Carl Kolchak (the always marvelous Darren McGavin) goes to Los Angeles to interview an Indian guru, but once more finds himself neck deep in serious trouble when he discovers that vampiress Catherine Rawlins (devilishly seductive brunette stunner Suzanne Charny) is on the prowl as a hooker in the City of Angels. Of course, no one believes him so it's up to Kolchak to stop Rawlins on his own. Director Dan Weis, working from a smart and involving script by David Chase, relates the story at a fast pace, stages the attack scenes with considerable flair (a set piece with Rawlins beating up several beefy football players is especially rousing), further spices things up with a fine line in nicely sardonic humor (the dialogue frequently crackles with a fiercely barbed wit), and expertly milks the tense and thrilling climactic confrontation between Kolchak and Rawlins for all its worth. Kudos are also in order for the uniformly excellent acting by a top-rate cast: Simon Oakland as Kolchak's huffy superior Tony Vincenzo, William Daniels as the hard-nosed, no-nonsense Lt. Jack Metteo, Kathleen Nolan as chipper real estate agent Faye Kruger, Jan Murray as sleazy pimp Ichabod Grace, Larry Storch as jolly fellow reporter Jim Brytowski, Jack Ginnage as sniveling wimp Ron Updyke, and John Doucette as the irascible Deputy Sample. Both Ronald W. Browne's polished cinematography and Gil Melle's spirited shuddery score are up to par. A solid and satisfying show.
17 Reviews
Da Spider Spinnink Her Web For Kolchak, Da Unvary Fly.
rmax30482319 June 2016
In many ways this episode is an improvement over the full-length television movie that appeared two years earlier in 1972, although the monsters are the same -- vampires. For one thing, there is more of Simon Oakland as Kolchak's boss at the news service. Not much, but more. For another, and this may be a little difficult to grasp, the story is better structured. More thought has been woven into the script. I'll give one example of what I mean.
Kolchak is sent from Chicago to Los Angeles to interview a famous guru, similar to the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi that the Beatles were enthralled by. But the guy has flown the coop. Meanwhile Kolchak has picked up the scent of a local vampire. Still, in order to file his story about the interview and satisfy his boss, Kolchak visits the guru's now empty house, where a pretty real estate agent who majored in journalism tries to sell him the mansion. Kolchak recruits her. She will write stories about the guru under his name, while he pursues the vampire.
So far, so good. And so what? But here's what I mean by structure. The pretty agent works hard at putting the reports together, although Kolchak has to warn her against using "oft" and "nary" in a news report. Back in Chicago, Oakland gets the report and calls Kolchak. Yes, says Kolchak, I wrote it. Pretty good, eh? But no, it's not! shouts Oakland. It reads exactly like a REAL ESTATE AD. Three luscious bedrooms, an adobe gazebo, and so forth. It has nothing to do with the guru. And Kolchak is teetering on the brink of unemployment. One of the writers had to plant that joke, and to do it they had to take the context of the entire story into account. It isn't much, but it's evidence that some work had gone into the writing. It's the sort of thing that's completely lacking in the 1972 movie.
But then there is generally more humor sprinkled through the narrative, often no more than one liners. Kolchak makes a pest of himself with the police lieutenant (the splendid William Daniels) and when the lieutenant asks angrily what paper Kolchak works for, he answers blithely, "The Manchester Guardian", tips his hat and makes a hasty exit. Now known simply as "The Guardian," it's one of the most famous and respected newspapers in the world.
He passes himself off to a reluctant informant as an agent of the "I.N.S.", which sounds terrifying but only stands for International News Service. He arranges for a visit from a hooker he's identified as a vampire and when she enters his darkened hotel room, he suddenly switches on the light and lunges toward her, holding a big crucifix in front of him. But it's the wrong girl. She's startled and asks, "Okay, what's going on, Father." All of this is underplayed, not stressed.
I keep calling him "Kolchak" instead of "Darren McGavin" because it's hard not to. He inhabits the role, a hypermanic, stuttering Type A personality. He gets professional support from the other performers. The episode is fast and satisfying.
Kolchak is sent from Chicago to Los Angeles to interview a famous guru, similar to the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi that the Beatles were enthralled by. But the guy has flown the coop. Meanwhile Kolchak has picked up the scent of a local vampire. Still, in order to file his story about the interview and satisfy his boss, Kolchak visits the guru's now empty house, where a pretty real estate agent who majored in journalism tries to sell him the mansion. Kolchak recruits her. She will write stories about the guru under his name, while he pursues the vampire.
