Post by Zone Fighter on Nov 9, 2005 13:41:28 GMT -8
Carl Kolchak is an experienced reporter. What he seems to have experienced mostly is getting fired. After losing several jobs on newspapers in various cities he ends up in Las Vegas, Nevada working for the Daily News. He hopes someday to come across the big story which will lead to his once again being hired by a New York City newspaper. In Las Vegas he has his first of many encounters with the supernatural. When women are murdered by a serial killer, whom city police and county sheriffs are unable to stop, Kolchak, based on medical evidence, the theft of blood from blood banks and witnessing a shootout with the killer himself, concludes that the killer is a vampire. He does not come to this conclusion easily. He does not at first believe in the supernatural. The authorities seeking to cover up the truth about the murders get Kolchak fired (again) and force him out of the city. [The Night Stalker]
Living in Seattle, Washington, Kolchak while trying to sell his story about the vampire murders in Vegas, meets by chance his old editor, who had moved to Seattle seeking peace and quiet. Kolchak is hired by the Daily Chronicle. When women start being strangled to death by a killer who takes a few CCs of blood from each victim Kolchak has a feeling of dejavu. Researching the history of Seattle, Kolchak discovers that women have been murdered in the same manner every 21 years since the 1800s. Once again the authorities don't want to admit there is some kind of supernatural evil at work and Kolchak is fired, this time so is his editor Tony Vincenzo. The two men and a belly dancer head for New York in Kolchak's car. [The Night Strangler]
Although a script was written for a third TV movie, set in New York, the movie was never made so we don't know why Carl and Tony had to leave New York for Chicago, Illinois (or what happened to the belly dancer). No doubt women of NYC were victimized by some supernatural evil which the city, state and federal governments covered up. The third TV movie was not made because ABC was able make quick money by licensing the characters to Universal for a weekly series instead.
After his two experiences with the supernatural Kolchak is more willing than the police and his employer to believe in the supernatural and occult, therefore he correctly identifies the killer before the police. He keeps collecting the facts and trying to get the truth published despite city, state and federal authorities desire to cover up the facts and his own editor's refusal to believe that he's not making these stories up. His case is hurt by the fact that although he is a very good writer he is also a very bad photographer, using too cheap a camera.
The entire series is available on a 3 disc DVD set. The first two discs are double sided, the third single sided. (If you rent the series from Netflix it will be on 5 single sided discs.)
Darren McGavin - Carl Kolchak
Simon Oakland - Tony Vincenzo
Jack Grinnage - Ron Updyke
Ruth McDevitt - Emily Cowles
John Fiedler - Gordy Spangler
Carol Ann Susi - Monique Marmelstein
The first four episodes:
#01 - The Ripper (Friday, September 13, 1974)
The first episode of Kolchak: The Night Stalker is similar to the TV movies Night Stalker and Night Strangler, in that women are murdered by a killer with super human strength. This time though the murder is using a very sharp knife. Kolchak comes to the conclusion that the killer is none other than Jack the Ripper. Carl and Tony are now working for the Independent News Service (INS) out of Chicago. This episode introduces Ron Updyke, addressed as "Uptight" by Kolchak. In this episode Ruth McDevitt played an old lady who wrote a letter to the "Miss Emily" column. In later episodes she will play Miss Emily.
#02 - The Zombie (09/20/1974)
Armed gangsters are being killed, their spines broken. The zombie is the first Night Stalker monster to kill men instead of women. This episode introduces Gordy "the Ghoul" Spangler, morg attendant. Guest stars Scatman Crothers as a practitioner of voodoo.
#03 - They Have Been, They Are, They Will Be... (09/27/1974)
Animals at the Chicago Zoo are killed, the marrow sucked out of their bones. Lead ingots vanish. Electronics are stolen from stores and homes. Then people start being killed in the same way as the zoo animals. This is the first Night Stalker science fiction story. Something from another planet visited our world. Guest stars Dick Van Patten as a man who's lawn has been contaminated by an unearthly sticky, smelly black substance.
