Writer: David Chase
Director: Don Weis
Story: Bill Stratton
Actors:
William Daniels as Lt. Jack Matteo / Suzanne Charney as Catherine Rawlins / Kathleen Nolan as Faye Kruger / Larry Storch as Jim "The Swede" Brytowski / Jan Murray as Ichabod Grace / Army Archerd as Man / Selma Archerd as Woman / John Doucette as Deputy Sample / Noel de Souza as Chandra / Scott Douglas as Second Reporter / Tony Epper as Andrew Garth / Jimmy Joyce as Man Talking / Milt Kamen as Gingrich / Alyscia Maxwell as Third Reporter / Stuart Nisbet as Hotel Manager / Anne Whitfield as Girl / Bill Baldwin as 1st Reporter / Howard Gray as Bellboy / Biene Blechschmidt as Elena Munoz / Betty Endicott as Linda Courtner / Rand Warren as Clayton 'Stacker' Schumaker / Ted White as Hugo Matlz / Nick Dimitri as football player / Hunter von Leer as football player
Of Note:
Heated battles between the star and the new producer became so distracting that another member of the staff, composer Gil Melle, quit.
Memorable Line:
Kolchak: "He should meet my boss, he'd turn Buddha into a chain smoker"
Story:
Carl goes to Los Angeles to take on a female vampire
It opens on a dark deserted road outside of Las Vegas. A car blows a tire and as the driver works to change it -She cuts herself- The spilled blood then awakens something that had been buried for 3 years. The camera pulls back and we see two hands break through the earth and reach skyward. This creepy sequence is one of Kolchak's most memorable. That the rest of the episode fails to deliver on the promise of this stunning start, is a disappointment.
It's not that the "Vampire" isn't funny. Carl cons his boss into sending him to L.A. so that he can investigate a few murders. And later, cons a real estate agent into writing the story (about a Guru) Vincenzo assigned him while out there. Both of these are light and humorous bits.
Nor does it lack interesting characters. Larry Storch plays a reporter friend who tips Carl on the murders, and William Daniels is the frustrated L.A. Lieutenant working the case. Along with the co-star, Kathleen Nolan - there's plenty of sparkling dialogue and character interplay.
But the story never really builds on a case that got under Carl's skin and is the reason we have this series in the first place. The case of Janos Skorzeny, the Night Stalker himself. Darren McGavin wanted the hunt for Janos to be a recurring thread that ran through the series. Had the show run for any great length, that would have been a novel idea to pursue. And "Vampire" could have been a great part of that thread; had it been done right.
It wasn't. There's only the briefest hint that this new vampire was one of the original victims of Skorzeny. They never have Vincenzo reference the situation, despite the fact that he was there in Vegas when it happened. Carl's machinations to get to the area lose punch because it's never directly addressed why he's so driven to go. After all, murders occur in cities all over the country. Why this case, why now?
Now, there is a moment -give credit to Darren for this- at the end, while on the airplane. When he quietly repeats the words, "Three Years", and stares into space. He wears the distracted look of a man haunted by something he can't let go of. It's quick, but chilling and gives a hint to what a richly textured episode the "Vampire" could have been.
Aside from a few scenes (The fiery finish was impressive, though illogical -why would a vampire live next to something that can harm her?), they dropped the ball on this one. While I like the idea of the call girl Vampire, I just wish they'd explored that fuller. I wish she had been a bit more articulate, rather than this unlikable cipher. She was powerful, but not really alluring or scary, and in truth, I thought she looked silly the way she ran after Carl hissing and baring her teeth. I know I'm nitpicking on this one, and really, you could do that to just about every episode in this series. It's just that I wanted more from Vampire, I needed it to offer more, be something extra special instead of just another run-of-the-mill episode.
Grade: C+
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