Category: Kolchak The Night Stalker

A series of brutal crimes are taking place in Chicago’s underworld. Each victim has his spine snapped. Things become more bizarre when the same corpse is discovered at the scene of two of the murders – a Haitian, his ears filled with chicken blood. Despite police resistance, Kolchak discovers that the Haitian, Francois Edmonds, was killed by the same men who are now being murdered. Edmonds’ mother is a voodoo priestess, capable of raising the dead to seek vengeance for their murder. In this case, she is animating her own son to avenge himself. When he gets too close to the truth, Kolchak becomes a target. He tracks the zombie to the auto junkyard where it rests in a hearse. The only way to permanently kill it? Fill its mouth with salt and sew the lips together, or strangle it while burning holy candles.

written by Zekial Marko
directed by Alex Grasshoff
music by Gil Mille

Guest Cast: Charles Aidman (Captain Leo Winwood), Joe Sirola (Benjamin Sposato), Scatman Crothers (Uncle Filemon), Val Bisoglio (Victor Friese), Antonio Fargas (Sweetstick Weldon), J. Pat O’Malley (Cemetery Caretaker), Earl Faison (Francois Edmonds – The Zombie)

Notes: This is one of the better episodes, particularly the climax when Kolchak must climb into a hearse and try to sew the zombie’s lips together.

LogBook entry by Steve Crowe

Unusual animal deaths at the Lincoln Park Zoo are the first sign that Chicago has a new resident. The killings spread to humans, with each of the victims having been drained of bone marrow. Kolchak and the police are witness to a strange invisible force that escapes with 10 tons of lead ingots, and leaves piles of black goo in its wake. The goo is composed of bone marrow and digestive acids. Combining this information with the widespread theft of electronic appliances, Kolchak comes to believe that an alien electromagnetic creature is on the loose. Using a compass, he tracks the being to a planetarium, where it is consulting star maps in an attempt to locate its position. Kolchak manages to drive the creature off with the high-pitched noise of his camera flash-recharger, and follows it to its spacecraft for a final confrontation.

written by Rudolph Borchert
from a story by Dennis Clark
directed by Allen Baron
music by Gil Mille

Guest Cast: Mary Wickes (Dr. Bess Winestock), James Gregory (Captain Quill), Dick Van Patten (Alfred Bindle)

Notes: X-Files creator Chris Carter has often credited The Night Stalker as his inspiration for his own series. This episode, with its presence of mysterious government agents and organized coverup, is very similar to several early X-Files/UFO episodes. The alien(s)’ invisible presence is effectively conveyed by first-person camera work, a blowing wind, and strange sound effects.

LogBook entry by Steve Crowe

In the desert outside Las Vegas, a traveller inadvertently spills blood upon a forgotten grave and…something crawls out. In Chicago, Kolchak gets wind of a trail of murders involving blood draining, and manages to wrangle his way into a trip to Los Angeles, where the trail leads. He finds that Catherine Rowlins, a victim of Janos Skorzeny, the vampire he confronted in Las Vegas, has been resurrected. She now pursues her former career as a call girl while using her customers as a food supply. With the aid of a local real estate agent, Kolchak tracks Rowlins to her lair for a final fiery hillside confrontation.

written by David Chase
from a story by Bill Stratton
directed by Don Weis
music by Gil Mille

Guest Cast: Suzanne Charny (Catherine Rowlins), Kathleen Nolan (Faye Kruger), William Daniels (Lt. Matteo), Larry Storch (Jim “The Swede” Brytowski), Jan Murray (Ichabod Grace)

Notes: A sequel of sorts to the original TV movie The Night Stalker. The presence of a female vampire adds a few new twists.

LogBook entry by Steve Crowe

In Montana, a family is apparently killed by wolves, the first-ever attack on humans by these creatures. In Chicago, the rest of the news services’ staff is stricken by the flu, so Kolchak is sent to cover the last cruise of the S.S. Hanover, the “Queen of the Seas,” and do a series of light articles. That proves to be difficult when passengers and crew are attacked, ripped savagely apart by a shadowy figure. The captain puts a news blackout on the murders. A brief glimpse of the heavily-furred killer and the presence of the full moon, convince the reporter that a werewolf is responsible. Kolchak must prepare several loads of blessed silver buckshot from the only available source of the precious metal – the buttons from the captain’s uniform. Who is responsible? A NATO soldier stationed in Montana whose platoon was wiped out by a “wolf” attack of which he was the only survivor.

written by David Chase & Paul Playdon
directed by Allen Baron
music by Gil Mille

Guest Cast: Eric Braeden (Bernhardt Stieglitz), Dick Gautier (Mel Tarter), Henry Jones (Captain Wells), Nita Talbot (Paula Griffin), Bob Hastings (Hallem)

Notes: A weak and rather rushed script. The werewolf costume is extremely cheap. Miss Emily Cowels (Ruth McDevitt) appears in this episode, her first screen appearance, and is identified in the credits as “Edith Cowels.”