So far, so good. And so what? But here's what I mean by structure. The pretty agent works hard at putting the reports together, although Kolchak has to warn her against using "oft" and "nary" in a news report. Back in Chicago, Oakland gets the report and calls Kolchak. Yes, says Kolchak, I wrote it. Pretty good, eh? But no, it's not! shouts Oakland. It reads exactly like a REAL ESTATE AD. Three luscious bedrooms, an adobe gazebo, and so forth. It has nothing to do with the guru. And Kolchak is teetering on the brink of unemployment. One of the writers had to plant that joke, and to do it they had to take the context of the entire story into account. It isn't much, but it's evidence that some work had gone into the writing. It's the sort of thing that's completely lacking in the 1972 movie.
But then there is generally more humor sprinkled through the narrative, often no more than one liners. Kolchak makes a pest of himself with the police lieutenant (the splendid William Daniels) and when the lieutenant asks angrily what paper Kolchak works for, he answers blithely, "The Manchester Guardian", tips his hat and makes a hasty exit. Now known simply as "The Guardian," it's one of the most famous and respected newspapers in the world.
He passes himself off to a reluctant informant as an agent of the "I.N.S.", which sounds terrifying but only stands for International News Service. He arranges for a visit from a hooker he's identified as a vampire and when she enters his darkened hotel room, he suddenly switches on the light and lunges toward her, holding a big crucifix in front of him. But it's the wrong girl. She's startled and asks, "Okay, what's going on, Father." All of this is underplayed, not stressed.
I keep calling him "Kolchak" instead of "Darren McGavin" because it's hard not to. He inhabits the role, a hypermanic, stuttering Type A personality. He gets professional support from the other performers. The episode is fast and satisfying.
Return To Las Vegas
AaronCapenBanner10 November 2014
Carl Kolchak(Darren McGavin) returns to Las Vegas(the setting of his debut case in "The Night Stalker") to investigate a resurrected vampire, a female victim of original vampire Janos Skorzeny, who has gone back to her old job as female escort, but who also kills anyone she needs to for their blood, including a football player! Carl traces her to her lair, much to the chagrin of local police Lt. Jack Matteo(played by William Daniels). Best episode of the series is quite exciting and action-packed, with a most memorable climax with the fiery cross and a most amusing performance by William Daniels, whose astonishment of Kolchak is quite a sight to see.
Stalking A Vampiress
a_l_i_e_n1 June 2006
Warning: Spoilers
A woman changing a flat along a dark stretch of road is shocked to see a pair of clutching hands springing up out of the disturbed soil of a construction site. Emerging from that roadside grave is Catherine Rollins, victim of the vampire from the original "Night Stalker" made-for-TV-movie. Now herself a vampire, Catherine (played most effectively by Suzanne Charney) makes her way to Los Angeles and promptly starts biting necks. Of course you can't have murders in which victims are drained of blood without attracting the attention of reporter Carl Kolchak who, under the pretense of interviewing a celebrity guru, heads for California. Of course upon arriving, he shucks the guru assignment and sets about looking into the murders.
Once again running afoul of the law, Kolchak this time annoys the chief of investigations, Lt. Mateo (played to ticked-off perfection by William Daniels of "St. Elsewhere" fame). Kolchak and Mateo's squabbling scenes are very amusing to watch and Daniels is the best there is at playing straight-laced, conservative characters busting at the seams with outrage.
Like the vampire in the original "Night Stalker" movie, Catherine never utters a word, but instead tends to hiss like some vicious, feral beast. A particularly clever touch in the script is the idea of Catherine working as a prostitute. A perfect nighttime profession for a vampire that makes it easier for her to find fresh victims. When a local pimp (Jan Murray) hires her for his stable, Kolchak's voice-over narration includes the line, "in his parlance what he'd just hired was known as a fox. What he couldn't know is what he'd actually acquired had far more in common with the bat."
In one especially ferocious scene, a group of pro-football players interrupt Catherine as she feeds on one of their chums. Caught red-fanged, she then attacks the group of men in an impressive display of stunt work, tossing one guy over an open fire place while two others are hurled through patio windows. Kolchak shows up just in time to witness the carnage, and repels the vampiress using fire pokers to form a makeshift cross.
On the humour side, this one is right on the mark, too as in the scenes of Carl's "staticcy" phone calls to an annoyed Vicenzo who demands to know how the guru assignment is going. Particularly funny is the scene where Vincenzo has figured out the static is coming from a Norelco Carl is deliberately holding too close to the phone.
Vincenzo: "When I got up today, Kolchak, you were alive. But then I started shaving and the whole world ended for you!"
In another great scene, Carl attempts to meet up with Catherine by arranging for a "date" through her pimp. When a woman arrives at his hotel room, Carl slams the door behind her and holds up a cross to her face. The hooker (who is not Catherine) looks at Carl with shock and puzzlement and asks, "Okay, which freako scene is this from?" Realizing it's the wrong girl a confused Carl says, "You're not Catherine Rawlins" to which the hooker replies, "You're not Marcello Mastrianni but you don't hear me crying about it."
