Any Fans Of "Kolckak:The Nightstalker" Here??

[Scatter]

Honestly, reading this thread. Of course I had heard of the movies/series, always seemed to miss on TV though (back then there was no On Demand). I do remember seeing a picture of Kolchack holding the silver crucifix and when I saw it in the movie it was a cool moment.

Overall, being a fan of vampire movies and 70's horror in general, (actually all Horror) I felt I had to see these movies. Now I'm looking to add them to my DVD collection.

Thats what I love about the UMA...you always can pick up new things from other Monster Fans...

A final question: Any particular episodes of the series you all recommend?

I was hoping my little thread had a role in it!! Cool!!

Great episodes (in no particular order);

The Vampire
The Devil's Platform
Spanish Moss Murders
Chopper

Let's face it.I love em all though.

[monsterphile]

A final question: Any particular episodes of the series you all recommend?

If you're going to be viewing them through NetFlix, you'll get the best mixed in with the   good and the ...less than great.

My favorites are:

The Ripper
The Zombie
Firefall
Horror in the Heights
The Trevi Collection
and The Spanish Moss Murders

I'll be curious to see which are your favorites after you watch them all. (and you must)

Rob

[BaronLatos35]

Thanks fellas,
How many seasons did the show run? I may have to pick up the set if the price works out.

[monsterphile]

imdb.com lists it as 1 season.

Rob

[josie monster]

I always liked watching the Night Stalker, we were living in South Carolina at the time. Maybe I'll receive hate comments, but I think the two TV movies were superior to the TV series. The movies just seemed better written, and creeped me out more when I was little. The show's episodes Ripper and Zombie were exceptional offerings.

[Creature Features]

I always liked watching the Night Stalker, we were living in South Carolina at the time. Maybe I'll receive hate comments, but I think the two TV movies were superior to the TV series. The movies just seemed better written, and creeped me out more when I was little. The show's episodes Ripper and Zombie were exceptional offerings.

I agree. The two pilot episodes were excellent. ESPECIALLY the first one!

[Moonshadow]

I always liked watching the Night Stalker, we were living in South Carolina at the time. Maybe I'll receive hate comments, but I think the two TV movies were superior to the TV series. The movies just seemed better written, and creeped me out more when I was little. The show's episodes Ripper and Zombie were exceptional offerings.

I agree. The two pilot episodes were excellent. ESPECIALLY the first one!

After just recently re-watching several episodes of the series and the Night Stalker movie, I would agree that the films are much superior to the tv show. I think what really stands out to me is how the character of Kolchak changed from the tv movie to the series. In the Night Stalker, he is a serious, veteran reporter. In the series, he became a much more comedic character, almost to the point of buffoonery at times. Now I do like the fact that he is a very human character, an everyman who DOES get scared, and not a big-muscled action hero. But I just felt that sometimes he was made a little too silly.

[RICKH]

I watched the two tv movies when I was in high school back in the 70's and thought they were great.  I still do.  The first with the vampire is till extremely effective in raising goosebumps.  I watched the series from first episode to last at least three times (original airing, CBS late night, and Chiller) and I still love it.  Sometimes its a bit goofy, but it has a charm to it that, to me, is irresistible.

[Opera Ghost]

I watched the two tv movies when I was in high school back in the 70's and thought they were great.  I still do.  The first with the vampire is till extremely effective in raising goosebumps.  I watched the series from first episode to last at least three times (original airing, CBS late night, and Chiller) and I still love it.  Sometimes its a bit goofy, but it has a charm to it that, to me, is irresistible.

I still recall the cold sweat which I developed each time Kolchak was in a closet hiding from the Vampire/ Strangler and also the Jack the Ripper from the series. MS you nailed it about him being the average joe/everyday man.

[Moonshadow]

I still recall the cold sweat which I developed each time Kolchak was in a closet hiding from the Vampire/ Strangler and also the Jack the Ripper from the series. MS you nailed it about him being the average joe/everyday man.

Well OG, I'm hardly the first person to call Kolchak an everyman. But I do think that is one of the best things about the character -he's no superhero! The other great thing about Kolchak -which appeals to nerdy scientist types like me -is that he actually did research and learned all he could about the menaces he was going to face. He used his brains -had to, didn't have brawn!

[Scatter]

Well OG, I'm hardly the first person to call Kolchak an everyman. But I do think that is one of the best things about the character -he's no superhero! The other great thing about Kolchak -which appeals to nerdy scientist types like me -is that he actually did research and learned all he could about the menaces he was going to face. He used his brains -had to, didn't have brawn!

Kolchak fit well into the burgeoning TV anti-hero genre that emerged in the 70s. We went from square-jawed,straight-arrow Boy Scouts in the 50s and 60s like Joe Friday, Davey Crockett, The Lone Ranger, Superman, Zorro, The Cartwrights and the Barkleys, Palladin, etc., to Kolchak, Jim Rockford, Hawkeye Pierce, Columbo, David Banner, etc.

While there was definite crossover in both directions (see Brett Maverick's anti-hero in the late 50s, as opposed to the square-jawed and fearless Joe Mannix into the mid-70s) the trend was toward the "everyman" his with moral ambiguities, questionable bravery, and grey-shaded worldview..........things that Joe Friday never confronted in his stark and well delineated black and white world. The only shades of grey Joe ever confronted were in the suits and ties lined neatly in his closet every morning.

It was a trend precipitated by the disturbing elements in that era which tossed all manner of graduated grey into the faces of the American public every morning as they read their newspapers or listened to Walter Cronkite on the evening news.

Vietnam, the Civil Rights movement, political assassinations, the burning of Watts, Watergate.......in a world that had seemingly lost its equilibrium, Perry Mason and Davey Crockett and The Lone Ranger became unbearably out of step with the world at hand.

It was a great trend for TV viewers though, as it opened up endless comic opportunities, previously untouchable storylines, and incisive social commentary, as well as allowing the audience (with its own moral and social ambiguities with which it wrestled) to relate to the characters in ways we could never relate to straight-arrow/black and white Joe Friday. The best TV of the 70s was born of this shift to the anti-hero, and Carl Kolchak stands as one of the very best characters to emerge from that shift.

[Opera Ghost]

Kolchak fit well into the burgeoning TV anti-hero genre that emerged in the 70s. We went from square-jawed,straight-arrow Boy Scouts in the 50s and 60s like Joe Friday, Davey Crockett, The Lone Ranger, Superman, Zorro, The Cartwrights and the Barkleys, Palladin, etc., to Kolchak, Jim Rockford, Hawkeye Pierce, Columbo, David Banner, etc.

I can't beleive that you left out Lancelot Link, Secret C*H*I*M*P

[Scatter]

I thought it in poor taste to be self referential.

[Type3Toys]

I never missed it when I was a kid. When the reruns came on I taped them on cassette just so I could listen to the audio.

[Moonshadow]

I never missed it when I was a kid. When the reruns came on I taped them on cassette just so I could listen to the audio.

LMAO!! I did the same thing when Planet of the Apes was shown on TV the first time!!