#04 - The Vampire (10/04/1974)
This story is a sequel to the original Night Stalker movie. The Las Vegas authorities thought they had cremated all of the victims of their vampire. The missed one, a Vegas prostitute who made her way to Los Angeles, California to feed on men there. This is the first of only two episodes not set in Chicago.
Living in Seattle, Washington, Kolchak while trying to sell his story about the vampire murders in Vegas, meets by chance his old editor, who had moved to Seattle seeking peace and quiet. Kolchak is hired by the Daily Chronicle. When women start being strangled to death by a killer who takes a few CCs of blood from each victim Kolchak has a feeling of dejavu. Researching the history of Seattle, Kolchak discovers that women have been murdered in the same manner every 21 years since the 1800s. Once again the authorities don't want to admit there is some kind of supernatural evil at work and Kolchak is fired, this time so is his editor Tony Vincenzo. The two men and a belly dancer head for New York in Kolchak's car. [The Night Strangler]
Although a script was written for a third TV movie, set in New York, the movie was never made so we don't know why Carl and Tony had to leave New York for Chicago, Illinois (or what happened to the belly dancer). No doubt women of NYC were victimized by some supernatural evil which the city, state and federal governments covered up. The third TV movie was not made because ABC was able make quick money by licensing the characters to Universal for a weekly series instead.
After his two experiences with the supernatural Kolchak is more willing than the police and his employer to believe in the supernatural and occult, therefore he correctly identifies the killer before the police. He keeps collecting the facts and trying to get the truth published despite city, state and federal authorities desire to cover up the facts and his own editor's refusal to believe that he's not making these stories up. His case is hurt by the fact that although he is a very good writer he is also a very bad photographer, using too cheap a camera.
The entire series is available on a 3 disc DVD set. The first two discs are double sided, the third single sided. (If you rent the series from Netflix it will be on 5 single sided discs.)
Darren McGavin - Carl Kolchak
Simon Oakland - Tony Vincenzo
Jack Grinnage - Ron Updyke
Ruth McDevitt - Emily Cowles
John Fiedler - Gordy Spangler
Carol Ann Susi - Monique Marmelstein
The first four episodes:
#01 - The Ripper (Friday, September 13, 1974)
The first episode of Kolchak: The Night Stalker is similar to the TV movies Night Stalker and Night Strangler, in that women are murdered by a killer with super human strength. This time though the murder is using a very sharp knife. Kolchak comes to the conclusion that the killer is none other than Jack the Ripper. Carl and Tony are now working for the Independent News Service (INS) out of Chicago. This episode introduces Ron Updyke, addressed as "Uptight" by Kolchak. In this episode Ruth McDevitt played an old lady who wrote a letter to the "Miss Emily" column. In later episodes she will play Miss Emily.
#02 - The Zombie (09/20/1974)
Armed gangsters are being killed, their spines broken. The zombie is the first Night Stalker monster to kill men instead of women. This episode introduces Gordy "the Ghoul" Spangler, morg attendant. Guest stars Scatman Crothers as a practitioner of voodoo.
#03 - They Have Been, They Are, They Will Be... (09/27/1974)
Animals at the Chicago Zoo are killed, the marrow sucked out of their bones. Lead ingots vanish. Electronics are stolen from stores and homes. Then people start being killed in the same way as the zoo animals. This is the first Night Stalker science fiction story. Something from another planet visited our world. Guest stars Dick Van Patten as a man who's lawn has been contaminated by an unearthly sticky, smelly black substance.
#04 - The Vampire (10/04/1974)
This story is a sequel to the original Night Stalker movie. The Las Vegas authorities thought they had cremated all of the victims of their vampire. The missed one, a Vegas prostitute who made her way to Los Angeles, California to feed on men there. This is the first of only two episodes not set in Chicago.
