January 17, 1975
Written by: Bill S. Ballinger & David Chase
Directed by: Robert Scheerer
Guest Stars: Pat Harrington, John Marley, Jamie Farr, Katharine Woodville, Gary Baxley.
Another poor episode about a half man-half ape from the Ice Age. The story: Oil corporation brings back a frozen soil sample from the Arctic. Scientists on the team discover living cells in the sample, which appear to begin resproducing when thawed. Naturally, they accidentally thaw and an ape-man is born, who goes on a rampage killing people in a laughably unrealistic manner. This creature ranks just below the Sentry reptile as the chintziest of the series. Richard Kiel in a padded suit in poor lighting would've been much more effective than the relatively thin, unrealistic creature portrayed here by Gary Baxley. The episode does succeed on a comedic level with the dialogue and situational comedy. That seems to be David Chase's strength as a writer. Other than that, this one is one to avoid.
Grade: F
14. The Trevi Collection
January 24, 1975
Written by: Rudolph Borchert
Directed by: Don Weis
Guest Stars: Lara Parker, Nina Foch, Bernie Kopell, Priscilla Morell
Another excellent episode. This one deals with witchcraft and covens. Like Tom Skerrit in Devil's Platform, Lara Parker is a human using dark powers to get ahead in her career - high fashion modeling. This time they get it right.
In fact, this episode is right in every way. The scare scenes are quite effective - one exception being the death-by-cat scene which is a bit of a clunker. The story is strong, the acting is fine, there are actual surprising plot twists (the first since The Vampire), and the direction is top-notch. I've come to the conclusion that anything directed by Don Weis is well-done and can be highly recommended. He's the best this show ever employed. Note the clever and well-crafted mannequin scenes as just one small example. While there are many Kolchak fans that consider this episode poor, I consider it to be among the very best.
Grade: A
15. Chopper
January 31, 1975
Written by: David Chase, Steve Fisher, Bob Gale, and Robert Zemeckis
Directed by: Bruce Kessler
Guest Stars: Larry Linville, Sharon Farrell, Steve Boyum, Jay Robinson, Jim Backus
This episodes tends to be a favorite in the mind's of those that were children when they first saw this show. From a modern-day perspective, it is a humorous show with a really cool plot idea and a laughably bad "monster" - the headless motorcyclist. Again, Chase's contribution is obvious in this one - dark humor and good dialogue. As an episode of Kolchak The Night Stalker, it is merely mediocre. In fact, if you're looking for scares and suspense, it is actually below average. To each his own, I suppose. An fan favorite worth a look but not worthy of heavy praise.
Grade: D+
16. Demon In Lace
February 7, 1975
Written by: Stephen Lord, Michael Kozoll, and David Chase
Directed by: Don Weis
Guest Stars: Andrew Prine, Kennan Wynn, Kristina Holland, and Maria Venegas
An episode about a succubus (a female sex demon) that is killing young, handsome men on a college campus. Elsewhere on campus, an anthropological professor is trying to translate an ancient stone tablet uncovered in the Iraqi desert. It turns out that this tablet is guarded by the succubus and to destroy her, the tablet must be destroyed. The plot is a fairly good one, but it suffers from having only 50 minutes to iron out the details. This may have made a good two hour TV movie. As an episode of Kolchak, it is merely mediocre. Although I may put it at or near the bottom of a top ten list of favorite episodes. Again, Don Weis makes the most of what he has to work with - the episode is very well directed.
Grade: C
