Tag: ABC

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

A number of physically fit individuals (an Air Force pilot, a football player, a Green Beret, a policeman) are turning up dead. Among the similarities is the fact that their hearts have been cut out with a dull knife, they were overcome without a struggle, and that each victim is found on higher and higher flights of stairs. Kolchak arrives at the site of one murder, and witnesses a strange feathered figure making his escape. The feathers are from parrots found in the Southern hemisphere. Carl comes to believe that the murders are being committed by an Aztec cult devoted to resurrecting an ancient mummified warrior over a period of ten 52-year cycles. The mummy claims the hearts of the first four victims, but the fifth must be a willing sacrifice, a “Perfect Victim.” The willing sacrifice is Pepe, a box boy who has been given a year to have anything he wants to before being killed. Kolchak must convince Pepe that he should break his side of the bargain before the ninth cycle is completed.

written by Arthur Rowe
directed by Don McDougall
music by Gil Mille

Guest Cast: Erik Estrada (Pepe Torres), Pippa Scott (Tillie Jones), Victor Campos (Professor Jamie Rodriguez), Sorrell Booke (Mr. Eddy), Mickey Gilbert (The Mummy)

Notes: Available compiled with Demon In Lace as Demon And The Mummy. Actor Ramon Bieri plays Captain Webster in this episode, despite having appeared as Captain Baker in Bad Medicine.

LogBook entry by Steve Crowe

A ward boss and a financier are among the individuals who are being killed off with medieval weaponry. There seems no obvious connection, but Kolchak’s investigations take him to the Hydecker Museum, a repository of medieval armor and weapons. The curator is upset with the fact that the Hydecker is being converted into a disco. Later, when speaking with the woman in charge of handling the redecoration, Carl witnesses her being killed by a figure in a suit of black armor that he saw at the museum. When the curator is cleared of the murders, Kolchak suspects that the armor is haunted, and committing the murders. A background check reveals that the armor belonged to the Marquis de Mettancourt, a misogynist who swore with his dying breath that his final resting place would never be the site of gaiety and laughter. The armor has now come to life to fulfill the oath. Kolchak must use the same blessed battle axe that was used to kill de Mettancourt to stop the armor before it kills again.

written by Paul Magistretti, Michael Kozoll & David Chase
directed by Vincent McEveety
music by Gil Mille

Guest Cast: John Dehner (Captain Vernon Rausch), Hans Conreid (Mendel Boggs), Leiux Dressler (Minervo Musso), Shug Fisher (Pop Stenvold)

Notes: Among the best episodes, with excellent performances from everyone, particularly John Dehner.

LogBook entry by Steve Crowe

A series of unidentified elderly bodies are turning up around Chicago, dying of natural causes. Only Kolchak believes that they may be connected to the disappearances of a series of young swingers. He finds out that the disappearances had one thing in common – each was a member of an exclusive dating service run by a mysterious Helen. A taxi driver and former Greek professor identifies Helen from a photo as Helen of Troy, whose face launched a thousand ships. She is able to maintain her youthfulness by sacrificing to the gods the youth of physically perfect victims. Each of the victims is given a special ring as part of their membership, which marks them as a sacrifice to the gods. Carl accidentally dons one of the rings, and must confront Helen in her modern-day Greek shrine before she ages him to death as well.

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

Guest Cast: Kathy Lee Crosby (Helen), Kaz Kazantarkis (Demosthenes), Dwayne Hickman (Sgt. Orkin), Kathleen Freeman (Bella Sarkof)

Notes: Primarily a comedy episode, there is very little overt horror and even more scenes played for laughs than usual.

LogBook entry by Steve Crowe

A scientist’s discovery of a node containing strange blue nodules triggers a series of grisly deaths at an underground archival facility. Each victim is badly mauled, and the autopsy report indicates that they were bitten by some large animal. Sneaking into the facility, Kolchak discovers that the staff are leery of strange occurrences, and the military has taken in security. He himself witnesses a strange two-legged lizard creature and narrowly escapes. He is evicted from the facility, but does some research to discover that the lizards are phototropic (afraid of light). Realizing that the nodules are in fact eggs, Carl sneaks back in to the facility. The “sentry” has killed more people in its search, and Kolchak must return the eggs by risking his own life.

written by L. Ford Neale & John Huff
directed by Seymour Robbie
music by Gil Mille

Guest Cast: Tom Bosley (Jack Flaherty), Albert Paulsen (Dr. James Verhyden), Kathy Brown (Lt. Irene Lamont), John Hoyt (Dr. Lamar Beckwith), Frank Campanella (Ted Chapman), Frank Marth (Colonel Brody)

Notes: This episode bears a very strong resemblance to the Star Trek episode Devil In The Dark. Kathy Brown is Darren McGavin’s wife. Other than Simon Oakland as Vincenzo, no other regular cast member is present in this episode.

LogBook entry by Steve Crowe