Why so much hype?

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Blistering performances.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

This series is better than Outer Limits, which I found to be too preachy, and the later Twilight Zone which was just LAME.Whoever cast Rollins as the Serling-like MC should get his knuckles rapped. Being from a later generation I didn't know who Rollins was and thought the guy had to be a relative of the producer - wooden as a post.I ended up overlooking his part and concentrated on the shows, which by and large, seemed geared towards the younger (college) set.The one episode I thought unsettling was "Bitter Harvest", but then Jack Palance could read the telephone book and scare the bejabbers out of you. Evil oozes out of his pores in this one. Check out his first performance as Walter Jack Palance in the 1950 "Panic in the Streets" and you can spot his brilliance in making villainy come so naturally.I particularly like "The Maze", not only for the weird story, but for the wild looking buildings that I guess are on the Eugene, OR campus. The architecture is striking, and the way they were filmed, almost alien. Then, it also had my favorite whacko, Amanda Plummer.That being said, my all time favorite is "Patterns" with Malcolm McDowell giving a bravura performance as the patient with a problem and Miguel Ferrer giving a solid believable job as the psychiatrist. I have since driven my family equally nuts by saying, in Malcolm's tone, the innocuous "Five is nice." at the darndest times.SciFi channel, as of late 2005 runs a marathon of these every so often so I am able to gradually build up the collection, even of the so-so episodes. I suggest you do the same as these types of shows are not getting any better.All in all, not a bad attempt at a genre that has been milked dry. It is particularly enjoyable in that to my mind, the acting by unfamiliar faces has all been credible, and as above, sometimes outstanding. I'll take it over Outer Limits or the later Twilight Zone any day.

This was a very interesting series. It reminded me of the Twilight Zone with a touch of the X-Files. The story I remember most is Bill Pullman playing an army scientist or specialist who with the army surrounds some kind of alien life forms that look like something out of the pioneer days. He somehow finds a way into the bubble like vehicle or area in his own quest to find a simpler more happy life. Instead he gets eaten. Whoa what a series! It was eerie like Tales of the crypt and Twilight Zone, but had a little more gore, blood and guts to it. This series is in a long line of short lived but not forgotten horror anthologies that entertain and fright.

I knew when Fox started airing this show that they'd already decided not to make any more episodes of it, but I figured they'd at least air the ones they had and I could tape them. I missed one and then Sept. 11th happened before they could air the last three. When the schedule finally returned to normal, Night Visions was nowhere to be found. I kept hoping that they'd finally air them eventually and then I heard the Sci-Fi Channel had picked it up. I happily started checking the schedule each week to see if it was an episode I needed and finally the one I missed was going to be on. It wasn't, they played repeats of The Dead Zone instead. I figured that they'd play them eventually, even if it was in a lousy timeslot. Now they've done something so low, I have trouble expressing how angry I am. Tonight SFC aired a supposedly original 'movie' called Shadow Realm. I then discovered that this was nothing more than 2 episodes of Night Visions with the original titles and intros removed and SFC's name plastered on it. This is a bald-faced *LIE*. SFC had absolutely nothing to do with this 'movie' other than hacking up the episodes and slapping their name on it! I consider this outright theft. They'd probably argue that since they bought the rights to it, they can claim it to be an original, but how many people would accept it if I were to buy the Mona Lisa and proclaim it to be my original work? No, I'm not comparing Night Visions to a priceless work of art, but the principle is the same and it deserves to be seen the way the creators intended. Because of this, you can be sure that you will never see those two episodes (Patterns/Maze, Harmony/Voices) in their unedited form, because that would show the SFC to be the liars they are. That's not just an opinion, it's a fact. They lied about creating this 'movie'. I hope that the IMDB approves this comment because I think it's important for fans of this show to be aware of just how low the SFC really is.

I hope FOX keeps this one on!! Great writing, suspencefull, entertaining stuff. This rivals Twilight Zone, Outer limits and Tales from the Crypt. I've been waiting for a great new show that keeps you thinking, and here it is. Thanks to FOX for this new hit!!!!