As I continue my journey through Kolchak: The Night Stalker series I’ve chosen on of my favorites for the spooky month of October, it’s none other than The Devil’s Platform which predates The Omen film by two years, it was one of four episodes directed Allen Baron and created from a story by Tim Maschler, inspired from the tales of “Faust” and “The Devil and Daniel Webster” using characters by Jeffrey Grant Rice and all of it becoming a teleplay by Donn Mullally and it starred Tom Skerritt.

Tom Skerritt and Darren McGavin

Our faithful and dedicated reporter Carl Kolchak begins the episode with a wee bit of narration, “politics make strange bedfellows… [paraphrasing] a senatorial race in Illinois had some of the strangest involved and leading to the most terrifying of all.” On July 22, Springfield, Eric Berringer having just had his last supper died in the fiery mishap, August 7, Dennis De Salvia became part of the ocean floor in spectacular manner, it’s here the story begins on August 14, Carl was assigned by his editor Tony Vincenzo to interview the popular rising candidate Robert Palmer (Tom Skerritt), who was outsmarting his opponents and others around him kept seeking the afterlife at an alarming rate; though at the time he believes it’s feel-good story piece, beneath his integrity. Palmer’s campaign manager Stephen Wald (Dick Patterson), a man with seemingly honest reputation experienced an elevator freefall though not as gruesome as Damien: Omen II [1978]. A large black dog springs out of the wreck, with a strange, inverted pentagram medallion on its collar that Carl invertedly grabs. Suddenly, Palmer vanishes from the political world, missing a key debate as he prowls after Carl, who sniffs out a possible conspiracy storyline, much to the dismay of Vincenzo. Meanwhile, Ms. Emily returns from Rome with a bit of foreshadowing and another of his team Susan (Julie Gregg) does not bring any doggy treats to a well-known park for lovers, she meets the same evil pooch, though we all learn what obvious traits it has. Kolchak discovers that Palmer sold is soul to Satan for the power here on Earth, it is a contract that his beloved wife Lorraine (Ellen Weston) wishes he repent. However, Palmer stays the course, true is new lord and master and offers Carl a similar proposal but our hero knows the riches are not real without the hard work, i.e. the ideal hands are the devil hands. It leads to a fitting holy conclusion with some adequate set design.

Did You Take My Doggy Treats

There two interesting tidbits, only those well-verse with the primary characters will likely notice this, that involve Ruth McDevitt’s character, if you recall the first episode “The Ripper” she was referred to as elderly woman, in episode 5 “The Werewolf” her name was established as Edith Cowels, nonetheless by the seventh show it was change for the last time to Emily Cowels. In addition, Tom Skerritt truly consumes all the props and attention in every screen time he gets, however it later in life interviews the actor never could recall being on the show but for very good reason, it was before his big break in Alien [1979] and the actor’s credits were filled with bit roles on numerous shows, constantly learning lines and new roles each week, and they all blurred together. Lastly artist Gil Melle stopped providing music for several reasons (which likely involved financial disputes for a highly limited series) after the first episodes and was reused during the 1975 run for three other episodes.

I found this film used the devilish dog aspect before anyone else, namely The Omen [1976], Dracula’s Dog [1977], and Devil Dog: The Hound of Hell [1978], it is an ominous trope. The story works well, the problem is scant on details, moving too swiftly, as a viewer one as to accept a lot to allow the enjoyment to free flow. Nevertheless, the selling of the soul is age old concept used as warning and enticement to the vulnerable, Halloween is a perfect time to view the sinister episode, Skerritt sells is role well.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0621541/

IMDb Rating: 7.6/10

Baron’s Rating: 7.5/10