The story leads up to a very creepy climax with Carl locating the vampire's house (after sunset, of course). Stumbling about in the dark, he conducts a tension-mounting search of the grounds, eventually coming across a large crate- possibly used as a coffin- but finds nothing inside. Then, just as he is about to enter the house, Catherine appears with fangs bared. Carl leads her on a desperate foot race up a nearby hill. Next, in one of the most impressive scenes in the entire series, Carl sets ablaze a monument at the summit of the hill, a large wooden cross. He'd also soaked the area around it with gas creating a wall of fire which prevents Catherine from escaping. Rendered powerless by the huge blazing sign of the cross, Carl moves in and pounds a stake into the vampire's heart before a speechless Lt. Mateo.
In the closing scene we learn Carl was released from police custody after the results of Catherine's autopsy indicated her body's condition was consistent with that of someone who'd been dead for 3 years. It's a clever legal loophole for Kolchak, (how can you hold someone for murder when the victim was apparently already dead?) and a nifty tie-up to this well written, funny and very scary episode.
Once again running afoul of the law, Kolchak this time annoys the chief of investigations, Lt. Mateo (played to ticked-off perfection by William Daniels of "St. Elsewhere" fame). Kolchak and Mateo's squabbling scenes are very amusing to watch and Daniels is the best there is at playing straight-laced, conservative characters busting at the seams with outrage.
Like the vampire in the original "Night Stalker" movie, Catherine never utters a word, but instead tends to hiss like some vicious, feral beast. A particularly clever touch in the script is the idea of Catherine working as a prostitute. A perfect nighttime profession for a vampire that makes it easier for her to find fresh victims. When a local pimp (Jan Murray) hires her for his stable, Kolchak's voice-over narration includes the line, "in his parlance what he'd just hired was known as a fox. What he couldn't know is what he'd actually acquired had far more in common with the bat."
In one especially ferocious scene, a group of pro-football players interrupt Catherine as she feeds on one of their chums. Caught red-fanged, she then attacks the group of men in an impressive display of stunt work, tossing one guy over an open fire place while two others are hurled through patio windows. Kolchak shows up just in time to witness the carnage, and repels the vampiress using fire pokers to form a makeshift cross.
On the humour side, this one is right on the mark, too as in the scenes of Carl's "staticcy" phone calls to an annoyed Vicenzo who demands to know how the guru assignment is going. Particularly funny is the scene where Vincenzo has figured out the static is coming from a Norelco Carl is deliberately holding too close to the phone.
Vincenzo: "When I got up today, Kolchak, you were alive. But then I started shaving and the whole world ended for you!"
In another great scene, Carl attempts to meet up with Catherine by arranging for a "date" through her pimp. When a woman arrives at his hotel room, Carl slams the door behind her and holds up a cross to her face. The hooker (who is not Catherine) looks at Carl with shock and puzzlement and asks, "Okay, which freako scene is this from?" Realizing it's the wrong girl a confused Carl says, "You're not Catherine Rawlins" to which the hooker replies, "You're not Marcello Mastrianni but you don't hear me crying about it."
The story leads up to a very creepy climax with Carl locating the vampire's house (after sunset, of course). Stumbling about in the dark, he conducts a tension-mounting search of the grounds, eventually coming across a large crate- possibly used as a coffin- but finds nothing inside. Then, just as he is about to enter the house, Catherine appears with fangs bared. Carl leads her on a desperate foot race up a nearby hill. Next, in one of the most impressive scenes in the entire series, Carl sets ablaze a monument at the summit of the hill, a large wooden cross. He'd also soaked the area around it with gas creating a wall of fire which prevents Catherine from escaping. Rendered powerless by the huge blazing sign of the cross, Carl moves in and pounds a stake into the vampire's heart before a speechless Lt. Mateo.
In the closing scene we learn Carl was released from police custody after the results of Catherine's autopsy indicated her body's condition was consistent with that of someone who'd been dead for 3 years. It's a clever legal loophole for Kolchak, (how can you hold someone for murder when the victim was apparently already dead?) and a nifty tie-up to this well written, funny and very scary episode.
Episode with a Message?
P_Cornelius16 October 2008
Warning: Spoilers
Woodward and Bernstein never did as good a job at revealing the dark secrets and hypocrisy of the political elite as Carl does in stripping the hypocrisy off the face of Hollywood in this episode. For "The Vampire" actually serves up a "message". The gritty, what you see is what you get Carl Kolchak is the only person in a town of charlatans, whores, and exploiters who can see beyond his own self interest and identify the threat to everyone. And the threat is? Namely, a Hollywood industry that values mere surface appeal, which has underneath it a grotesque appetite for sucking out the very essence of what makes life worth living in the first place. Beneath the "six layers of cosmetic skin cake" thrives something you really don't want to see in your living room at night. That's what Catherine Rawlins really is.
One of the very best episodes in this series.
One of the very best episodes in this series.
Another very watchable episode.
