Friends and associates of a famous orchestra conductor are systematically being burned to a crisp.
A charred body found on a bed without anything else in the room being singed is strange enough. But when a woman lounging next to a pool is also discovered inexplicably toasted, Kolchak suspects the cause may be something more than a leaky lighter. Also strange: each time someone dies, witnesses spot famous conductor Ryder Bond in the vicinity. Bond has witnesses to verify he was not present when these tragedies occurred, but when Kolchak spots him getting into the car of a close associate, the car is soon engulfed in flames, the driver is dead, and Ryder Bond is nowhere in sight.
Kolchak discovers that the day of the first fiery death, Bond's car had cut through the funeral procession for an arsonist shot dead at a pinball arcade by mob enforcers. He also learns from the firebug's widow that the guy happened to be a great admirer of classical music- and of Ryder Bond.
Kolchak goes to the conductor's residence, but when Bond lets him in, the conductor vanishes as the interior of the apartment bursts into flames with Kolchak barely managing to escape with his life.
Carl consults a gypsy friend about the strange events. She tells him it sounds like he's dealing with a doppelganger or ghost that is trying to take over the life of someone still living. The gypsy warns him that a doppelganger will kill all those closest to the person it is haunting, and that one is most vulnerable to a doppelganger's attack when they sleep.
Kolchak then visits Ryder Bond at the symphony hall. The distraught conductor tells Carl he's been plagued by images of his double stalking him wherever he goes. Bond agrees to go with the reporter to rest at a local church in the hope the deadly apparition cannot touch him there. Once inside however, Ryder continues to see the ghost with his face looking down on him from the church windows. Kolchak, himself barely able to keep his eyes open from lack of sleep, implores Ryder to stay in the church while he leaves to do some late night work at the cemetery.
Later, Kolchak shows up at the arcade where the gangland murder occurred. He breaks in dragging along with him a large sack. The ghost suddenly appears and begins to set the place ablaze. Kolchak opens the sack revealing the corpse of the dead arsonist inside. He then commands the ghost to accept his true identity, leave Bond alone, and to rest in peace. The doppelganger assumes his old appearance and then disappears in the flames he has created. Kolchak escapes seconds before the arcade explodes.
"Firefall" is a fairly entertaining ghost story with a neat twist: a disembodied spirit wants to "re-embody" itself in someone else's shoes, and works to attain that end by employing it's earthly trade: arson.
Sadly, the fiery deaths are only somewhat effective; the charred corpses are difficult to see through dense clouds of smoke (possibly added at the insistence of ABC censors who worried that incinerated bodies might be "too intense for younger viewers" to see).
Also, the addition of a "poofing" noise whenever victims burn up does not seem like the appropriate sound effect. In fact, rather than a person spontaneously combusting, it sounds more like the exhaust pipe on a moped. Some of the effects of the apparition appearing and fading away look rather dated, and a particular sequence in which a weary Kolchak eyes the spirit flitting from one church window to another is very poorly edited.
Actor Philip Carey is pretty wooden as the cop of the week who can't stand Kolchak, and the tie-up scene at the end is disappointing as it has Carl stating that the ghost is back with it's body and that Ryder Bond is safe. Well, that's nice to know, but it would have been more satisfying to have heard the conductor himself proclaiming that he was no longer plagued by the apparition.
Another item: doesn't a pinball arcade seem like an odd choice of setting for an eerie encounter with a murderous ghost?
Now, having said all that, "Firefall" does indeed have it's merits. Helmed by "Night Stalker" veteran Don Weis (director of the classic episode "The Vampire") with a script by Bill Ballinger, this one moves at a nice, consistent pace. The scenes in which an exhausted Kolchak stumbles about as he tries to do what's necessary to save himself are particularly fun to watch. The episode's best jolt occurs as Ryder admits the reporter into his apartment. As Carl enters expressing sympathy over the latest of Ryder's friends to be incinerated, the conductor vanishes into thin air. It's a startling moment when the viewer suddenly realizes before even Kolchak does that it was actually the doppelganger who let him in.
Some amusingly dry lines come out of the conflagration deaths as Kolchak says of one victim, "She is no longer a fallacious witness because she is presently inhabiting an urn!"
Kolchak counting a list of victims: "Michael Vaughn, Felicia Porter, and George Mason: three flames in an ever increasing gruesome candelabra."
Compared to other classic episodes in the series, "Firefall" may not qualify as one of the hotter entries, but it does generate enough heat to keep a viewer warm for an hour.
