Airdate: Feb 7, 1975

Directed by Don Weis, Written by Stephen Lord, Michael Kozoll and David Chase. Guest Cast: Keenan Wynn, Jackie Vernon, Kristina Holland, Carolyn Jones, Andrew Prine, Ben Masters, Milton Parsons, Davis Roberts and Carmen Zapata.

FROM IMDB: A female succubus takes over the bodies of recently deceased young women so she can seduce handsome young college students and scare them to death.

An ancient stone tablet is found in Iraq and brought back to America to study but a mystical demonic force is released centering on a local college.

The mid 1970s featured cruise ships, leisure suits, UFO’s and blockbuster films like JAWS and THE EXORCIST. Kolchak has been on his cruise, faced UFO’s and dealt with plenty of leisure suits. He has yet to battle a great white shark but there are still a few episodes left so we’ll see and in this one he goes up against a version of the Linda Blair demon.

Keenan Wynn is back in a bit of rare continuity as Police Captain Joe ‘Mad Dog’ Siska who has abandoned his therapy sessions from way back in episode 6 or so and is having none of Kolchak’s nonsense. Wynn was a great addition to that episode and he’s great here too.

There are some really creepy elements in this episode, as the demon inhabits the body of it’s victim and ranges from acting perfectly normal to hysterically laughing in a maniacal way. There’s a body that disappears in a dark and spooky hallway. Quite a bit of good chills in this one.

Comic Jackie Vernon, known for his deadpan humor and for being the voice of Frosty the Snowman various Christmas specials, has a cameo as the College Football coach who has his own theory as to why his otherwise very healthy players seem to be dropping dead; promiscuity.

Kristina Holland plays a school reporter who wants to work with Carl but only gets in his way, she has a small career in TV around the same time and she’s an interesting addition here. At one point when Carl breaks down in his Mustang she gifts him a lift in her “wheels” which turns out to be a Vesper Scooter. She’s likable enough to counter her annoying factor. There’s an interesting scene where she consults with a classmate via a phone call to find a student based solely on his appearance “He’s got to be at least an 8”— this is what birthed Facebook— originally designed as a program for College Students to rate each other’s appearance.

Carolyn Jones was a few years off of her role as Mrs Addams in the ADDAMS FAMILY TV show and she is good in her role as the school registrar.

Andrew Prine is a leisure suit wearing uber cool (at least as far as the 70s go) Professor who is studying the tablet. Prine had a lot of roles in 1970s TV from CANNON to WONDER WOMAN.

Milton Parsons plays Professor Mozart, an elderly faculty member who is an expert in everything demon related but not very good at staying awake. He’s got a long career mostly as a creepy side character including CHARLIE CHAN’S DEAD MEN TELL (1942), Abbot and Costello’s HOLD THAT GHOST (1941) and 1942’s WHO DONE IT? as well as the original film appearance of Chester Gould’s Detective in DICK TRACY (1945).

Davis Roberts was good in everything he ever did.

Davis Roberts is this episodes Coroner but he has no interaction with Carl directly, he’s mostly beside Captain Siskas. Roberts had a long career in both drama and comedy but one of his most memorable roles was as Dr Caldwell in a few episodes of Red Foxx’s SANFORD AND SON where he has a great interaction with Foxx’s son in the show Lamont Sanford;

Lamont Sanford: [skeptical of the smoking, coughing wreck of a man] And you're a doctor?

Dr. Caldwell: In some states.

Tony Vincenzo is in fine form as he decides to refocus the INS News direction towards higher standards of good news and humor but Carl is still chasing monsters which leads to some great interaction;

KOLCHAK DIALOGUE

Tony Vincenzo: Carl - Carl! What station are you tuned into?

Carl Kolchak: What?

Tony Vincenzo: Well, how is the Prince of Fiends going to fit into my new directives? How is it going to do that?

COP WHO HATES KOLCHAK? Mad Dog Siskas is in the top three Kolchak cops.

HOW’S THE MONSTER? When we see it it’s good.

KOLCHAK RATING: 4.5 - an offbeat episode that entertains.

KOLCHAK PAPERS: Episode #16 - DEMON IN LACE

MONSTER ZERO (1965)

Original Art Score and Some Random Things...