Hey_Sweden30 June 2012
Warning: Spoilers
We can always rely on good old Carl Kolchak to stubbornly pursue the strange stories even when under orders to pursue something decidedly more mundane. Such is the case here when Carl is sent to Los Angeles to interview a precocious young guru and instead becomes intrigued by a series of killings involving the draining of blood, first told to him by an old acquaintance named "Swede" (guest star Larry Storch). Kolchak is once again quick to jump to the most extravagant conclusion, and of course he's right: the culprit is a sexy young female vampire unearthed from her slumber by a road crew outside Las Vegas.
Among Kolchaks' latest shenanigans are his pestering an angry L.A. police lieutenant (William Daniels) and his recruitment of real estate agent Faye Kruger (Kathleen Nolan) as a partner in reporting. (Kolchak's sneakily using her to submit the stories about the guru.) This episode adheres to the formula of the series in delivering a series of both shocks and laughs. Suzanne Charney plays the villain, Catherine Rawlins, and she's no Lugosi type dapper, charming character but a feral monster, not talking but hissing.
The sequence in which Kolchak investigates her remote lair contains some good suspense, and there's also some good action: when Catherine attempts to prey on a football player, and his buddies / teammates show up, the stunts are impressive as the jocks get thrown about. And the laughs are as solid as we can expect. Kolchak tries to throw off his editor Tony Vincenzo (Simon Oakland, who gets to be *really* exasperated here) by faking "static" during phone calls with his electric razor. It's also fun when Kolchak tries to arrange a meeting with Catherine (she works as a prostitute) and gets a different woman, who bluntly tells him he's no Marcello Mastroianni.
The change of setting also works for the episode and allows Kolchak to pass comment on the nature of L.A. And Kolchak shows some ingenuity in the end when it comes to dispatching his unearthly foe; there's some good imagery there.
Overall, an engaging episode and a definite improvement over the previous one with the invisible aliens.
Eight out of 10.
Among Kolchaks' latest shenanigans are his pestering an angry L.A. police lieutenant (William Daniels) and his recruitment of real estate agent Faye Kruger (Kathleen Nolan) as a partner in reporting. (Kolchak's sneakily using her to submit the stories about the guru.) This episode adheres to the formula of the series in delivering a series of both shocks and laughs. Suzanne Charney plays the villain, Catherine Rawlins, and she's no Lugosi type dapper, charming character but a feral monster, not talking but hissing.
The sequence in which Kolchak investigates her remote lair contains some good suspense, and there's also some good action: when Catherine attempts to prey on a football player, and his buddies / teammates show up, the stunts are impressive as the jocks get thrown about. And the laughs are as solid as we can expect. Kolchak tries to throw off his editor Tony Vincenzo (Simon Oakland, who gets to be *really* exasperated here) by faking "static" during phone calls with his electric razor. It's also fun when Kolchak tries to arrange a meeting with Catherine (she works as a prostitute) and gets a different woman, who bluntly tells him he's no Marcello Mastroianni.
The change of setting also works for the episode and allows Kolchak to pass comment on the nature of L.A. And Kolchak shows some ingenuity in the end when it comes to dispatching his unearthly foe; there's some good imagery there.
Overall, an engaging episode and a definite improvement over the previous one with the invisible aliens.
Eight out of 10.
One of the two best episodes
bamatommy20 May 2008
The two best episodes of "Kolchak: The Night Stalker" are this one, and "The Ripper", about THE Jack the Ripper.
Some of the other episodes in the series weren't very good, like the one where aliens are sucking the bone marrow out of animals.
If you rent the first DVD in the series, it has "The Ripper " and "The Vampire" on it. You can rent the other DVD's, but none of them will be as good as the first.
I'm not sure why the episodes went down hill as the show went on, but they definitely did.
Kolchak was a real smart aleck, and it's easy to see why people in positions of authority would despise him. He was arrogant and abrasive, a real know-it-all. He would have been fired after every episode, if somebody in real life did the kind of things he did.
But he had an uncanny knack for cutting through the bull crap and figuring out what was REALLY going on. And that's the main reason why the police and other authorities didn't like him---he would poke holes in their phony explanations, and rub their nose in it. He intensely enjoyed showing them up.
But they always had it coming to them. The cops were always trying to cover their behinds, or protect some secret. But Kolchak tried to tell the truth, for the greater good of society.
Some of the other episodes in the series weren't very good, like the one where aliens are sucking the bone marrow out of animals.
If you rent the first DVD in the series, it has "The Ripper " and "The Vampire" on it. You can rent the other DVD's, but none of them will be as good as the first.
I'm not sure why the episodes went down hill as the show went on, but they definitely did.
Kolchak was a real smart aleck, and it's easy to see why people in positions of authority would despise him. He was arrogant and abrasive, a real know-it-all. He would have been fired after every episode, if somebody in real life did the kind of things he did.