LogBook entry by Steve Crowe

A series of mysterious deaths plague players from both parties during a Senatorial election. At the site of one death, an elevator crash, Kolchak witnesses a mysterious dog and manages to grab a strange pentagram amulet about its neck. The lead candidate, Robert Palmer, disappears until the dog later attacks Kolchak and recovers the amulet. The inexplicable nature of the deaths, and the presence of a similar amulet about Palmer’s neck, convince Kolchak that the politician has sold his soul to Satan in return for a guaranteed ascension from obscurity to the Presidency itself. Kolchak must confront Palmer and destroy the symbol of his demonic pact.

written by Donn Mullaly
from a story by Tim Maschler
directed by Allen Baron
music by Gil Mille

Guest Cast: Tom Skerritt (Robert Palmer), Ellen Weston (Lorraine Palmer), Julie Gregg (Susan Driscoll), Jeanne Cooper (Dr. Kline), Stanley Adams (Louie the Bartender)

Notes: Miss Emily Cowles (Ruth McDevitt) returns from a trip to the Vatican in this episode, although she appears in an earlier episode (The Werewolf) as “Edith Cowels.” Internal consistency was not a strong point of the series. This episode, with its commentary on politics, journalism, and religion, probably has the sharpest dialogue of the series.

LogBook entry by Steve Crowe

A series of mysterious high-society deaths coincide with the theft of valuable gems and jewelry. Kolchak and the police arrive at a jewelry exchange robbery and witness a 7′ tall Amerindian, accompanied by an unseen coyote, who casually swats aside the officers then mysteriously disappears over the edge of the rooftop. The reporter identifies the Indian from a museum display as a “diablero,” a Hopi medicine man with the ability to hypnotize his prey and change into a crow or coyote. According to legend, one medicine man was cursed to roam the world on an eternal quest to collect a hoard of jewelry. The source of his power is his eyes, through which he can control the world. Bright lights can deprive him of his powers, while only the power of his own gaze can destroy him. Tracking the diablero to the empty top floor of a skyscraper, Kolchak must use a mirror to defeat the medicine man before it can kill him.

written by L. Ford Neale & John Huff
directed by Alex Grasshoff
music by Gil Mille

Guest Cast: Richard Kiel (the Diablero), Ramon Bieri (Captain Joe Baker), Alice Ghostley (Dr. Agnes Temple), Victor Jory (Charles Rolling Thunder)

Notes: Richard Kiel makes his first of two appearances as a Night Stalker monster. Actor Ramon Bieri plays a police captain in a later episode (Legacy Of Terror) but has a different name.

LogBook entry by Steve Crowe

Murder victims are turning up with two unusual features. Their chests are brutally crushed, and they are covered with Spanish moss, a plant not found in Chicago. Kolchak’s investigations also determine a common factor: they were both enemies of an ill-tempered Cajun street player, Paul Langois. Langois has an ironclad alibi, however – he’s been in an induced coma for several weeks as part of a dream-research experiment. Nonetheless, Carl suspects Langois is responsible. His research shows that a bayou legend of Langois’ parish tells of “Pelemafait,” a boogeyman who crushes the life out of his victims. Kolchak believes that the experiment Langois is participating on has unleashed a monster from his childhood dreams. Langois dies as Pelemafait takes on a life of its own, and Kolchak is its next victim. Only a spear made of bayou gum wood can kill the monster in its sewer lair.

written by Al Friedman and David Chase
from a story by Al Friedman
directed by Gordon Hessler
music by Gil Mille

Guest Cast: Keenan Wynn (Captain Joe “Mad Dog” Siska), Severn Darden (Dr. Aaron Pollack), Richard Kiel (Pelemafait), Johnny Silver (Pepe LaRue/Morris Shapiro), Ned Glass (Superintendent)

Notes: Keenan Wynn becomes the only recurring policeman to keep the same name (he also appears in Demon In Lace). Here he froths at the mouth as a captain whose months of group therapy are disrupted by Kolchak. Richard Kiel returns again as the gigantic Pelemafait.

