Darren McGavin is as fun as ever as headstrong investigative reporter Carl Kolchak, but the character has a less effective story than usual. The elements are there, and they are all somewhat intriguing: dead animals, dead people, killed by someone or something whom we never see, weird black goop left behind, a silent explosion, lead ingots vanishing into thin air, and the theft of electronic "guts". One rightly has to wonder what the deal is, and Kolchak is the only one to learn what's really going on.
Allen Baron, having also directed the debut episode, 'The Ripper', returns for this one, and keeps things humming along nicely, but there are certain problems here, chiefly that the humor is never as funny nor the horror as spooky as this viewer would have liked. Kolchaks' various confrontations with those he interviews are still entertaining, but lack a little spark. For one thing, neither the latest police captain (James Gregory) nor editor Tony Vincenzo (Simon Oakland) are as fed up and high strung around Kolchak as we're used to. The big laughs would often come out of their reactions, especially Vincenzos'. Good old Gordy the Ghoul (John Fiedler) is back, but he doesn't have too much to do.
What *does* add a bit of spark to the episode is the banter between McGavin and veteran character actress Mary Wickes, playing Dr. Bess Winestock. Her delivery is great; she can definitely hold her own alongside her exuberant co-star. Jack Grinnage is once again great as Ron Updyke, and it *is* fun to see *him* interact with Kolchak as the latter kindly reminds him of a debt owed. The audience can also have fun spotting the familiar faces in small roles: Dick Van Patten as an angry citizen, Phil Leeds as a member of a UFO encounter group, Len Lesser as a policeman, and Fritz Feld as a waiter.
Overall, this sizes up as watchable but not inspired, and that weird title is just the first indicator.
Six out of 10.