But he had an uncanny knack for cutting through the bull crap and figuring out what was REALLY going on. And that's the main reason why the police and other authorities didn't like him---he would poke holes in their phony explanations, and rub their nose in it. He intensely enjoyed showing them up.
But they always had it coming to them. The cops were always trying to cover their behinds, or protect some secret. But Kolchak tried to tell the truth, for the greater good of society.
The First "Night Stalker" with Real Teeth
darryl-tahirali8 April 2022
The fourth time's the charm for dogged crime reporter Carl Kolchak, who can't seem to shake the supernatural in pursuit of his stories, only to be left wanting in his attempt to convince his long-suffering editor Tony Vincenzo that the bogeyman really is real.
This time Kolchak comes up against a Hollywood vampire, not a denizen of Alice Cooper's celebrated 1970s drinking club that later informed the name of Cooper's rock supergroup, but an actual bite-the-neck bloodsucker as "Kolchak: The Night Stalker" finally hits its stride with a compelling story, juicy humor you can sink your teeth into, and, for the first time, a third act that is genuinely scary--and that you can actually see happening.
"The Vampire" did have to dip back into "The Night Stalker," the highly successful 1972 television movie that brought Kolchak and Las Vegas vampire Janos Skorzeny together, for inspiration. This time, it's one of Skorzeny's victims, buried outside Sin City, who is resurrected by a stranded motorist's inadvertent spilling of blood and makes her way to Los Angeles, snacking on victims en route in this tidy tale by Bill Stratton that was smartly scripted by series story consultant David Chase.
Tipped to the mysterious deaths by old Vegas colleague Swede Brytoski (Larry Storch), Carl is able to ace out fellow reporter Ron Updyke for Tony's assignment to cover the wedding of celebrity yogi Amerta Mera in Los Angeles. Once there, and having missed the matrimonial-minded maharishi because he was investigating disturbing findings in Barstow, he enlists Faye Kruger (Kathleen Nolan), Mera's realtor who just happens to be a former reporter herself, to write the groovy guru's nuptials piece while he pursues the vampire.
First, though, he spars with LAPD's Lieutenant Jack Matteo (William Daniels), erudite and exasperated while having to parry with reporters at the scene of two murders committed by the vampire--only Matteo claims that two Satanists already in custody are responsible for the corpses that have been drained of blood. That won't be Kolchak's only encounter with Matteo as Daniels delivers the first memorable performance of a "Night Stalker" set-piece: the police investigator with whom Kolchak invariably tangles as Daniels and Darren McGavin sparkle in their scenes together.
But as Kolchak pieces together the identity of the vampire, Catherine Rawlins (Suzanne Charny), moonlighting as a call-girl for "sugar mac" Ichabod Grace (Jan Murray), he must also fend off, by telephone, Tony, who is none too happy to read his piece, written by Faye, that's more suited to "Better Homes and Gardens" in some hilarious exchanges as McGavin and Simon Oakland solidify their antagonistic bond.
With no dialog, only beastly, guttural hissing, Charny indeed seems supernatural as her Catherine throws football players around like tackling dummies in a frightening kinetic pantomime. That leads to the scorching nighttime finale, staged suspensefully and evocatively by director Don Weis, in which this horror series maximizes its limited resources to stunning effect, the first "Night Stalker" episode with real teeth, although you do have to wonder: Would a vampire choose to live adjacent to a hill topped by a giant cross?
This time Kolchak comes up against a Hollywood vampire, not a denizen of Alice Cooper's celebrated 1970s drinking club that later informed the name of Cooper's rock supergroup, but an actual bite-the-neck bloodsucker as "Kolchak: The Night Stalker" finally hits its stride with a compelling story, juicy humor you can sink your teeth into, and, for the first time, a third act that is genuinely scary--and that you can actually see happening.
"The Vampire" did have to dip back into "The Night Stalker," the highly successful 1972 television movie that brought Kolchak and Las Vegas vampire Janos Skorzeny together, for inspiration. This time, it's one of Skorzeny's victims, buried outside Sin City, who is resurrected by a stranded motorist's inadvertent spilling of blood and makes her way to Los Angeles, snacking on victims en route in this tidy tale by Bill Stratton that was smartly scripted by series story consultant David Chase.
Tipped to the mysterious deaths by old Vegas colleague Swede Brytoski (Larry Storch), Carl is able to ace out fellow reporter Ron Updyke for Tony's assignment to cover the wedding of celebrity yogi Amerta Mera in Los Angeles. Once there, and having missed the matrimonial-minded maharishi because he was investigating disturbing findings in Barstow, he enlists Faye Kruger (Kathleen Nolan), Mera's realtor who just happens to be a former reporter herself, to write the groovy guru's nuptials piece while he pursues the vampire.
