An Original Twilight Zone Actor Made A Small Cameo In The Movie
There is a lot to unpack when it comes to "Twilight Zone: The Movie," a really good movie that comes with a lot of baggage. I'm sure you know some of the movie's reputation, but if you don't then I'd recommend checking out the "Cursed Films" series on Shudder. They did an in-depth episode on the turbulent and tragic production that "Twilight Zone: The Movie" went through. It's a fascinating watch, but trigger warning: they do show the raw footage of the helicopter accident that took the lives of Vic Morrow, Myca Dinh Le, and Renee Shin-Huei Chen during the filming of the movie in full.
That tragic accident overshadowed the whole movie and tarnished its legacy, but it's important to remember that the whole thing started out with giant filmmakers of the day wanting to pay respect to the sci-fi/horror anthology show that they grew up with. Steven Spielberg, Joe Dante, John Landis, and George Miller at the height of their powers forced a studio to do what was seemingly impossible: to make a theatrical anthology film, a rarity at the time and even more rare to see these days.
Spielberg's segment, titled "Kick the Can," is commonly believed to be one of his weakest outings from that time period, but it's a charming little light-hearted tale about holding on to one's youth. Miller's segment adapted the popular original series episode "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" but swapped out William Shatner for John Lithgow. Landis's segment, "Time Out," was a fable about acceptance that puts a racist in the shoes of those he rants about, and Dante's was a remake of "It's A Good Life," which sees God-like powers in the hands of a child who can't help but lash out when he doesn't get what he wants.
A familiar face
The Child from Dante's segment was played by Bill Mumy ("Lost in Space") in the original "Twilight Zone" series. Dante, being a steadfast fan of the actors of that era, cast his episode with some great names, including a cameo appearance by Mumy himself playing a bar patron who intervenes when his friend is bossing the new little kid with powers around.
It's a nice nod to the legacy of the original show in a really fun segment of a good movie that will always be mired in the tragedy that occurred during its making. Leave it up to Joe Dante to fully embrace the original version of the story that he had such a clear good time reimagining in the early '80s.
I'll leave you with one more bit of "Twilight Zone" trivia: Mumy would later star in a direct sequel to the original episode in the third "Twilight Zone" series that updated the viewer on whatever happened with Anthony Fremont and Cloris Leachman's Mrs. Fremont. Fans often forget about the various reboots "Twilight Zone" has had over the years, mostly for good reason, but if you're an old-school "Twilight Zone" fan then make sure to seek that episode out.