I'm finally acquainted with Kolchak: The Night Stalker!

Any Night Stalker fans out there? As in Kolchak: The Night Stalker. I'm new to the TV series and movies, and I'm feeling like the last one to the Kolchak party. :)

A handful of you have recommended Kolchak: The Night Stalker to me. I tried to find the old show at the library, to no avail. I wanted to binge watch through it. So imagine my happiness to hear that a local TV station, MeTV had decided to show Kolchak this season! What great timing. So far, I've watched a couple episodes and the movie The Night Stalker. The library did have that! Actually, it was a double feature DVD, including The Night Stalker and The Night Strangler.

So far, the big difference between the TV series and the first movie is the seriousness. I found the TV episodes more funny and the movie very intense. Watching the movie made me see the connection everyone's been telling me about between Kolchak and The X-Files. The shows have in common a supernatural element, but also the very strong message that there are powers-that-be that want our characters to keep their mouths shut about all they discover.

OK, so briefly for those who aren't familiar with the Carl Kolchak character, he's played by Darren McGavin. In my mind Darren McGavin is Kolchak. No one else gets to play him, nope. It's just one of those times when an actor becomes the character they're portraying.

So, Kolchak is a reporter who somehow keeps finding his way into the middle of murder, mayhem, and the supernatural. He's a real go-getter. It seems the minute there's a murder or a car wreck, there's Kolchak snapping away with his camera and running his tape recorder. He's always first to the scene. There's something strange nowadays about seeing anyone who isn't the police just show up to a crime scene and take up-close pictures of a body without being told to stop. That doesn't happen now, does it? For that matter, was this happening in the 70s?

Kolchak is always making waves. He's the one speaking out at press conferences and whipping zingers at his cranky boss. Kolchak's boss could have been hanging out with Clark Kent's boss, Perry White. But then, they might have clawed each other's eyes out. I'm just saying he's in that same school of the constantly yelling, ready to explode, newspaper bosses you see in old TV shows and movies. He tries to hold Kolchak back, but no one is going to hold Kolchak back.

Cranky boss man

It's inspirational really, watching Kolchak bounce back from every encounter with someone who tells him to go away, keep quiet, come up with a different news report, etc. I was struck watching the Night Stalker movie with how current it felt. A lot of people are giving the news media a hard time today, and boy does Kolchak get a hard time. I thought the scariest thing in The Night Stalker wasn't the vampire, but the district attorney and sheriff who are trying to keep Kolchak from sharing the truth by any means necessary. Man, were those guys hatable.

I could understand the frustration of Kolchak's boss, though. He needed to take a deep breath, but still. He was up against this catch 22 of either telling the community that there's a vampire on the loose and causing mass chaos or possibly endangering them more by hiding the truth.

Look into my eyes...

So about that vampire... I'm not spoiling too much here. I think most viewers could put 2 + 2 together when there are blood drained bodies showing up. This vampire wasn't too scary. He was in that kind of Hammer school of the tall, silent guy who stands there with his red eyes. Except, he isn't intimidating like Christopher Lee. I really wasn't scared by the parts of the movie he was in. The scariest parts of this for me are when the women are walking alone at night down an alley, etc. Because that's scary for real. I didn't see this as much of a horror movie so much as social commentary.

As for the TV show, as I said before, it's a lot more funny. I can tell Darren McGavin is just having fun being himself there. I can tell that a lot of what we're seeing there is actually him. Here, I thought he'd made up his character in A Christmas Story! But now I see that as Kolchak or "The Old Man" in A Christmas Story, we're seeing an awful lot of the real deal. Speaking of A Christmas Story, it goes to show how many times I've seen it, that I could feel like Darren McGavin was cheating on his wife from that movie with his girlfriend in The Night Stalker. I found myself being irritated with him for having that girlfriend and then I remembered how often I'd seen him with his movie wife in A Christmas Story.

"You were jealous! Jealous I won!"

Remember that? And here he is messing with my mind as Kolchak with his new girlfriend:

He's looking miserable with both women, and they with him, in these photos, but that's all I could find.

