Kolchak: The Night Stalker (The Complete Series) {Blu-ray Review}

Reviewed By Jason Lockard

In the early 1970s Darren McGavin starred in two supernatural horror TV movies The Night Stalker (1972) and The Night Strangler (1973). These two TV movies were such a rating success, that a third movie The Night Killers was written, however ABC decided they wanted a TV series.

Now just in time for Halloween come the complete series Kolchack The Night Stalker on Blu-ray from the good folks at Kino Lorber under the label KL Studio Classics.

The series followed reporter Carl Kolchak (Darren McGavin) who investigates mysterious crimes involving zombies, vampires, werewolves, ghosts, succubi and aliens. All of these stories that he chases are much to the dismay of his editor Tony Vincenzo who is a true skeptic.

Our Rating System:
****=Don’t Miss it!
***=Worth a look.
**=An Ok way to spend an evening.
*=You haven’t missed anything.


Disc One
1. The Ripper: Kolchak argues that a serial killer is actually Jack the Ripper. ****

2. The Zombie: A woman whose grandson was murdered by mobsters uses voodoo to turn him into a zombie and take revenge. ****

3. They Have Been, They Are, They Will Be...: An invisible alien sucks out the bone marrow of its victims while it makes repairs on its ship and looks for directions home. ***

4. The Vampire: An overlooked victim of Janos Skorzeny, the Las Vegas vampire, makes her way to Los Angeles and begins killing anew. ****

5. The Werewolf: When Tony Vincenzo's vacation is taken away, Carl cajoles his way ito taking Tony's place on the singles cruise, but finds a werewolf on a killing spree. ***

Disc Two
6. Firefall: The ghost of an arsonist tries to take over a renowned conductor's body as his doppelganger, and kills a number of the conductor's associates by spontaneous human combustion. ***

7. The Devil's Platform: A politician on a meteoric rise murders his opposition through a pact with Satan which gives him the ability to turn into an invulnerable dog. ***

8. Bad Medicine: A shaman spirit called the Diablero murders for jewels to pay back his debt and be released from his Earthly bonds. ***

9. The Spanish Moss Murders: A dreaming host who is part of a sleep study project conjures up the Creole legend of Père Malfait willing to kill anyone who threatens its survival. ****

10. The Energy Eater: A hospital is built on reclaimed land inhabited by the Native American bear-spirit legend Matchi Manitou which threatens to destroy anyone who inhabits it. ***


Disc Three
11. Horror in the Heights: A Hindu demon called the Rakshasa, which can assume the form of someone its victim trusts, terrorizes a Jewish neighborhood. ****

12. Mr. R.I.N.G.: An escaped android murders anyone that threatens its survival. ***

13. Primal Scream: Defrosted ancient cell samples discovered in the Arctic grow into a savage prehistoric primate which goes on a rampage. ***

14. The Trevi Collection: A witch desires to control the world of high fashion. ***

15. Chopper: A headless motorcycle rider murders those responsible for his death. Guest stars: ***


Disc Four
16. Demon in Lace: An ancient Mesopotamian clay tablet is presided over by a succubus, who possesses the corpses of recently deceased young women to murder young men to maintain her immortality. ***

17. Legacy of Terror: An Aztec cult seeks to resurrect the mummy of their god by murdering physically perfect people. Erik Estrada plays a chosen victim. ***

18. The Knightly Murders: To prevent the destruction of its home, the spirit of a knight reanimates his suit of armor to kill those responsible. ***

19. The Youth Killer: Helen of Troy returns to drain the youth out of unsuspecting perfect victims, sacrifices for the goddess Hecate, in her quest for immortality. ***

20. The Sentry: A humanoid lizard creature kills subterranean workers who have stolen its eggs. ***

This series was so far ahead of it's time, I truly believe people just could wrap their minds around it. It was a perfect mix of science, drama and horror rolled up in a season package. It's no wonder Chris Carter credited Kolchak as a "tremendous influence" in his series The X-Files.

Now first off for this Blu-ray release all 20 episodes have been remastered in 2k. They are presented in 1080p in the original full screen format and a DTS-HD Master 2.0 audio. There is also an option for English Subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing. These episodes look and sound absolutely stunningly gorgeous.

But Kino Lorber went above and beyond with this release loading this set up with great bonus features. Take a look at what is included.

* NEW Interview with David Chase, the Creator of The Sopranos and Co-Writer of Eight Kolchak: The Night Stalker Episodes

* NEW Interview with Dana Gould, the Creator of Stan Against Evil

* NEW Booklet Essay by Mark Dawidziak, the Author of The Night Stalker Companion and Kolchak Novel, Grave Secrets

* 21 NEW Audio Commentaries for All 20 Episodes by Mark Dawidziak, Author/Historian David J. Schow, Novelist/Critic Kim Newman, Writer/Journalist Barry Forshaw, Film Historian Tim Lucas, Filmmaker/Film Historian Constantine Nasr, Screenwriter/Producer Rodney Barnes, Film Historian/Screenwriter Gary Gerani, Film Historian/Screenwriter Steve Haberman, Film Historian/Author Amanda Reyes, Filmmaker/Historian Steve Mitchell, Screenwriter/Producer Cyrus Voris, Filmmaker/Historian Michael Schlesinger, and Mike White and Chris Stachiw of The Kolchak Tapes Podcast

* 14 Original TV Spots (Newly Remastered in 2K)

* Newly Commissioned Art by Mark Maddox


I must say I thoroughly enjoyed reliving these show again and especially seeing them in 2K and the bonus features... C'est Magnifique.

So if you are a fan of 70s sci-fi horror TV. I can not recommend Kolchak The Night Stalker The Complete Series on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics. If you would like a copy for yourself head over to Amazon.com and order your copy today.


Out of Four TV Sets (Four Being the Best) Kolchak The Night Stalker Complete Series Blu-ray receives...