I could predict that ending.