Ah, the Twilight Zone episode that I found most terrifying as a small child. Shatner never did better work than as a man recovering from a mental breakdown who sees an evil that no one else can see. It has been subject to endless parodies:
The problem with evil is that it rarely approaches us with a sign hanging around its neck saying “I’m Evil!”, and few things are more frustrating than perceiving an evil that other people are unable to see.
Good call! One of my favorite in-jokes was on the show “Third Rock from the Sun” starring John Lithgow (who played Shatner’s role in the Twilight Zone movie). On the show Lithgow’s character and Shatner’s character tell each other how they were flying and each saw a creature out on the wing.
While the Nightmare episode is iconic, I prefer the one “Nick of Time”. It still has Shatner being Shatner, but it’s subtler and a bit more insidious.
Agreed as to both subtle and insidious. It also underlines how fortunate we are in being unable to foretell our futures.