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| Unlikely monster fighter! News hound Carl Kolchak (Darren McGavin) in THE NIGHT STALKER. Images: UNIVERSAL PLAYBACK. |
Whilst intrepid and industrious investigative reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein were chasing a paranoid Richard Nixon and a lot of his corrupt cronies out of the Oval Office, another more fictitious, albeit no less determined and fiery reporter, was also chasing monsters of an altogether different and diverse kind within early seventies America. Enter grizzled, seedy looking, straw hat wearing Carl Kolchak, played with likable charm and tenacity by the late Darren McGavin-a much under-appreciated character actor who effortlessly played heroes with a heart and baddies with a grudge on the big and small screen. Originally created by author Jeff Rice, whose novel: THE KOLCHAK PAPERS, would prove a huge success in the horror/thriller genre, the tale was developed by TV producer/writer Dan Curtis in 1973 to become THE NIGHT STALKER, for UNIVERSAL/ABC TV, where, with its intriguingly blended plot of light comedy and horror, deftly directed by John Llewellyn Moxey, saw a much derided, Las Vegas-based hack journalist, Carl Kolchak, getting involved in the story of a lifetime, and placing himself in mortal danger, when he stalks and confronts a serial killer soon revealed to be one of the most cruel and vicious Vampires ever to have walked the face of the Earth (played with creepy relish by Barry Atwater), with our hero reporter having to use all of his skills and humanity to defeat it. Filmed on location in some of the less glamorous parts of Las Vegas, the THE NIGHT STALKER would swiftly become one of the biggest rated TV movies ever at that time in American small screen viewing history, and a second tale was quickly commissioned for the popular character- as well as another intriguing monster for him to confront- in an even better and more sophisticated tale a year later, once again from the pen of distinguished horror writer Richard Matheson, THE NIGHT STRANGLER, about a Jack the Ripper-esque, almost immortal creature that strikes from beneath the remains of the fictitious old-time Seattle to steal the vitality and youth from its victims, with a great guest supporting cast including THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN's Richard Anderson, Jo Ann Plug and John Carradine, opposite the return of second lead Simon Oakland as Kolchak's always aggravated, put upon boss and News Editor, Tony Vincenzo. The sequel was just as successful as its previous launch film and UNIVERSAL, keenly smelling the potential hit possibilities of a regular spin-off series, scrapped a planned third TV movie (THE NIGHT KILLERS, about android replicas) and soon initiated it into reality for the new 1974/75 programming, alongside careful creative support from the lead's own production company, FRANCY PRODUCTIONS, with star McGavin, worried that the series and lead character may become somewhat diluted and less sophisticatedly written, wanting to keep a strict quality control policy on what had become "his baby" with the emerging popularity of Kolchak as a character with audiences. The twenty episode series that followed, now re-located to Chicago, with Kolchak and Vincenzo now working at the INS freelance service, would ultimately begin with a mixed bag of storytelling (some tales being better developed than others) and its diverse range of creatures, but there would soon be some terrific episodes fighting their way into birth, with a lot of talented writers, directors and stars of the time involved in their making, which would be much admired over the years by horror genre fans and Cult TV audiences. Sadly losing major viewer interest in the monster of the week story-telling, and fighting against some tough competition on rival channels, ratings for KOLCHAK would eventually decline mid-way through its one and only season and, with a weary McGavin unhappy with the growing direction of the series, it was never renewed, but, despite such actor and cancellation woes, it had certainly made its mark with a generation of impressionable young viewers (including THE X-FILES creator Chris Carter, who has publicly stated that the whole idea of his show came about because of his love and admiration of the classic series-so much so that he even created a fun guest star character in his show especially for McGavin to appear in during the shows fifth and sixth seasons, as well as a different part in the spin-off, MILLENNIUM), with the TV movies in particular continuing to this day to be highly regarded entities in their own right. In the UK, the one and only series would get an almost part-time, throwaway filler airing on and off within the ITV schedules in the seventies and early eighties on late night ITV, but it wasn't until a much welcome and highly deserved, fully networked run on the UK's BBC 2 channel in the early nineties that it fully made its mark, and has since re-surfaced on DVD to continued popularity for the UNIVERSAL PLAYBACK run.
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| In pursuit of the truth, Kolchak often locked horns with his newsman boss, Tony Vincenzo (Simon Oakland). |
Atmospheric title sequence: Kolchak: The Night Stalker Intro - YouTube
SCREAM CHANNEL trailer: Kolchak the Night Stalker Promo on Scream - YouTube
and Kolchak The Night Stalker (Canadian tv promo) - YouTube
Now, nearly forty years on, the recent news has come in that quirky Hollywood mega-star Johnny Depp, currently in London to film the movie version of Dan Rice's other hit TV series-the Vampire soap opera DARK SHADOWS, alongside his good friend, director Tim Burton, has bought the rights to make KOLCHAK anew for the big screen (KOOL TV publicly ignores the awful, still-born 2005 TV series re-imagining from X-FILES writing veteran Frank Spotnitz-a true disaster of an idea, with actor Stuart Townsend woefully miscast in the lead role). With an already diverse range of eccentric but heroic characters, like the now iconic Captain Jack Sparrow in the incredibly popular and slickly made PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN movies, under his belt, Depp's eventual playing of Kolchak should prove to be another winning star vehicle, especially if the Hollywood script-writers manage to concoct a really good tale for him that mixes horror and comedy as well as its original TV movies did.
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| Yep, it's another one of those creepy, cob-webbed houses! |
Though in his fictional world Kolchak never quite managed to get the much desired proof of his battle with the super-natural so as to win a more successful career as a newsman, nor garner appreciation from his unknowing protectorate masses, the Cult TV populace watching behind the sofas enjoyed and appreciated his daring exploits, safe in the knowledge that, through his bravery and dedication, the world of horror and fantasy would be a lot better and safer with Carl as their first line of defence against the creatures of the dark side!
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| The DVD series release cover from UNIVERSAL PLAYBACK |
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