Tuesday, February 28, 2006

In Memory of Darren McGavin, We Present “The Kolchak Marathon”

I got the box set of the entire TV Series of “Kolchak – The Night Stalker” from Amazon for Christmas. It wouldn’t be watched for awhile yet, but I’ve “bumped it up” in honor of Mr. McGavin’s death. So here are some short comments on each episode, as I watched them.

The Ripper
     The video quality of these episodes is not as good as the movies I watched last night. Must have used cheaper cameras when shooting a TV series than when shooting a made for TV movie. Also, the episode, with credits, was 51:41. That leaves only 8 minutes for commercials. Wow, did they have it easy back in 1974! Compare that to an episode of, say Buffy the Vampire Slayer. 43 minutes max. Seventeen minutes of commercials. Twice what it was in ’74! No wonder everyone loves a TIVO!

Interesting story, this. And not written by someone great and famous like Matheson, as in the movies. Still, the eternal Ripper is a clever idea worthy of a remake today.

The Zombie
     Voodoo type, not Romero. Sewing the mouth shut once it’s full of salt that seems like a pretty good way to ensure that NO ONE WILL EVER DO IT! And funnier still, today while listening to Russ Martin, they were talking about ghosts and salt. Huh. Funny coincidence, ain’t it?

They Have Been, They Are, They Will Be…
     Boy, when this one started out, I had no idea what was going on. Then suddenly, it’s an Invisible Invader (UFO) story. Very novel.

The Vampire
     A female vampire, but a pretty weak story. Not anywhere near as good as the original movie.

The Werewolf
     Forbin! Well, actually, it’s Eric Braeden. But he’ll always be Dr. Charles Forbin. And what’s with the freeze frame on the death face? Have they been doing that all along? It’s in the opening credit, but I don’t remember it in the episodes before. Anywho, this episode is Werewolf on the Love Boat.

Firefall
     Spontaneous combustion? Doppleganger?  AHhh, am I good. I called this one before 15 minutes in. A bizarre little story.

And that’s all I could do in one night. But you know what? These stories are very good, and yet simple enough that they can be done cheaply and easily for TV. You almost never actually see anyone killed, the special affects are definitely NOT special (they’re not Dr Who bad, but still…), and they build atmosphere. I think that’s what everybody remembers about this show. Atmosphere. That’s why its stay’d with us. Anyone remember what last month’s CSI was about? I didn’t think so.