Carl Kolchak(Darren McGavin) investigates the strange case of savage murders that were committed by an Ape-man, recently revived when its cells(which were found by an oil-drilling expedition then stored in a freezer) are thawed out when that freezing unit breaks down, and the cells grow at an astonishing rate. Carl is stymied by the oil corporation and the authorities, but does manage to track it down to its underground lair... Another unlikely premise made to work because of genuinely eerie moments in the climatic showdown underground, with effective use of music and menace. Similar in premise to both past and future versions of "The Thing".
8 Reviews
On the trail of an ape-man.
Hey_Sweden2 September 2012
Warning: Spoilers
Kolchak's caught up in a real fantastic plot, but one that is still never less than interesting. Scientists in the employ of an oil company have brought back extremely old cells after doing core sampling in the Arctic, and those cells have ended up in a freezer in Chicago. Unfortunately, the power to the freezer fails, and the cells "grow" after exposure to heat and dampness. Now they've taken on the form of a primitive being that supposedly spawned both humans and apes, and the thing is tearing a few people apart. Kolchak doggedly works the clues, interviewing various individuals and putting the pieces of the puzzle together. Not surprisingly, by the time this is over, he'll be once again on his own in tracking down the beast.
Just like the best episodes of this series, it can get uproariously funny while still at the same time delivering some genuine suspense and spookiness. (That finale in the tunnels under the old stadium is wonderfully lit and eerie.) The ape man itself (himself?) looks hokey when we start to see it too much, but there are still some good moments as it stalks and kills the citizens of Chicago. The episode is often hysterically funny at times, and Darren McGavin has marvelous chemistry with the roster of guest stars. Keeping up the tradition of giving Kolchak a new police nemesis every week, this time it's a weary John Marley who must deal with this aggressive and pesky reporter. Other TV stars do well, including Pat Harrington of 'One Day at a Time' as the oil company's P.R. man and Jamie Farr of 'M*A*S*H' as a science teacher who initially wants to give Kolchak the brush off but soon becomes intrigued by his line of inquiry. This sequence with Farr leads to one of the biggest laughs in the whole story as Kolchak points to one diagram of a primitive species and quips, "I think I work for that one."
Speaking of Vincenzo, he doesn't get much to do this time, but there's some wonderful interaction between Kolchak and Updyke as the latter threatens to have Kolchaks' car towed if he keeps parking in Updykes' parking spot. Also appearing are Katherine Woodville as Dr. Helen Lynch, beautiful Barbara Rhoades as a huffy secretary, Jeannie Bell as a victim of the monster, and Sandra Gould as the dotty landlady.
Overall, this sizes up as a solid episode, both funny and creepy, in this great TV series.
Eight out of 10.
Just like the best episodes of this series, it can get uproariously funny while still at the same time delivering some genuine suspense and spookiness. (That finale in the tunnels under the old stadium is wonderfully lit and eerie.) The ape man itself (himself?) looks hokey when we start to see it too much, but there are still some good moments as it stalks and kills the citizens of Chicago. The episode is often hysterically funny at times, and Darren McGavin has marvelous chemistry with the roster of guest stars. Keeping up the tradition of giving Kolchak a new police nemesis every week, this time it's a weary John Marley who must deal with this aggressive and pesky reporter. Other TV stars do well, including Pat Harrington of 'One Day at a Time' as the oil company's P.R. man and Jamie Farr of 'M*A*S*H' as a science teacher who initially wants to give Kolchak the brush off but soon becomes intrigued by his line of inquiry. This sequence with Farr leads to one of the biggest laughs in the whole story as Kolchak points to one diagram of a primitive species and quips, "I think I work for that one."
Speaking of Vincenzo, he doesn't get much to do this time, but there's some wonderful interaction between Kolchak and Updyke as the latter threatens to have Kolchaks' car towed if he keeps parking in Updykes' parking spot. Also appearing are Katherine Woodville as Dr. Helen Lynch, beautiful Barbara Rhoades as a huffy secretary, Jeannie Bell as a victim of the monster, and Sandra Gould as the dotty landlady.
