“The Night of the Returning Dead” marks yet another turn with the supernatural. This time around, we get two members of the Rat Pack to go along with it--Sammy Davis, Jr. and Peter Lawford. No Frank Sinatra, though. Bummer. Dais plays Jeremiah, a former slave to Col. Beaumont Carson. Carson and his family were kidnapped, tied up, and burned alive in an old barn at the start of the Civil War so a group of men, lead y law ford’s character, Carl Jackson, could steal the Carson family fortune. Jeremiah escaped and has since looked for a way to ring Jackso to justice.
He found it by contacting Jim and Artie. They concoct a plan involving Jeremiah’s apparent supernatural power to control animals along with his disguising himself as Carson’s ghost I order to spook out a confession.
Spooky it is. I remember Jeremiah faking the possession by Carson at the courthouse I which he descries being burned alive in vivid, unearthly detail scaring the bejebus out of me as a kid. I was quite freaked out just watching it now. Davis was a very good actor. I do not thin he gets enough credit for it. Or maybe I am just too young to know that he revived recognition when it counted. I hope the latter.
When Jeremiah controls every horse in town, forcing them to stampede the courthouse during his possession, it is terrifying because we do not ever see ay horse at all. Just the sound and fury of their attack. Brutal.
The plan works, even though our heroes are captured by some of Jackson’s cohort’s and must devise a means of escape. Jackson confesses to Jeremiah about the murders and is taken into custody. Jeremiah is set to ride of into the sunset when Jim offers him a job with the Secret Service. Jeremiah refuses, saying only Will smith would be dumb enough to believe he could pull that off.
I may have made that last part up. Here is a guilt ridden Peter Lawford as compensation:
There is one point in the episode Jeremiah, posing as Carson’s ghost, wears a Confederate uniform. What kind of coniption fit would the PC police throw about something like that these days? I like “The Night of the Returning Dead.” It till creeps me out as much as it did twenty-three or so years ago when I first saw it. The supernatural theme was a change o pace for the show, but one that fit in surprisingly well. There will be much more to come in the future, but this is a fantastic start.
Rating: *** (out of 5)
