Episode: “The
Shadow Man/The Uncle Devil Show/Opening Day”, in which the nerdy kid from
“Charles in Charge” finds a bodyguard in a silhouetted boogie man that lives
under his bed and ends up abusing that newfound power. The nightmare-stoking
nocturnal appearances of the Shadow Man are what make Joe Dante’s segment
unforgettable. The other segments—one a silly yet pretty unsettling short about
a Satanic Captain Kangeroo and the other a role reversal tale in which Jeffrey
Jones is the victim of a murder plot hatched by his wife and her lover
(directed by John Millius, who wrote Quint’s U.S.S. Indianapolis monologue in Jaws!)—are pretty good, too.
