episode #09 - Corpus Earthling

Air Date: 11/18/63
writer: Orin Borstein (from a story by Louis Charborneau) Director: Gerd Oswald

A geologist (Barry Atwater) and his assistant (Salome Jens) are examining some new strange rocks they've found. The assistant's husband, another scientist (Robert Culp in his encore performance on the show after The Architects of Fear), who has a plate in his head, hears voices speaking of taking over the Earth; yes, it's the invading rocks, which are a disguise for protoplasmic aliens. One of these creepy aliens soon takes over the geologist but the real target is Culp's character, who might ruin the plan of the aliens. He and the wife go to Mexico on vacation but end up in the spookiest location there, as the aliens follow them to the spot.
This goes for an Invasion of the Body Snatchers / It Conquered the World kind of vibe as a couple of the key characters are 'possessed' by the aliens and become these creepy (bloodless?) zombie-like predators. Then there's the location in 'Mexico' - after watching this episode, you will never want to go to Mexico. One of the locals, the one who rents the spooky house to the vacationing couple, sits inside a circle of burning branches to ward off evil; this atmosphere doesn't lend itself well to a vacation getaway. The FX for the aliens reminded me of The Blob (1958) - that pulsating, gelatinous look. In all, good for a brief scare. BoG's Score: 7 out of 10
Outer Trivia:
Star Trek TOS actor alert - Atwater played famous Vulcan Surak in The Savage Curtain