Sandkings

Science-as-horror entertainment for the entire family. Adults can indulge the gleeful overacting while kids get to experience fright night as they take everything at face value. Casting is marvelous, with Helen Shaver as the mad scientist's blonde wife an especially inspired choice. Years before, she had played the protagonist's love interest in the voodoo-horror flick "The Believers" in which her classically beautiful WASP face was progressively disfigured by ugly boils that turned out to be ... spiders living under the skin! With this subtext under the viewers' belt, the horrifying encounters she has with the "sandkings" carry an added resonance and punch.

Of course the TV show's plot has been greatly altered from the sci-fi short story, no doubt partly due to budget limitations. I didn't mind. Lloyd Bridges is content to play out his part's stereotype to the hilt, but Beau Bridges gives an acting masterclass by additionally injecting some truly disturbing moments into his performance (the bathroom scene, as noted by other reviewers). For a TV drama, the music score is above average.

Recommended for a rainy evening while curled up in front of the fireplace.