A charred body found on a bed without anything else in the room being singed is strange enough. But when a woman lounging next to a pool is also discovered inexplicably toasted, Kolchak suspects the cause may be something more than a leaky lighter. Also strange: each time someone dies, witnesses spot famous conductor Ryder Bond in the vicinity. Bond has witnesses to verify he was not present when these tragedies occurred, but when Kolchak spots him getting into the car of a close associate, the car is soon engulfed in flames, the driver is dead, and Ryder Bond is nowhere in sight.
Kolchak discovers that the day of the first fiery death, Bond's car had cut through the funeral procession for an arsonist shot dead at a pinball arcade by mob enforcers. He also learns from the firebug's widow that the guy happened to be a great admirer of classical music- and of Ryder Bond.
Kolchak goes to the conductor's residence, but when Bond lets him in, the conductor vanishes as the interior of the apartment bursts into flames with Kolchak barely managing to escape with his life.
Carl consults a gypsy friend about the strange events. She tells him it sounds like he's dealing with a doppelganger or ghost that is trying to take over the life of someone still living. The gypsy warns him that a doppelganger will kill all those closest to the person it is haunting, and that one is most vulnerable to a doppelganger's attack when they sleep.
Kolchak then visits Ryder Bond at the symphony hall. The distraught conductor tells Carl he's been plagued by images of his double stalking him wherever he goes. Bond agrees to go with the reporter to rest at a local church in the hope the deadly apparition cannot touch him there. Once inside however, Ryder continues to see the ghost with his face looking down on him from the church windows. Kolchak, himself barely able to keep his eyes open from lack of sleep, implores Ryder to stay in the church while he leaves to do some late night work at the cemetery.
Later, Kolchak shows up at the arcade where the gangland murder occurred. He breaks in dragging along with him a large sack. The ghost suddenly appears and begins to set the place ablaze. Kolchak opens the sack revealing the corpse of the dead arsonist inside. He then commands the ghost to accept his true identity, leave Bond alone, and to rest in peace. The doppelganger assumes his old appearance and then disappears in the flames he has created. Kolchak escapes seconds before the arcade explodes.
"Firefall" is a fairly entertaining ghost story with a neat twist: a disembodied spirit wants to "re-embody" itself in someone else's shoes, and works to attain that end by employing it's earthly trade: arson.
Sadly, the fiery deaths are only somewhat effective; the charred corpses are difficult to see through dense clouds of smoke (possibly added at the insistence of ABC censors who worried that incinerated bodies might be "too intense for younger viewers" to see).
Also, the addition of a "poofing" noise whenever victims burn up does not seem like the appropriate sound effect. In fact, rather than a person spontaneously combusting, it sounds more like the exhaust pipe on a moped. Some of the effects of the apparition appearing and fading away look rather dated, and a particular sequence in which a weary Kolchak eyes the spirit flitting from one church window to another is very poorly edited.
Actor Philip Carey is pretty wooden as the cop of the week who can't stand Kolchak, and the tie-up scene at the end is disappointing as it has Carl stating that the ghost is back with it's body and that Ryder Bond is safe. Well, that's nice to know, but it would have been more satisfying to have heard the conductor himself proclaiming that he was no longer plagued by the apparition.
Another item: doesn't a pinball arcade seem like an odd choice of setting for an eerie encounter with a murderous ghost?
Now, having said all that, "Firefall" does indeed have it's merits. Helmed by "Night Stalker" veteran Don Weis (director of the classic episode "The Vampire") with a script by Bill Ballinger, this one moves at a nice, consistent pace. The scenes in which an exhausted Kolchak stumbles about as he tries to do what's necessary to save himself are particularly fun to watch. The episode's best jolt occurs as Ryder admits the reporter into his apartment. As Carl enters expressing sympathy over the latest of Ryder's friends to be incinerated, the conductor vanishes into thin air. It's a startling moment when the viewer suddenly realizes before even Kolchak does that it was actually the doppelganger who let him in.
Some amusingly dry lines come out of the conflagration deaths as Kolchak says of one victim, "She is no longer a fallacious witness because she is presently inhabiting an urn!"
Kolchak counting a list of victims: "Michael Vaughn, Felicia Porter, and George Mason: three flames in an ever increasing gruesome candelabra."
Compared to other classic episodes in the series, "Firefall" may not qualify as one of the hotter entries, but it does generate enough heat to keep a viewer warm for an hour.