Kolchak : The Night Stalker

Review by David Woodward

The character of Carl Kolchak first appeared in two highly rated made-for-TV movies that originally screened in 1972 and 1973.  The success of these movies prompted Universal Studios to spin off the character into a 1974 TV series which, although short-lived, gained cult status.

It is even said that the more recent X-Files TV series drew its inspiration from the Kolchak concept!

The TV series of Kolchak: The Night Stalker starred Darren McGavin as a Chicago news service reporter who had the unlikely habit of discovering gruesome murders each week which coincidentally had some macabre or supernatural background.

Kolchak’s interest in these unbelievable and unprovable happenings was matched by his habit of irritating the police and his boss.

As well as starring in the series, McGavin was also the (uncredited) co-producer and insisted on including quirky humour into his Kolchak character.  This was very evident in his verbal exchanges with his boss, editor Tony Vincenzo (played by Simon Oakland), as well as the narrations heard throughout each story.

Each episode, Kolchak dealt with a seemingly endless succession of police captains which was a clever way to feature guest stars such as Ken Lynch, James Gregory, Keenan Wynn (twice), John Dehner and Dwayne Hickman.  Other guest stars who appeared included Dick Van Patten, Larry Storch, Eric Braeden, Richard (“Jaws”) Kiel, Phil Silvers and Carolyn Jones (twice).

McGavin's wife, Kathie Browne, actually appeared in the final episode as the last of the police chiefs Kolchak had to deal with.  This last episode was a particularly weak one involving a crocodile-like creature that perhaps justified the end of the series.

Kolchak: The Night Stalker lasted less than one season, as McGavin shut down production 20 episodes into its scheduled 22-episode run - reportedly due to his unhappiness with the show turning into a Monster of the Week format.

In fact, ‘Monster of the Week’ isn’t a bad way to describe the storylines as each week Kolchak did battle with Jack the Ripper, zombies, vampires, aliens, werewolves, evil spirits, devil dogs, swamp monsters, robots, prehistoric creatures, witches, mummies and reptilian creatures.

The silliest episode (“Chopper”) involved a headless motorcyclist – despite the storyline being written by Robert (Back to the Future) Zemeckis!

DVD Special Features

The presentation of this boxset by Madman is first class.  Much of this quality is due to the Production Notes included in the package which are written by Grant Taylor, a researcher who has previously authored the impressive background material for TV series boxsets released by Umbrella (such as The Saint and The Baron).

In fact, the menu design for Kolchak is also similar to Umbrella releases - right down to the sound bites included in the episode headings!

This boxset of episodes from the Kolchak TV series could have benefited from the inclusion of the two made-for-TV movies that preceded it.  However, it is highly likely that this was not possible because of ownership issues as the series was made under different arrangements than the movies which original creator Jeff Rice had more control over.

Conclusion: Episodes 70% Extras: 80%