NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Kino Blu-ray (October 2021): Kino have transferred the entire 20-episode series Kolchak: The Night Stalker to Blu-ray. It is cited as being "Brand New 2K Masters for All 20 Episodes". The episodes are housed on four dual-layered Blu-rays and have about 4X the bitrate of the DVDs. The Blu-rays have five 50-minute episodes per disc. The DVD set was 3 dual-sided (remember them?), single-layered, DVDs with 4 episodes a side (one side - the 6th - was blank). Even in 1080P colors can be a bit funky (blue suits turn grey, whites turn crème etc.), primaries are all strong - deeper and richer than the SD with warmer flesh tones. Some teal leaning here and there. The DVD image may be slightly vertically squished (thinner faces) that we have seen as a common practice. The improvement, predictably, is in detail and the textures (shot in 35mm) are rough but consistent. The HD presentation has remarkable moments but is simply a significant improvement over the 15-year old DVDs showing the production standards of the day to best effect. We are probably seeing is much better on these Blu-rays than were broadcast, on tube TVs, almost 50-years ago.   

NOTE: We have added 100 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Kino use a DTS-HD Master dual-mono tracks (16-bit) in the original English language. Kolchak: The Night Stalker has aggressive moments, gunfire, creature growls and grunts etc., but the superiority over DVD comes through mostly via the score composed by the likes of Jerry Fielding (The Gambler, Farewell My Lovely, Straw Dogs, Scorpio, The Wild Bunch, Straw Dogs, The Killer Elite, The Mechanic, and The Getaway) for 12 episodes, Gil Melle (The Victim, The Andromeda Strain, The Deliberate Stranger, Frankenstein: The True Story, Colossus: The Forbin Project, You'll Like My Mother, The Sentinel and The Organization) for 7 episodes - Mellé also wrote the theme that begins with Kolchak whistling in the opening credits. Solo episodes were scored by Luchi De Jesus (The Six Million Dollar Man, Friday Foster, A Woman For All Men) for The Energy Eater and Greig McRitchie for the lone Horror in the Heights episode. There is some buoyancy and the theme song sounds much better in lossless than on the DVDs.  dialogue in the lossless transfer. Kino offer optional English subtitles on their Region 'A' Blu-ray.

The Kino Blu-ray offers 21 NEW audio commentaries for all 20 Episodes (2 for The Spanish Moss Murders)  by the likes of people such as Mark Dawidziak (author of The Night Stalker Companion and Kolchak Novel, Grave Secrets), author / historian David J. Schow (Outer Limits: The Official Companion), novelist / critic Kim Newman (Something More Than Night), 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. I have identified the specifics above (who for which episode.) I've only sampled a few but am looking forward, especially, to indulging in Tim Lucas on The Vampire and Constantine Nasr on The Werewolf as they are two of my favorite episodes (and commentarists.) There is also a new 10-minute interview with David Chase, the Creator of The Sopranos and co-writer of eight Kolchak: The Night Stalker episodes (The Zombie, The Vampire, The Werewolf, The Spanish Moss Murders, Primal Scream, Chopper, Demon in Lace and The Knightly Murders.) There is also an 11-minute interview with Dana Gould, the creator of Stan Against Evil. Scattered on the appropriate disc are 14 Original TV Spots (newly remastered in 2K.) The package has a 10 page leaflet with an essay by Mark Dawidziak, and there are color photos. The appealing box artwork is by Mark Maddox.   

Kolchak: The Night Stalker was one of my favorite TV series when I was growing up. Yes, it was an obvious influence on shows like The X-Files. Darren McGavin was perfect in the role of feisty but diligent-truth-seeking reporter Carl Kolchak battling the paranormal on a regular basis. The series unfortunately ran out of supernatural combatants, plus modest budgets and pumping these 50-minute episodes out weekly took its toll of the content. But there are some marvelous and inventive episodes including Horror in the Heights (Jimmy Sangster credited,) The Ripper (yes, Jack), The Zombie (Haitian voodoo rituals ensue,) The Vampire (a vicious, sexy, female bloodsucker), The Werewolf (on a luxury cruise! - Carl must steal the Captain's silver buttons to make bullets!), The Spanish Moss Murders (precursor to the X-Files El Mundo Gira with a chupacabra) and Demon in Lace (a modern-day succubus!). They were able to keep the high quality of the television movies The Night Stalker (1972) and The Night Strangler (1973) with a fabulously flawed protagonist character. Some of those starring in episodes are recognizable faces like Keenan Wynn, Richard Kiel, Dick Gautier, James Gregory, Phil Silvers, Tom Skerritt, William Smith, Julie Adams, Cathy Lee Crosby, David Doyle, Nina Foch, Bernie Kopell, Dick Van Patten, Jamie Farr, Larry Storch, Antonio Fargas, Erik Estrada, Scatman Crothers, Jim Backus, Frank Campanella and others. As well as getting the series in 1080P, we get 21 commentaries, interviews and a liner notes booklet. The Kino Blu-ray was highly anticipated by this reviewer. Supernatural adventures abound. Nostalgically, and strongly, recommended!

Gary Tooze