Writer: Arthur Rowe, Rudolph Borchert, Robert Earll
Director: Alexander Grasshoff
Story: Arthur Rowe
Actors:
William Smith as Jim Elkhorn / Elaine Giftos as Nurse Janice Eisen / Robert Cornwaithe as Dr. Hartfield / Robert Yuro as Captain Webster / John Alvin as Dr. Ralph Carrie / Michael Fox as Frank Wesley / Tom Drake as Don Kibbey / Ella Edwards as the Receptionist / Bob Golden as a Policeman / Dianne Harper as the Second Girl / Joyce Jillson as Diana Lanier / John Mitchum as the Janitor / Paul Baxley as Electrocuted Worker / Melissa Green as First Girl / Barbara Graham as Laurie / Michael Strong as Walter Green
Memorable Line:
On the problems the Hospital is having...
Nurse Eisen: "They said it takes a while to get everything working"
Kolchak: "Well I feel that way myself some mornings"
Story:
A new Hospital is built atop the burial ground of Matchemonedo, an Indian "bear god" who feeds on energy and spits it out with devastating effect.
The episode starts off promising. We have the mysterious deaths of Indian construction workers on a Hospital site; at the dedication, the foundation's quiver and the walls crack. What is behind all of this and why?
Good question and I'd have liked a better answer. Oh, we learn that the Hospital was built upon the resting place of an (invisible) bear god that has come out of hibernation, but all the writers do with this slight premise is fill the hour with tedious padding. This fearsome spirit electrocutes a few unfortunate patients and we see many shots of floors and walls splitting open. They never expand on the horror or raw power that a God should possess.
On the plus - There is some real funny dialog; I'm talking 'bust a gut' humor. And Carl teams up with a couple of colorful allies - among them a Native American Shaman, delightfully played by William Smith. His Jim Elkhorn isn't your stereotypical solemn all-knowing medicine man. He's uncomfortable doing a native dance to ward off the Matchemonedo and fancies himself a lady's man. Sadly, these characters quickly fade away without a satisfying goodbye. (Was that dead woman in the lab supposed to be Nurse Eisen?)
The final confrontation was as lame as anything I've ever seen. Carl wanders around, gets his foot stuck, falls down, and falls asleep. Other than waving a fire extinguisher about, there's no big clash between these titans.
The Original Outer Limits TV series used to do some inventive things FX wise (See their energy being in "The Man With The Power"), it's a shame the same couldn't be said for 'Night Stalker', a show made over 10 years later (that drawn eye on the X-Ray wasn't enough to send shivers down my spine). In the end; a slight story, unanswered questions (why were the Native American workers the only ones targeted during construction?), a wisp of a monster whose menace and power is undercut by budgetary constraints, all left me feeling underwhelmed.
Grade - Earns points for humor: C+
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