As for the sequel movie, The Night Strangler, it's much like The Night Stalker. It give some closure to those who were left with an uneasy feeling after watching the first movie. A few pieces of the first plot are dealt with and some aren't. There's a new supernatural problem, that seems a lot like the vampire in the first movie, but not quite. You'll just have to see. Kolchak has a new girlfriend in this one and I've noticed there's a romantic interest in some of the TV episodes I've seen. So I'll just have to get over him not being married to Melinda Dillon from A Christmas Story.

Back to the TV show, so far my favorite episode of the four I've watched has been "The Spanish Moss Murders" which I'll share here:

And a link to the video: The Spanish Moss Murders

This episode had the most creative plot of those I've watched. It felt very X-Files in that way where it seemed almost realistic. Like, even though the thought of this creature is somewhat outlandish, it's presented in a way where you think "There may be something to this..." You know, the way The X-Files could make you feel like there was some scientific basis to something that you don't even believe in!

I like shows that make me feel like a wild scenario has some basis in reality. I like to feel that at least in a TV or movie environment, these things are possible. We've all seen those shows that leave you saying "They wouldn't say or do that!" What I'm trying to say is that there are unbelievable things happening in a very believable environment here, and I appreciate that.

So, for those of you who aren't familiar with Kolchak, I recommend getting a hold of one of his movies or checking out the old episodes of the TV show on MeTV. Although, I've started to feel like the last person on earth to find out about him. So, for all of you who are familiar with him already, go enjoy some reruns! If you get MeTV, the show is on Sunday evenings at 9:00 PM (Central Time).

And for all you Kolchak fans, MeTV put together some trivia about the show:

11 REASONS 'KOLCHAK: THE NIGHT STALKER' IS THE COOLEST, CREEPIEST SHOW ON 1970S TELEVISION 

Happy Halloween! Enjoy a few virtual treats!

Happy Halloween everyone! Here are some virtual treats for you. This is the candy mix the kids got yesterday when they came here trick-or-treating. I stored the candy in this little cauldron.

I normally have my pirate skull out there in the treat bowl, but this year she was acting as a witch and guarding the treats.

I was also dressed as a witch. I sat outside in my chair and waited for the kids to come by. It was a good night for wearing layers, because it was probably in the 50s out there. Trick-or-treating is now from 4:00 to 7:00 in the evening, which I think is a lot cooler than the old afternoon time slot.

I had fun with the witchy green eyeshadow.

So I sat out there, sampling the candy, listening to my spooky sound effects CD, and waiting for the kids.

I didn't have to wait too long. Based on how much candy was in the bag (90 pieces) I can see that about 90 kids showed up. (Give or take the candy I sampled) By the end, I was having to raid the Werther's Originals supply.

The kids were a riot this year! It's something new and crazy every year. Overall, the popular costumes were ninjas and sharks. I'm not sure with those shark costumes if the kids were sharks or if they were supposed to be inside a shark? Anyway, I was surprised to see so many of them.

By and away, my favorite costume was Bob Ross! This pack of boys came walking up to me and I could overhear this one saying "Oh, I have to fix my curls" as he was plumping this homemade wig made of what appeared to be cotton balls painted brown. And I'm thinking "Oh boy, what is this going to be? Napoleon Dynamite?" Well, he gets up to me and I see that he has a beard to match and a name tag that reads "Bob Ross". I got such a laugh and said "Oh! You're getting extra candy for that one!" and he deadpans in his best Bob Ross voice "I see many happy trees around here". That made my night.

Another funny kid was the one who was carrying a cauldron exactly like the one I was giving candy out of. He came up and said "Hey! We have the same one!" And I said "Yeah, Witch Power!" He says "I'm not a witch" Oh, OK. So I said "Sorry, I mean a Warlock" He said "Nope. I'm a Wizard!" I thought I finally had the right answer here. "Oh! You're Harry Potter" "Nope, I'm Ron" At this point I'd about had it and said something like "Meh, whatever" and the kid seemed really amused. I think the wand he was carrying was two pens duct taped together.

