“Son, I’ve seen more dead bodies then you’ve had T.V. dinners.” – Carl Kolchak
Last month I purchased a DVD box set containing the complete Kolchak : The Night Stalker television series. I haven’t seen the original two made-for-T.V. movies that preceded it, barely had any information on the series at all, and still have no real explanation as to why I made such an impulsive purchase. I’m glad I did, because I’m enjoying the hell out of it.
Kolchak is kind of like a fictional In Search Of… Every episode the intrepid reporter explores one of the 70’s many strange fascinations with the unexplained and esoteric. Moss men, Native American bear gods and the missing link roam the back streets of Chicago. Mannequins and androids become sentient and kill. Jack the Ripper still wanders the alleyways looking for prey. I find the atmosphere of 70’s horror, evident in Kolchak, to be especially discomforting. The grainy camera work and cheap special effects make everything look seedy and unwholesome, reminiscent of the infamous Patterson-Gimlin sasquatch footage.
It almost looks too worn in to be fake.
I started making sketches from the show while watching them. Usually I’ll try to simplify and caricature a drawing, but I didn’t get any real pleasure out of doing that with Kolchak. Sketching in a more realistic style was more satisfying to me, and the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I was emulating (poorly) all those fantastic Filipino artists who worked on DC’s horror, western and other predominantly non-superhero material during the 70’s. The work of Tony DeZuniga and E.R. Cruz, among many others. Evidently their work still haunts me, like the spirit of a headless biker.
i’d heard good things about this show. Now that I know more about it, i’ll def. check it out.
I got so swamped with work that I let my nightly Kolchak viewing become derailed and I still haven’t finished the series. The show gets progressively worse as it goes on, and the star, Darren McGavin, has stated that he practically gave up on the show by the end. Happily, it hasn’t shown. He makes Kolchak, and has elevated the character to one of my favourites in short time.