Night Stalker
Plot:
Carl Kolchak (or an unreasonable facsimile there of) becomes a supernatural investigative journalist in order to solve his wife’s murder.
Comments:
Well, this little mess didn’t last long, did it? Due to lack of popular demand, there probably won‘t be a dvd coming out any time soon either. (Note from future Bog Man; The show has indeed been dumped to digital disk. Hooray?) Therefore, this timely little review of mine is pretty damn pointless, but hey, it’s what I do here. (I would have liked to get these comments up a little sooner, but I have a life. Kind of.)
I’m not quite sure if this show was intended as a semi-prequel to the original (since it’s set in the modern day, that wouldn’t even begin to make sense) or a complete re-imagining. Either way, it’s a perfect example of modern media’s piteous obsession with youth and style over depth and substance. (Come to think of it, it’s not so much media’s obsession, as it is everyone’s.)
The pilot episode is pretty grim. Kolchak’s wife was drug from their car and butchered by an unknown entity. The same thing seems to be happening to pregnant women (which is a really tactful plotline, given that whole Laci Peterson thing) and Carl is determined to get to the bottom of it. Future installments I had the opportunity to sample featured folks hypnotized into murdering their loved ones, and the ghost of a child literally scared to death after his father massacres the whole family. Blah. As you may have gathered, the show is black, grimy, and humorless. I certainly can’t complain about trying to be genuinely horrific rather than campy, but on the whole the writing is more offensive than creepy. Unlike the original, this series just isn’t enjoyable. The original had a keen sense of fun about it. Given the paltry budgets and heightened censorship, it’s easy to out gore a show from the 70’s. They should have tried outclassing it.
The characters are especially weak. Stuart Thompson has neither the charm nor the acting chops to match Darren McGavin, though to be fair the writers don’t even give him half a chance. The genuine article, while a world-weary cynic, did posses a everlasting warmth about him. This Kolchak just tries to smirk his way into having a personality. Gabrielle Union plays Carl’s initial rival turned partner (they were probably hoping to develop a romantic relationship with these two ala Mulder and Scully but never had the chance) and Eric Jungmann is sort of his own personal Jimmy Olsen. The two aren’t so much sidekicks as they are vestigial character supplements, trying to impart some personality to the lead. Instead their presence significantly detracts from Carl’s loner appeal.
I often got the impression that the show’s creative team had been cribbing from Uwe Boll. Wishing to be an ‘X-files’ copycat rather than an homage to the original, the show is typically shallow, blunt, and overly self-conscious. The direction like the storytelling is dreary and dim. Worse than off-putting, the show is downright boring.
As an independent effort, ‘Stalker’ isn’t terrible, but it isn’t worthy to polish the boots of the original series. (I’m tired, I don’t know why I picture a television series as possessing footwear.) There’s no sense behind the marketing effort. Fans of the original distain this shallow re-imagining, and most 20-something snots have never seen the real series. This one was ready for the grave before it was born.
2.5