Chopper

Episode aired Jan 31, 1975
51m

IMDb RATING

7.4/10

436

YOUR RATING

Larry Linville in Kolchak: The Night Stalker (1974)

Horror Mystery Thriller

Land development disturbs the final resting place of a headless, sword-wielding cyclist who hunts down and beheads the rival gang bikers who killed him.Land development disturbs the final resting place of a headless, sword-wielding cyclist who hunts down and beheads the rival gang bikers who killed him.Land development disturbs the final resting place of a headless, sword-wielding cyclist who hunts down and beheads the rival gang bikers who killed him.

See production, box office & company info

IMDb RATING

7.4/10

436

YOUR RATING

See production, box office & company info

See more at IMDbPro

Photos

Darren McGavin in Kolchak: The Night Stalker (1974)

Larry Linville and Darren McGavin in Kolchak: The Night Stalker (1974)

Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
As Kolchak searches the Cook County warehouse for Baker's body, he finds the name on a tarp that also includes the name "Backus." Jim Backus was a guest star.

Goofs
The headless motorcyclist appears to have stood close to nine feet tall before being decapitated.

Quotes
Carl Kolchak: There's an old simple axiom about the dead: Don't disturb them, not for any reason at all. Well, I decided to ignore that, and, so, I was almost beheaded by a phantom sword.

Connections
Referenced in The Real Ghostbusters: The Headless Motorcyclist (1987)

User reviews10

Review

Featured review

5/10

Kolchak: "Chopper"

PLOT: Kolchak investigates deadly attacks by a resurrected headless biker who preys on the rival gang who killed him in the mid-50s. The attractive Sharon Farrell plays a grieving widow while Jim Backus (Mr. Howell on Gilligan's Island) is on hand as a motorcycle dealer.

COMMENTARY: Critics understandably complain about the look of the headless motorcyclist, which is just a stuntman with a leather jacket pulled up over his head, but what do you expect for pre-CGI early-70s television? While the plot is interesting, "Chopper" is unfortunately hindered by a talky, campy execution. This is only one episode so I can handle the change in tone, but it's decidedly cartoonish compared to the serious horror of the pilot movie and episodes like "The Vampire," "Horror in the Heights" and "The Trevi Collection."

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