 

OK, one last story from Trick-or-Treat night. This kid slumps up to me with his friend in a costume that I couldn't quite figure out. It looked like some brown, furry mascot outfit from the neck down. The head was hanging limply in front of him. So I asked what he was and he flopped a bear head back on. The bear's hat sort drooped off his head. And he holds out his bag to get some treats, but the plastic bag handles are completely wound up and twisted. So I have to take it and unknot the thing for him to get the candy in there. And he says "Thanks, this has been happening all day. I can't do anything with these paws on." 

 

This was his level of bear energy

And in a low energy, burnt out way, totally fed up with his paws and flopping head, he stomps off. Well, a few seconds later, I hear "Oh no!" I look up and see that the back of that bear suit has split all the way down to the tail! Luckily, the kid had some clothes on under there. I was trying not to laugh or act like I saw that. I wonder how much of his costume was left by the time he got home! 

Other highlights were a kid in a half Hulk/half Batman outfit, a teenager in a Winnie the Pooh costume except for her face, which was painted as a skull, the very polite little ninja who said "I hope you have a fun time this evening" and the uncostumed adult woman who may or may not have been carrying a real baby. The jury is out on that last one. 

I had a very fun time last night and it occurred to me that I have as much fun handing out the candy as I did as a kid when I went out in search of it. 

Now I have a few treats for you guys! These two musical goodies are something I've been saving for Halloween night. Be sure and listen to this first one in the dark!

The House Beyond The Graveyard by Nox Arcana:

And this one is a collection of eerie and beautiful songs that make for perfect Halloween night music. This is a mood setter!

1 Hour of Dark Music:

And here are some fun quizzes for you to take! Some of you might also get the MeTV station. If not, it's a TV station that plays a lot of retro shows. They have an awesome newsletter filled with trivia and quizzes. Here are some I enjoyed:

Can you name the show by its Halloween decorations?

Which TV character should you be for Halloween?

This was super accurate for me:

We bet we can guess your favorite Halloween candy based on these questions.

And here's a little virtual pizza from tonight's dinner.

He's a happy Jack-o-Lantern pizza. :)

I hope you all had a fun Halloween! I'd like to hear some of your stories from Trick-or-Treat night. Tomorrow looks like it's going to be the day for our annual trip to Cedarburg! So expect some photos soon!

Well of Doom

Last night, I caught a few episodes of the old TV show Thiller. The shows were part of Sunday Night Noir on MeTV. If you get MeTV in your area, you can catch marathons of your favorite old crime and mystery shows each Sunday night. Thriller ran from 1960-1962 and was hosted by Boris Karloff. He really sets the scary-story-on-a-dark-and-stormy-night mood with his introductions to the stories.

My favorite of last night's episodes was titled "Well of Doom" and for good reason. A good reason I won't be sharing, because I don't want to give anything away. The basic skeleton of the plot is that a young man is kidnapped on the night before his wedding by a man claiming to be the devil and a giant named Styx.

The kidnapped man is played by Ronald Howard who you may or may not know from the 1950s Sherlock Holmes TV series. I loved him on that show and he was pretty good in this! Another Sherlock connection is the show's devilish villain played by Henry Daniell.

I knew I recognized him. He was Professor Moriarty in the Sherlock movie, The Woman in Green, that time with Basil Rathbone playing Sherlock.

You may recognize Styx the sidekick as a young Richard Kiel. You probably know him better as "Jaws" from The Spy Who Loved Me.

Here is the entire Well of Doom episode, which aired in 1961. I think many of you will like it. It's a little dark, and a real nail-biter near the end! Those of you who read my blog in email form can click here to watch the video. Videos don't seem to appear in the email form of my blog.



What did you think of that episode? I'd be curious to hear what you predicted was going on with our villain as you watched this. Did you think he was the devil, a ghost, or something else? I'd like to discuss the plot a bit in the comments, but I'm not going to write any more about it now. Otherwise I might spoil a few plot twists!

P.S. ~ I've ordered some supplies for one of the book projects I mentioned in my last blog post. I have a pretty clear idea of where it's going and can't wait to share the final result! As usually happens with me, I'm going in a different direction from the initial inspiration.