First, though, he spars with LAPD's Lieutenant Jack Matteo (William Daniels), erudite and exasperated while having to parry with reporters at the scene of two murders committed by the vampire--only Matteo claims that two Satanists already in custody are responsible for the corpses that have been drained of blood. That won't be Kolchak's only encounter with Matteo as Daniels delivers the first memorable performance of a "Night Stalker" set-piece: the police investigator with whom Kolchak invariably tangles as Daniels and Darren McGavin sparkle in their scenes together.
But as Kolchak pieces together the identity of the vampire, Catherine Rawlins (Suzanne Charny), moonlighting as a call-girl for "sugar mac" Ichabod Grace (Jan Murray), he must also fend off, by telephone, Tony, who is none too happy to read his piece, written by Faye, that's more suited to "Better Homes and Gardens" in some hilarious exchanges as McGavin and Simon Oakland solidify their antagonistic bond.
With no dialog, only beastly, guttural hissing, Charny indeed seems supernatural as her Catherine throws football players around like tackling dummies in a frightening kinetic pantomime. That leads to the scorching nighttime finale, staged suspensefully and evocatively by director Don Weis, in which this horror series maximizes its limited resources to stunning effect, the first "Night Stalker" episode with real teeth, although you do have to wonder: Would a vampire choose to live adjacent to a hill topped by a giant cross?
A vampire hooker!
planktonrules27 October 2013
Episode 4, "The Vampire" is a bit of a reworking from the first pilot movie for the yet unsold series "The Night Stalker". Like this pilot movie, much of the show is set in the Las Vegas area.
Kolchak picks up a lead on some murders that seem almost like what you'd expect from a vampire! However, he knows Vincenzo won't send him off to Vegas to investigate so he manipulates his boss into sending him to Los Angeles to cover the the upcoming wedding of some guru! Now where the film goes next sure sounds like the plot to a porno film, as Kolchak's investigation leads him to believe that there is a vampire-hooker who drains her clients! As I said, this sure sounds like porno, and I am pretty sure there are some films with similar themes! Regardless, as usual, cops not only don't believe him but actively get in the way of Kolchak's investigations. And so, as usual, he's forced to deal with the monster himself.
If you are looking for original, this episode has very little that varies from the usual "Kolchak" formula. Still, it's mildly interesting and his way to rid the world of this vampire is unique!
Kolchak picks up a lead on some murders that seem almost like what you'd expect from a vampire! However, he knows Vincenzo won't send him off to Vegas to investigate so he manipulates his boss into sending him to Los Angeles to cover the the upcoming wedding of some guru! Now where the film goes next sure sounds like the plot to a porno film, as Kolchak's investigation leads him to believe that there is a vampire-hooker who drains her clients! As I said, this sure sounds like porno, and I am pretty sure there are some films with similar themes! Regardless, as usual, cops not only don't believe him but actively get in the way of Kolchak's investigations. And so, as usual, he's forced to deal with the monster himself.
If you are looking for original, this episode has very little that varies from the usual "Kolchak" formula. Still, it's mildly interesting and his way to rid the world of this vampire is unique!
The Vampire
Scarecrow-8819 June 2012
Warning: Spoilers
Kolchak receives an assignment to interview a popular guru in Los Angeles, but the reason he really wants to go is to find out who (or, better put, what) is behind a string of possible connected murders involving victims being drained of blood. He learns that attacks in Erie and Barstow, including where they originated from, Las Vegas (a television news anchor, collecting a debt from Kolchak tells him about the murders in his city), were strangely *vampiric* in nature. So Kolchak, as he always does, goes to LA in search of a vampire, driving another police captain (this one, Lt. Jack Matteo played by the voice of Kitt himself, William Daniels, also known to many on shows like St. Elsewhere and Boy Meets World) crazy, hunting throughout the city for clues regarding its whereabouts. Let's just say his piece on the guru falls to the wayside in favor of a story he may never even get to publish back home in the Windy City. After a rather dissatisfied experience with the previous episode involving invisible aliens, this episode of Kolchak: The Night Stalker really is why I dig the show. While conventions in vampirism on screen are here (use of a stake to the heart, the sign of the cross repelling a bloodsucker, blood extracted from living humans used to satiate and survive), the scene at the end with the burning cross monument is quite a memorable image and his methods behind trying to use a real estate agent (Kathleen Nolan, with a warm smile and lots of charm, as expected if you are to sell condos against so many competitors in the city) to write the piece on the guru due to her many conversations with him, add a ton of fun value to the proceedings. A change of locale, Hollywood, is also a nice alternative to the show's main setting in Chicago, and, typical of the character, Kolchak wears out his welcome anytime he's around the police or in the middle of the investigation. The best scenes, for my money, are when Kolchak often tries and fails to convince Matteo that the killer behind the murders plaguing his city (including a cool attack where the vampire tosses around football players for the LA Rams!) is a vampire. Matteo, obviously, is irritated and annoyed by Kolchak's persistence
persistence that could rid his city of a predatory menace. Simon Oakland's always-on-the-verge-of-a-nervous-breakdown editor has hit patience put to the test once again really threatening to fire Kolchak this time if he doesn't get the guru story and stop interfering/impeding on an investigation.