Overall, this sizes up as a solid episode, both funny and creepy, in this great TV series.
Eight out of 10.
Another enjoyable episode
Woodyanders5 February 2010
Warning: Spoilers
Frozen cell samples from the Antartic are accidentally exposed to heat and growth into a ferocious missing link who breaks out from the lab and embarks on a murderous rampage. Of course, the ever intrepid Carl Kolchak (Darren McGavin in typically energetic and delightful form) stumbles across a major corporation's attempt to cover up the whole mess and ultimately has to face the caveman on his own. Director Jack Scheerer, working from a smart and absorbing script by Bill S. Ballinger and David Chase, relates the barbing story at a brisk pace and milks the exciting climax with Kolchak venturing into some underground tunnels in search of the apeman for all its worth. There isn't much in the way of tension in this particular episode, but fortunately that's compensated for by wickedly amusing moments of sharp sardonic humor and some spot-on criticism of corporate corruption and omnipotence. The solid acting by an able cast rates as another substantial asset: Simon Oakland has several nice scenes butting heads with Kolchak as huffy and disapproving editor Tony Vincenzo, John Marley makes for a formidable nemesis as sour and hard-nosed Captain Maurice Molnar, Jamie Farr contributes a marvelously lively and funny turn as helpful and knowledgeable science teacher Jack Burton, Pat Harrington Jr. is pleasingly slimy as slippery corporate executive Thomas Kitzmiller, and Jack Grinnage is a whiny hoot as sniveling wimp reporter Ron Updyke. Former "Playboy" Playmate Jeannie Bell briefly pops up as one of the caveman's victims. The apeman is kind of goofy, but still looks pretty cool just the same. Ronald W. Browne's slick cinematography makes nifty occasional use of snazzy freeze frames. Jerry Fielding provides an effective moody score. A fun show.
Stalking A Neanderthal
a_l_i_e_n21 June 2006
Warning: Spoilers
A missing link prowls the streets of Chicago with police and Kolchak in hot pursuit.
In "Primal Scream", frozen cells brought back from the Antarctic begin to multiply inside a cold storage facility. When these cells grow into a pair of hairy primates, they promptly break out of the facility leaving behind a dead employee- minus an arm. One of the creatures is eventually shot, but authorities refuse to allow the press to inspect the body. Later, Kolchak finds himself at the scene of an unsuccessful attempt by police to capture the second one. When Carl snaps off a few pictures of the thing before it escapes, his camera is destroyed by Captain Molnar who is determined to suppress any evidence of the man-like things' existence.
With the second creature still on the prowl for sustenance, Kolchak determines that the most likely hiding place for a flesh-eating primitive like this would be the cave-like tunnels under the site of the old Chicago stadium. As he searches through it's dark recesses the creature suddenly appears, but Carl manages to keep it at bay with a flare. When the police arrive on the scene, they shoot the humanoid with a tranquilizer gun before hauling it away to parts unknown.
The ape men are mostly shot from a distance and this was probably done to obscure the somewhat unimpressive makeup. Consequentally, we don't get a very good look at one until the end where it resembles an actor in a monkey suit with mutton chops on his face. Kolchak managing to get into the facility for a quick look at the cells developing in a cannister is troubling, too. After the initial incidents in the freezer, you'd think these cells would now be kept under constant observation by security, so the relative ease with which Carl sneaks in seems hard to swallow.
During the course of the episode, the missing links burst through doors and jump through windows in search of fresh meat and one even brazenly makes off with a nighttime stroller in the park. While these scenes are modestly jolting, all in all, the two über gorillas just aren't very frightening monsters. They also lack any kind of personality that might have distinguished them among Kolchak's more memorable quarries. The only effectively suspenseful part comes at the end when Kolchak enters yet another dark, foreboding environment and, tossing road flares into opaque blackness, makes for himself a path of light that eventually reveals a dead body...and then the Neanderthal.
