"SIREN'S SONG" (1998)

One of the "lost" episodes of Dead of Night, meaning, as was once the case with Roddenberry's "The Cage," it exists in a variety of forms, many of them incomplete or tentative.

Above: "Siren's Song" Episode Title Card. Sent to find a missing survey team, Status (Wayne Spitzer) and A.K. (Andy Kumpon) "flux" into an alternate world.

Having ripped out a survey team member's heart (and ate it!), the Forest Siren (Kris Tiner) howls at the moon.

The alter-world that Status and A.K.'s boss, the mercurial Viktor, has dubbed: "Moreland."

Status (Wayne Spitzer) always seems to be getting some, at least, when he writes the story. In this case he isn't lip-locking with who, or what, he thinks he is! Note how he has begun to take on some of the forest creature's characteristics. He'll be glad for A.K.'s interruption in the morning!

While negotiating a treacherous mountainside, Status (Wayne Spitzer) reaches for a rock that isn't a rock. In reality, Spitzer is about two feet off the ground. Note that because of intense time and budget pressures, the composition of the shot isn't really contributing to any sense of height (You can't always get what you want / but if you try sometimes / you might find / you get what you need). A sense of height was nonetheless achieved via cutaway.

The Forest Siren (Kris Tiner) bends to her meal. The cool make-up effects are courtesy of her husband, Mitch Tiner, who also worked on Spitzer, Kumpon and Gollinger's Dead of Night: "TOOL" (1998), and Ron Ford's TIKI (2006).

A.K. (Andy Kumpon) finds it's raining skulls.

Status (Wayne Spitzer) negotiates one of "Moreland's" numerous swamps. The cool laser rifle was built by Bob Schleufer from a design of Wayne's, himself influenced by the look and feel of Gene Roddenberry's second Star Trek pilot, "Where No Man Has Gone Before" (1966). Trivia for the Trivial-minded: Yes, yes, it is a split infinitive! How sophisticated of you to notice! Gold star!

The only surviving survey team member (Bob Schleufer) greets Status with a severed head. We try to avoid showing graphic images here as a rule, but this one's pretty hokey.

Before Status and A.K.'s arrival, a survey team member (actor unknown) wonders if that's a beautiful woman approaching, or a mirage. Unknown Actor seems way too studly to be on Dead of Night.