LogBook entry by Steve Crowe

Indian high-rise workers walk off the site of a new hospital after several of their number fall to their deaths. Construction is completed several months later, but the grand opening is complicated by a series of power failures, temperature surges, and mysterious deaths. Kolchak meets with James Elkhorn, a construction worker and sometimes medicine man who tells him that the hospital is built on an ancient Indian site wherein dwelt “Matchemonedo,” a sleeping bear-god. The god’s hibernation beneath the cold waters of Lake Michigan has been disrupted by the hospital excavation, and it is now draining the energy from the hospital and its patients. Kolchak and Elkhorn must convince the authorities to refrigerate the building and return Matchemonedo to its eternal slumber.

written by Arthur Rowe, Robert Earll, & Rudolph Borchert
directed by Alex Grasshoff
music by Gil Mille

Guest Cast: John Alvin (Dr. Ralph Carrie), Robert Cornthwaite (Dr. Hartfield), Tom Drake (Don Kibbey), Ella Edwards (Receptionist), Michael Fox (Frank Wesley), Elaine Giftos (Janis), Barbara Graham (Laurie), Melissa Greene (First Girl), Dianne Harper (Second Girl), Joyce Jillson (Diana Lanier), John Mitchum (Janitor), William Smith (Jim Elkhorn), Michael Strong (Walter Green), Robert Yuro (Captain Webster)

Notes: Currently exists as half of the TV movie Crackle Of Death. As in They Have Been…, the monster is invisible and thus never seen except a brief glimpse on X-ray plates. Captain Webster also appears in Legacy Of Terror, but is played by actor Ramon Bieri…who played Captain Baker in Bad Medicine.

LogBook entry by Steve Crowe

Senior citizens in a low-income district are dying, literally gnawed to death. The authorities dismiss the deaths as rats feasting on persons dying of natural cause. Kolchak discovers that the neighborhood is covered with swastikas, a religious symbol among many cultures. The trail leads to an elderly Hindu restaurant owner, who fires a crossbow at the reporter and mutters about “Rakshasa.” With the aid of a museum curator, Kolchak discovers that a rakshasa is a Hindu demon that feeds on human flesh, and was banished from Earth centuries ago. From time to time they send a scout back to Earth to see if the time is right for their return. Confronting the restaurant owner, Kolchak discovers the man has devoted his life to killing the Rakshasa scouts. He is informed the creatures kill their prey by taking on the image of a trusted friend or relative, and can only be killed by a crossbow bolt blessed by a priest of Brahma. Kolchak claims to trust no one, but must then decide whether the Miss Emily approaching him is the real one, or the rakshasa.

written by Jimmy Sangster
directed by Michael T. Caffey
music by Gil Mille

Guest Cast: Phil Silvers (Harry Starman), Murray Matheson (Lane Marriott), Benny Rubin (Julius “Buck” Fineman), Barry Gordon (Barry the Waiter), Abraham Sofaer (Elderly Rakshasa Hunter)

Notes: Considered the best Night Stalker episode by many. Author Jimmy Sangster penned a number of Hammer horror movies.

LogBook entry by Steve Crowe

Kolchak is assigned to write the obituary of a scientist specializing in computers, but finds the death and details surrounding the government project the scientist was working on entirely covered up. Meanwhile, a mysterious marauder with superhuman strength is seen at an undertaker’s establishment and a library of talking books. The police are unable to stop the figure from stealing undertakers’ wax and books on philosophy. Kolchak finds the scientist’s co-worker, Leslie Dwyer, but she disappears shortly thereafter. The government brings pressure to bear on Kolchak’s boss Vincenzo, but he persists, tracing Dwyer to her isolated home. The marauder is R.I.N.G. (Robomatic Internalized Nerve Ganglia), an artificial intelligence housed in an android body that has achieved sentience. Rather then be dismantled, it killed its creator and sought refuge with Dwyer. The military show up to claim their project, and R.I.N.G. is destroyed. Kolchak is given drugs to forget the story.

written by L. Ford Neale & John Huff
directed by Gene Levitt
music by Gil Mille

Guest Cast: Burt Freed (Captain Akins), Julie Adams (Mrs. Walker), Corrine Michaels (Dr. Leslie Dwyer), Craig Baxley (R.I.N.G.)

Notes: A somber tale of government cover-up, this story also parallels several X-Files episodes.

