“Eye of the Beholder” is set in a totalitarian society that demands conformity. As Janet Tyler awaits the results of her 11th medical procedure to correct a hideous facial deformity, we learn of the suffering caused by her isolation, her doctor’s growing (and risky) empathy, and the draconian measures she’ll face should his last-ditch effort fail. The eventual revelation of her post-procedure appearance remains one of Hollywood’s most famous twist endings.

Cameron: “What makes it so powerful is that it begins by identifying us with this character through her relatable fears, and only slowly do we learn that it’s this dystopian other world. It explores the arbitrariness of beauty standards in a way that’s really gripping and fascinating — as much now, I should think, as it was then.” Riya Thapar: “You could just colorize these episodes and tell people they were shot today, and people would still be, ‘Oh, my mind is blown.’” Jordan Mailes: “There’s a reason that there are still ‘Twilight Zone’ marathons on television. If it weren’t relevant today, they wouldn’t be screening it. Our age group, all of us have seen episodes. We still connect with them.”

Many of the students also acknowledged a much-chronicled fact: The cinematic and narrative techniques employed in “The Twilight Zone” have profoundly influenced the evolution of the artform over the past half-century, and have inspired many of today’s top practitioners.

Aiden Kutcher: “They have picked up these tactics from ‘The Twilight Zone,’ such as not showing the monster to make you more afraid of it. To me, it’s the foundation of this theatrical cinematic creepiness.” Stirling: “I think what makes ‘The Twilight Zone’ so everlasting is its attention to detail in the way that shots were composed. The shadows in this episode, the little insert shots like the nurse rolling up the bandages to increase the tension, the shots where the doctor and nurse are completely blacked out — those stay in your mind after the episode is done. And not just with this episode, but so many others.”