Kolchak's attempt to assure the beast that he is not a danger to it by repeating "Friend! Friend!" seems a tad silly. Fortunately, their "chat" is cut short by the arrival of the police who put the creature in such a panic that it holds Kolchak in a rib-bending embrace. When Carl later awakens, he discovers the police and the missing link are gone. The last scene has Carl pondering what the future may hold in store for the creature, but it's a bit difficult for the viewer to share in his concern for the thing- what with it's having killed and eaten several people.
Pat Harrington of "One Day At A Time" appears as a public relations sleaze who tries to keep both Kolchak and the public's attention diverted from the drilling company that retrieved the cells. The best guest star performance comes from John Marley as Captian Molnar. Marley is known to film goers all over the world as the guy who wakes up next to the horse's head in "The Godfather". As the cop in charge of keeping a lid on the ape-man story, he is both believable and thoroughly unlikable, even going so far as to brazenly stomp on Carl's camera right in front of him. Later, when Carl leaves him a voucher for a new camera, Molnar simply drops the form into a waste basket and goes about his business. Of all the many stone-walling police officials Kolchak came up against during the run of the series, Marley's Capt. Molnar is probably the most formidable.
One other item of note: Kolchak's foil, the nerdy Ron Updyke, was always at the receiving end of Carl's verbal jibes. However, in this one he is finally allowed (for a moment) to get the better of Kolchak. Informing the reporter that the recent murders are actually due to a road accident in which several zoo animals escaped, Ron lists the missing animals as "two African gorillas, a Malaysian tiger and a pair of baby pie-costs." When asked "what's a pie-cost?", Ron replies with a smirk, "89 cents". It's an amusing surprise in an otherwise underwhelming episode.
In "Primal Scream", frozen cells brought back from the Antarctic begin to multiply inside a cold storage facility. When these cells grow into a pair of hairy primates, they promptly break out of the facility leaving behind a dead employee- minus an arm. One of the creatures is eventually shot, but authorities refuse to allow the press to inspect the body. Later, Kolchak finds himself at the scene of an unsuccessful attempt by police to capture the second one. When Carl snaps off a few pictures of the thing before it escapes, his camera is destroyed by Captain Molnar who is determined to suppress any evidence of the man-like things' existence.
With the second creature still on the prowl for sustenance, Kolchak determines that the most likely hiding place for a flesh-eating primitive like this would be the cave-like tunnels under the site of the old Chicago stadium. As he searches through it's dark recesses the creature suddenly appears, but Carl manages to keep it at bay with a flare. When the police arrive on the scene, they shoot the humanoid with a tranquilizer gun before hauling it away to parts unknown.
The ape men are mostly shot from a distance and this was probably done to obscure the somewhat unimpressive makeup. Consequentally, we don't get a very good look at one until the end where it resembles an actor in a monkey suit with mutton chops on his face. Kolchak managing to get into the facility for a quick look at the cells developing in a cannister is troubling, too. After the initial incidents in the freezer, you'd think these cells would now be kept under constant observation by security, so the relative ease with which Carl sneaks in seems hard to swallow.
During the course of the episode, the missing links burst through doors and jump through windows in search of fresh meat and one even brazenly makes off with a nighttime stroller in the park. While these scenes are modestly jolting, all in all, the two über gorillas just aren't very frightening monsters. They also lack any kind of personality that might have distinguished them among Kolchak's more memorable quarries. The only effectively suspenseful part comes at the end when Kolchak enters yet another dark, foreboding environment and, tossing road flares into opaque blackness, makes for himself a path of light that eventually reveals a dead body...and then the Neanderthal.