LogBook entry by Steve Crowe

A research scientist with an oil conglomerate is killed, his arm literally ripped from his body. The scientist’s project is wreathed in secrecy. Investigating further, Kolchak discovers that a number of earth samples were brought back from the Arctic by a company research team. The samples contained cellular organisms which, when accidentally thawed out, begin to reproduce at a rapid rate, growing into primate “missing link” creatures. There are several at large, attacking Chicago residents. Despite the ongoing cover-up by both the police and the conglomerate as they attempt to recover the primates, Kolchak tracks the remaining humanoid to its lair in the tunnels beneath the football stadium where the first atomic tests were conducted.

written by Bill S. Ballinger & David Chase
directed by Robert Scheerer
music by Gil Mille

Guest Cast: John Marley (Captain Molnar), Pat Harrington (Thomas Kitzmiller), Jamie Farr (Jack Burton), Katharine Woodville (Dr. Helen Lynch), Gary Baxley (the Primate)

Notes: There are a number of in-jokes in this story. One of the victims is named William Pratt (Boris Karloff’s real name). Another is watching The Mummy, a Universal picture, when he is killed. Universal, of course, was the series’ co-producer.

LogBook entry by Steve Crowe

Kolchak is present at Madame Trevi’s fashion show to meet with an industrial spy who has garment union receipts he needs to write a story. The spy falls to his death. Examination of the man’s camera film shows that the mannequins at the studio he was in were moving. Other bizarre occurrences follow. One model is disfigured by a cat, while another is scalded to death in her temperature-controlled shower. When a driverless car attempts to run him over, Kolchak comes to believe that black witchcraft is being employed by the secretive Madame Trevi. A coven of witches tell him how to strip her of her powers. He does so, only to free the true witch from Trevi’s control. Armed with a mojo bag, Carl must publicly accuse the witch to strip her of her powers.

written by Rudolph Borchert
directed by Don Weis
music by Gil Mille

Guest Cast: Lara Parker (Madelaine), Nina Foch (Madame Trevi), Bernie Koppell (Doctor), Marvin Miller (Lecturer)

Notes: Lara Parker had played Angelique, a witch, on the Dark Shadows series.

LogBook entry by Steve Crowe

The murder of a taxi driver at a garage has several unusual aspects. His head was cut off, his killer used a sword, and a witness reports that the victim was decapitated by a headless motorcyclist. Kolchak investigates and determines that the victim was a member of a cycle gang in the 50’s. Other victims turn up decapitated, each a member of the same gang. Behind the killings lies a grisly tale: the victims played a prank on the leader of a rival gang, which resulted in his decapitation. The gang’s leader, Studs Spake, buried the body, but not the head. The leader had ridden in the 50’s seeking vengeance until Studs reunited the head and body. Now, the excavation of the cemetary has resulted in the head and body being separated once more, and the headless motorcyclist rides again. With Studs dead, Kolchak must restore the head to the body once more.

written by Steve Fisher, David Chase, Bob Gale & Robert Zemeckis
directed by Bruce Kessler
music by Gil Mille

Guest Cast: Larry Linville (Captain Jonas), Sharon Farrell (Lila Morton), Jim Backus (Herb Bresson), Art Metrano (Studs Spake), Jay Robinson (Professor Strig), Jesse White (Warehouse Security Guard), Steve Franken (Morgue Attendant), Steve Boyum (Headless Motorcyclist)

Notes: Yes, it’s that Robert Zemeckis, Oscar winning Best Director for Forrest Gump.

LogBook entry by Steve Crowe

A college is plagued by a series of mysterious deaths. In each case a man and a woman are discovered together. Each male victim is a healthy young man who has apparently died of fright. The women have apparently been dead for some considerable time, of a variety of causes and apparently at a different original location. No one can explain why the men have died, or the reason for the women’s bodies vanishing and reappearing. Kolchak investigates further and discovers that each of the male students know Professor Spate, who has brought back a rare tablet from a Mesapotomian dig site. The tablet’s background contains legend of similar deaths, and Carl soon deduces that an ancient demon, a succubus, is responsible for the deaths. She possesses the bodies of recently deceased young women, lures men into sex with her, and then reveals her true nature, scaring them to death and feeding on their energies. Her existence is tied to the priceless tablet, which Kolchak must destroy before she claims another victim.

written by Stephen Lord & Michael Kozoll
directed by Don Weis
music by Gil Mille

Guest Cast: Andrew Prine (Professor E. Evan Spate), Kristina Holland (Rosalind Winters), Carolyn Jones (Registar), Keenan Wynn (Captain Joe Siska), Jackie Vernon (Coach Toomey), Teddie Blue (The Succubus)

Notes: Keenan Wynn returns as Captain Siska. This episode, with Legacy Of Terror, exists primarily as a compiled TV movie called Demon And The Mummy.

LogBook entry by Steve Crowe