Kolchak: "The Vampire"
Wuchakk17 April 2018
Warning: Spoilers
PLOT: On assignment in Los Angeles to interview an Indian guru (a la Maharishi Mahesh), Kolchak instead focuses his attention on tracking down a venomous female vampire (Suzanne Charny), a former call girl, who now uses the profession to acquire victims.
COMMENTARY: This episode has ties to the debut movie, "The Night Stalker" (1972), with the vampiress somehow surviving from the line of Janos Skorzeny. Interestingly, she has no lines, just a malevolent hiss. Kathleen Nolan has a meaty role as a real estate agent hoodwinked into ghost writing for Kolchak. I like the change of setting to Los Angeles and the fiery climax on the hill of the Hollywood Cross.
COMMENTARY: This episode has ties to the debut movie, "The Night Stalker" (1972), with the vampiress somehow surviving from the line of Janos Skorzeny. Interestingly, she has no lines, just a malevolent hiss. Kathleen Nolan has a meaty role as a real estate agent hoodwinked into ghost writing for Kolchak. I like the change of setting to Los Angeles and the fiery climax on the hill of the Hollywood Cross.
Excellent Kolchak episode.
preppy-317 April 2022
Carl Kolchak (Darren McGavin) tracks down a female vampire (Suzanne Charny). I saw this when it originally aired back in 1974. I was only 12 and I remember it scaring me silly! Seeing it now almost 50 years later it doesn't scare me as much as it used to but it still works. It moves quickly, has a nice tight script with some very funny bits and some great vampire attack scenes. My favorite has got to be when she kills a bunch of football players who interrupt her while she's feeding. The acting is great by everybody but especially by McGavin and Charny. BTW Charny doesn't have a word of dialogue in this but when she hisses at her victims she's terrifying! I've seen all the Kolchak episodes and this is easily my favorite!
Reporter Versus The Vampire
gavin69429 April 2015
Carl (Darren McGavin) is determined to kill a beautiful, but extremely vicious, female vampire unknowingly unearthed by a road construction crew.
After Jack the Ripper and aliens, it is only natural that sooner or later Kolchak would come up against a vampire. Possibly for the second time if you count the movie. But either way, this time it is a female vampire, which really calls to mind some of the finer films from Hammer Studios.
This is one of the stronger episodes, though it does have one problem (in my opinion): it strays too far from Chicago. For me, Kolchak and Chicago go hand in hand, and it is great when we can get some authentic Midwest backgrounds. But that is just my bias.
After Jack the Ripper and aliens, it is only natural that sooner or later Kolchak would come up against a vampire. Possibly for the second time if you count the movie. But either way, this time it is a female vampire, which really calls to mind some of the finer films from Hammer Studios.
This is one of the stronger episodes, though it does have one problem (in my opinion): it strays too far from Chicago. For me, Kolchak and Chicago go hand in hand, and it is great when we can get some authentic Midwest backgrounds. But that is just my bias.
Vampire hunter
bkoganbing13 September 2017
Darren McGavin gets an assignment from Simon Oakland to fly to Las Vegas to interview some Hindu guru who had a bit of a vogue at the time when the Beatles had one as a consultant. Ravi Shankar and his music were also popular at the time.
Instead he gets sidetracked with a vampire story, one who's killing her way to Los Angeles from Las Vegas. Kolchak wants to not just get the story, he wants to kill her permanently and by now he's read up enough on the occult to do it.
If he can avoid police interference like John Doucette as a redneck sheriff's deputy or William Daniels as an LA police captain. He has a way of rubbing law enforcement the wrong way, especially when they're covering up.
You'll have to see how he does it because I won't tell.
Instead he gets sidetracked with a vampire story, one who's killing her way to Los Angeles from Las Vegas. Kolchak wants to not just get the story, he wants to kill her permanently and by now he's read up enough on the occult to do it.
If he can avoid police interference like John Doucette as a redneck sheriff's deputy or William Daniels as an LA police captain. He has a way of rubbing law enforcement the wrong way, especially when they're covering up.
You'll have to see how he does it because I won't tell.
Suzanne Charny As ... Catherine Rawlins
DKosty12319 June 2017
Warning: Spoilers
A really hot brunette Suzanne Charny as Catherine Rawlins, Vampiress extraordinary. Item- this blood sucking woman seems impossible to stop, though this reporter will manage to do it. The thing that is why is it that when this actress got into her 40's, in 1986 to be exact, why did she stop doing any roles? Was it that dreadful last Detective Film, Hollywood Harry that killed her career?