Kolchak's attempt to assure the beast that he is not a danger to it by repeating "Friend! Friend!" seems a tad silly. Fortunately, their "chat" is cut short by the arrival of the police who put the creature in such a panic that it holds Kolchak in a rib-bending embrace. When Carl later awakens, he discovers the police and the missing link are gone. The last scene has Carl pondering what the future may hold in store for the creature, but it's a bit difficult for the viewer to share in his concern for the thing- what with it's having killed and eaten several people.
Pat Harrington of "One Day At A Time" appears as a public relations sleaze who tries to keep both Kolchak and the public's attention diverted from the drilling company that retrieved the cells. The best guest star performance comes from John Marley as Captian Molnar. Marley is known to film goers all over the world as the guy who wakes up next to the horse's head in "The Godfather". As the cop in charge of keeping a lid on the ape-man story, he is both believable and thoroughly unlikable, even going so far as to brazenly stomp on Carl's camera right in front of him. Later, when Carl leaves him a voucher for a new camera, Molnar simply drops the form into a waste basket and goes about his business. Of all the many stone-walling police officials Kolchak came up against during the run of the series, Marley's Capt. Molnar is probably the most formidable.
One other item of note: Kolchak's foil, the nerdy Ron Updyke, was always at the receiving end of Carl's verbal jibes. However, in this one he is finally allowed (for a moment) to get the better of Kolchak. Informing the reporter that the recent murders are actually due to a road accident in which several zoo animals escaped, Ron lists the missing animals as "two African gorillas, a Malaysian tiger and a pair of baby pie-costs." When asked "what's a pie-cost?", Ron replies with a smirk, "89 cents". It's an amusing surprise in an otherwise underwhelming episode.
Kolchak and a caveman
BandSAboutMovies22 July 2023
Warning: Spoilers
Experimental biologist Jules Copenik is killed by something so savage that it rips his arm out of the socket. As he worked for the Oceanic International Oil Corporation, that's big news and draws in Carl Kolchak. This time, he's fighting with authority again - Captain Maurice Molnar (John Marley) - but that doesn't stop Carl from meeting PR hack Thomas J. Kitzmiller (Pat Harrington Jr.) and learning more about the research that Copenik was involved with.
Copenik and his co-worker Doctor Helen Lynch (Katherine Woodville) have been studying samples taken from the Arctic that have trapped and preserved single-cell life forms. Carl asks to speak to her, but he's told she was in a car accident and can't speak to anyone.
A photographer named Ron Gurney (Craig R. Baxley) is killed by an ape-like creature currently kept captive. Carl learns the news from his enemy Ron Updyke (Jack Grinnage) and he wonders if he's part of the conspiracy that always destroys his stories. Then the monster escapes and Carl gets a photo, just in time for Molnar to smash his camera. The ape man also murders Jeannie Bell from The Muthers and TNT Jackson!
Carl turns to a high school biology teacher Jack Burton (Jamie Farr), who claims that he's never seen a print like the one Kolchak has of the creature. That means that Carl will have to find the creature himself, deep below what was once Chicago Stadium.
One of the victims, William Pratt, is named after Boris Karloff. It's Karloff's real name. And one wonders, between the DNA being brought back from the Arctic and a character being named Jack Burton, if John Carpenter saw this episode.
Director Robert Scheerer also made Ants! While writer David Chase would go on to create the Sopranos and Bill S. Ballinger wrote the "Firefall" episode of Kolchak and "The Ghost of Potter's Field" for Ghost Story.
Copenik and his co-worker Doctor Helen Lynch (Katherine Woodville) have been studying samples taken from the Arctic that have trapped and preserved single-cell life forms. Carl asks to speak to her, but he's told she was in a car accident and can't speak to anyone.
A photographer named Ron Gurney (Craig R. Baxley) is killed by an ape-like creature currently kept captive. Carl learns the news from his enemy Ron Updyke (Jack Grinnage) and he wonders if he's part of the conspiracy that always destroys his stories. Then the monster escapes and Carl gets a photo, just in time for Molnar to smash his camera. The ape man also murders Jeannie Bell from The Muthers and TNT Jackson!
