A shared trait of many episodes of The Twilight Zone were that they were indictments against the worse side of human nature. On several occasions, unlikeable people get their comeuppance in some grisly way. The Masks is one such episode which relishes serving its characters the most ghoulish of punishments. A rich and elderly New Orleans resident is at death's door but he does not want to go before seeing his daughter and her family. Not out of love, oh no, but out of hate. He has some mystical masks, you see, and he wants to punish his odious relatives. If they wear these hideous masks through Mardi Gras night, they will get their massive inheritance and their lives will never be the same again... You can see the twist coming a mile off - the masks have transformed the family's faces into the masks themselves - but, nonetheless, that does not impact on the big reveal. Largely that is due to the very effective prosthetics - we dare you not to flinch when the family's true faces are uncovered, when their sins and flaws are made plain as day for everyone to see. You know, we think we're going to think twice before dressing up as something grotesque this Halloween...