There is a rumor that just perhaps, this professional dancer really turned into a Vampire. This would not be discounted on this show. She is basically jumping men and women draining their blood. Kolchak gets after her while the police arrest 2 people who have little to do with her victims and keep trying to cover up what is really happening.
As the Red Cross starts getting bled dry, Kolchak stalks her down. Meanwhile, his editor wants another story covered so suddenly Kolchak finds a woman to write stuff to cover his being to busy to write his own material. That keeps the night stalkers blood running as he faces down Catherine in the finale.
As usual, it all gets covered up in the era of fake media of the early 1970's, when the world was a calmer place.
There is a rumor that just perhaps, this professional dancer really turned into a Vampire. This would not be discounted on this show. She is basically jumping men and women draining their blood. Kolchak gets after her while the police arrest 2 people who have little to do with her victims and keep trying to cover up what is really happening.
As the Red Cross starts getting bled dry, Kolchak stalks her down. Meanwhile, his editor wants another story covered so suddenly Kolchak finds a woman to write stuff to cover his being to busy to write his own material. That keeps the night stalkers blood running as he faces down Catherine in the finale.
As usual, it all gets covered up in the era of fake media of the early 1970's, when the world was a calmer place.
Now the next...... a female Vampire!!
elo-equipamentos22 January 2018
Kolchak goes back to faces another Vampire, but this time a female hungry for blood, she works as hooker in Las Vegas area, kolchak wised has a propper way to be chosen by your louder boss when he suggest to him your fellow work, so he is imediatelly appointed to assignment, then there after much trouble (he brings quite often) he finds a woman to write for him, while he collects some info about the Vampire, amuzing episode of our hampered hero!!!
Resume:
First watch: 2018 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 7
Resume:
First watch: 2018 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 7
The Vampire
BandSAboutMovies13 July 2023
Warning: Spoilers
Directed by Don Weis (who did tons of TV work, like 22 episodes of Fantasy Island, 16 episodes of M*A*S*H* and 57 episodes of Ironside) and written by David Chase (The Sopranos) and Bill Stratton, "Vampire" brings Carl Kolchak to Los Angeles to interview a transcendental New Age leader, but the real reason he's left Chicago is that his old friend James "Swede" Brightowsky (Larry Storch) tells him that there's been a new series of vampire-like murders in Las Vegas.
Catherine Rawlins (Suanne Charny) was once a Las Vegas showgirl before being turned by Janos Skorzeny, the vampire from the original film that started it all, The Night Stalker. In her time of being a vampire, she's learned how to handle even gigantic men and is now hiding out in the Hollywood hills, seeking victims when the night falls.
So while real estate agent Fay Krueger (Kathleen Nolan) does the interview Carl is in Los Angeles for, he starts investigating, drawing the ire of the police, as always. Lt. Mateo (William Daniels, the voice of K. I. T. T.) dislikes Kolchak instantly, as our reporter hero tells him that the killings are all the doings of a vampire.
This episode was originally written to have Kolchak come to New York City when he heard that Skorzeny was still alive. The idea that there could be more of his conquests living in Las Vegas is a much better one and Charny plays a frightening vampire, defeated by Carl when he burns a cross in her front yard and stakes her through the heart.
Carl gets arrested, but it doesn't stick. He explains why: "They booked me for murder just like I thought they would, but then after 12 hours they let me go. They never said did say why, but while I was sitting in Lt. Matteo's office waiting for execution. I happen to see a coroner's report on Catherine Rawlins. I quote the coroner "The tissue structure of the individual appeared to be that of a female, species human, who had been dead at least three years. This is a medical conundrum for which I have no explanation". Three years!"
Catherine Rawlins (Suanne Charny) was once a Las Vegas showgirl before being turned by Janos Skorzeny, the vampire from the original film that started it all, The Night Stalker. In her time of being a vampire, she's learned how to handle even gigantic men and is now hiding out in the Hollywood hills, seeking victims when the night falls.
So while real estate agent Fay Krueger (Kathleen Nolan) does the interview Carl is in Los Angeles for, he starts investigating, drawing the ire of the police, as always. Lt. Mateo (William Daniels, the voice of K. I. T. T.) dislikes Kolchak instantly, as our reporter hero tells him that the killings are all the doings of a vampire.
This episode was originally written to have Kolchak come to New York City when he heard that Skorzeny was still alive. The idea that there could be more of his conquests living in Las Vegas is a much better one and Charny plays a frightening vampire, defeated by Carl when he burns a cross in her front yard and stakes her through the heart.
Carl gets arrested, but it doesn't stick. He explains why: "They booked me for murder just like I thought they would, but then after 12 hours they let me go. They never said did say why, but while I was sitting in Lt. Matteo's office waiting for execution. I happen to see a coroner's report on Catherine Rawlins. I quote the coroner "The tissue structure of the individual appeared to be that of a female, species human, who had been dead at least three years. This is a medical conundrum for which I have no explanation". Three years!"
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