Carl turns to a high school biology teacher Jack Burton (Jamie Farr), who claims that he's never seen a print like the one Kolchak has of the creature. That means that Carl will have to find the creature himself, deep below what was once Chicago Stadium.
One of the victims, William Pratt, is named after Boris Karloff. It's Karloff's real name. And one wonders, between the DNA being brought back from the Arctic and a character being named Jack Burton, if John Carpenter saw this episode.
Director Robert Scheerer also made Ants! While writer David Chase would go on to create the Sopranos and Bill S. Ballinger wrote the "Firefall" episode of Kolchak and "The Ghost of Potter's Field" for Ghost Story.
Updike correction?
timbarcus-16 July 2006
Warning: Spoilers
in the end, Updike did call the tow truck, but Karl had had Updike's car put in the parking place before the tow truck showed up. I haven't seen every episode of the series for years(decades) but this particular episode seemed to show Karl as a more aggressive, forceful individual - starting with his leadership among the reporters at the press conference for the first murder. The fact that this killing wasn't obviously supernatural made for an episode with a different feel and more effort seems to have been put into character development. There was also loads of commentary on corporate America. I came away from it feeling less pity for Kolchak than usual.
Killer ape
bkoganbing18 September 2017
One of the few times that I could have tolerated a description of apes being both violent and carnivorous is in this Kolchak story. In so many science fiction items apes are killers and aggressive. Actually they are vegetarians and shy though they fill to defend themselves.
But Darren McGavin is dealing with some cells that grew overnight into a killer ape. They were found at an Arctic oil drilling site and they came to grow when the cooling system at the lab in Chicago failed.
Once again McGavin is feuding with all, be it boss Simon Oakland or the police in the person of John Marley. He also is unusually ingenious and sneaky in his pursuit of the story.
It's the Kolchak I like to see.
But Darren McGavin is dealing with some cells that grew overnight into a killer ape. They were found at an Arctic oil drilling site and they came to grow when the cooling system at the lab in Chicago failed.
Once again McGavin is feuding with all, be it boss Simon Oakland or the police in the person of John Marley. He also is unusually ingenious and sneaky in his pursuit of the story.
It's the Kolchak I like to see.
Kolchak: "Primal Scream"
Wuchakk21 April 2018
PLOT: An oil-drilling company discovers ancient cells in the artic, which spontaneously multiply and give birth to an evolutionary ancestor, an ape-man, who's on the loose in Chicago and killing people.
COMMENTARY: As usual, this episode features a few familiar faces from the 70s: John Marley from "The Godfather" (the horsehead guy); Jamie Farr from M*A*S*H; Katherine Woodville from Star Trek's "For the World is Hollow and I have Touched the Sky"; statuesque redhead Barbara Rhoades in a cameo as a secretary; and black cutie Jeannie Bell in another cameo as a victim of the pre-Neanderthal.
The climax in the cave-like tunnels under the site of the old Chicago stadium is effectually creepy, but it's overly reminiscent of the close of "The Spanish Moss Murders." "Primal Scream" is no better or worse than any other Kolchak episode, generally speaking, but the formulaic plotting of the series is now patently stale and it sucks the life out of the proceedings.
COMMENTARY: As usual, this episode features a few familiar faces from the 70s: John Marley from "The Godfather" (the horsehead guy); Jamie Farr from M*A*S*H; Katherine Woodville from Star Trek's "For the World is Hollow and I have Touched the Sky"; statuesque redhead Barbara Rhoades in a cameo as a secretary; and black cutie Jeannie Bell in another cameo as a victim of the pre-Neanderthal.
The climax in the cave-like tunnels under the site of the old Chicago stadium is effectually creepy, but it's overly reminiscent of the close of "The Spanish Moss Murders." "Primal Scream" is no better or worse than any other Kolchak episode, generally speaking, but the formulaic plotting of the series is now patently stale and it sucks the life out of the proceedings.
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