"Kolchak: The Night Stalker" Bad Medicine (1974)

User Rating:

8.1/10   

Director:

Alexander Grasshoff

Writers:

L. Ford Neale (written by) and
John Huff (written by) ...

TV Series:

"Kolchak: The Night Stalker" (1974)

Original Air Date:

29 November 1974 (Season 1, Episode 8)

Genre:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

A Native American legend materializes in Chicago, and Carl discovers it when he investigates the mysterious...

Plot Keywords:

Ford Mustang | Reporter | Supernatural | Newspaper | Cover Up

Cast

Darren McGavin	...	Carl Kolchak
Simon Oakland	...	Tony Vincenzo
Ramon Bieri	...	Captain Joe Baker
Richard Kiel	...	The Diablero
Alice Ghostley	...	Dr. Agnes Temple
Victor Jory	...	Charles Rolling Thunder
Jack Grinnage	...	Ron Updyke
David Lewis	...	Auctioneer Beloit
Marvin Kaplan	...	Albert Delgado
Ruth McDevitt	...	Emily Cowles
James Griffith	...	George M. Schwartz
Dennis McCarthy	...	Ballistics Man
Morris Buchanan	...	Guard
Keith Walker	...	1st Reporter
Marilyn Clarke	...	Auction Hostess (as Madilyn Clark)

Runtime:

60 min

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Francy Productions

Bad meaning good

Bad Medicine is a wild story made believable and brilliant by Alexander Grasshoff's incredibly tight direction, he takes the episode by the scruff of the neck and doesn't relax his grip until the end credits are rolling. Richard Kiel plays The Diablero with such silent and still menace that you have no choice but to check behind your sofa, just in case. The lovely Alice Ghostley gives a gentle and lilting performance as Agnes Temple and Victor Jory's Charles Rolling Thunder is a character study of such authority and grace that you are forced to wonder if the story could have been told without him. Bad Medicine is probably nobody's favourite Kolchak adventure, but it's an enigmatic episode that delights in going that little bit further.