We can always rely on good old Carl Kolchak to stubbornly pursue the strange stories even when under orders to pursue something decidedly more mundane. Such is the case here when Carl is sent to Los Angeles to interview a precocious young guru and instead becomes intrigued by a series of killings involving the draining of blood, first told to him by an old acquaintance named "Swede" (guest star Larry Storch). Kolchak is once again quick to jump to the most extravagant conclusion, and of course he's right: the culprit is a sexy young female vampire unearthed from her slumber by a road crew outside Las Vegas.
Among Kolchaks' latest shenanigans are his pestering an angry L.A. police lieutenant (William Daniels) and his recruitment of real estate agent Faye Kruger (Kathleen Nolan) as a partner in reporting. (Kolchak's sneakily using her to submit the stories about the guru.) This episode adheres to the formula of the series in delivering a series of both shocks and laughs. Suzanne Charney plays the villain, Catherine Rawlins, and she's no Lugosi type dapper, charming character but a feral monster, not talking but hissing.
The sequence in which Kolchak investigates her remote lair contains some good suspense, and there's also some good action: when Catherine attempts to prey on a football player, and his buddies / teammates show up, the stunts are impressive as the jocks get thrown about. And the laughs are as solid as we can expect. Kolchak tries to throw off his editor Tony Vincenzo (Simon Oakland, who gets to be *really* exasperated here) by faking "static" during phone calls with his electric razor. It's also fun when Kolchak tries to arrange a meeting with Catherine (she works as a prostitute) and gets a different woman, who bluntly tells him he's no Marcello Mastroianni.
The change of setting also works for the episode and allows Kolchak to pass comment on the nature of L.A. And Kolchak shows some ingenuity in the end when it comes to dispatching his unearthly foe; there's some good imagery there.
Overall, an engaging episode and a definite improvement over the previous one with the invisible aliens.
Eight out of 10.
Among Kolchaks' latest shenanigans are his pestering an angry L.A. police lieutenant (William Daniels) and his recruitment of real estate agent Faye Kruger (Kathleen Nolan) as a partner in reporting. (Kolchak's sneakily using her to submit the stories about the guru.) This episode adheres to the formula of the series in delivering a series of both shocks and laughs. Suzanne Charney plays the villain, Catherine Rawlins, and she's no Lugosi type dapper, charming character but a feral monster, not talking but hissing.
The sequence in which Kolchak investigates her remote lair contains some good suspense, and there's also some good action: when Catherine attempts to prey on a football player, and his buddies / teammates show up, the stunts are impressive as the jocks get thrown about. And the laughs are as solid as we can expect. Kolchak tries to throw off his editor Tony Vincenzo (Simon Oakland, who gets to be *really* exasperated here) by faking "static" during phone calls with his electric razor. It's also fun when Kolchak tries to arrange a meeting with Catherine (she works as a prostitute) and gets a different woman, who bluntly tells him he's no Marcello Mastroianni.
The change of setting also works for the episode and allows Kolchak to pass comment on the nature of L.A. And Kolchak shows some ingenuity in the end when it comes to dispatching his unearthly foe; there's some good imagery there.
Overall, an engaging episode and a definite improvement over the previous one with the invisible aliens.
Eight out of 10.