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Buck Rogers in the 25th Century - Space Vampire
episode 1.12
USA 1980
produced by Jock Gaynor, David J. O'Connell, Glen A. Larson (executive) for Glen A. Larson Productions, Universal/NBC
directed by Larry Stewart
starring Gil Gerard, Erin Gray, Tim O'Connor, Christopher Stone, Nicholas Hormann, Lincoln Kilpatrick, Patty Maloney, Mel Blanc (voice), Eric Server (voice), David Moses, Phil Hoover, Jeannie Fitzsimmons
story by Michael Bryant (= Alan Brennert), screenplay by Kathleen Barnes, David Wise, based on characters by Philip Francis Nowlan, Robert C. Dille, music by Robert Prince, visual effects supervisor: Peter Anderson
TV-series Buck Rogers, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century
review by Mike Haberfelner
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Buck Rogers (Gil Gerard) and Wilma Deering (Erin Gray) board Commander
Royko's (Christopher Stone) space station to have their robot Twiki (Patty
Maloney, voiced by Mel Blanc) serviced, and it's not long before a space
ship, the Demeter, crashes into the station. Now fortunately, the damage
to both the station and she Demeter are only minimal, but upon boarding
the ship, it's found that the entire crew has been killed by some virus -
only the station station's doctor (Lincoln Kilpatrick) insists they're not
actually dead. He is not believed, but soon turns up dead himself, as are
other crewmembers. Royko's quick to blame it on the virus brought in by
the Demeter, which would correspond with the ship's log, but Buck soon
suspects vampirism, and finds out that the Demeter's only passenger,
Helson (Phil Hoover) was some sort of space vampire hunter. What's more,
Wilma has visions of a vampire, Vorvon (Nicholas Hormann), who eventually
attacks her. Buck saves her, but Royko misjudges the situation, deems Buck
a danger for the station and incarcerates him - and incarcerates Wilma as
well, because she defends Buck. Locked into her room, Wilma is confronted
by Vorvon again, who apparently has chosen her to be his consort, and
turns her into a vampire like himself. She pays a visit to Buck to try and
turn him as well, but no luck, and thus she and Vorvon leave the station
in Buck's ship - which he has booby-trapped though by programming it to
fly into the next sun. When Wilma and Vorvon head for the sun, Vorvon's
control of Wilma loosens and she can bail out just in time before
the ship and everything in it is reduced to cinder ... Now a
space vampire sounds like a fun concept, and of course vampire fans will
have noticed the ship's name Demeter is right out of Bram Stoker's Dracula,
and Helson also sounds an awful lot like Van
Helsing. But that said, everything about the episode is
actually pretty hokey to even campy: While the horrors are toned down to
go in line with the light mood of the series as a whole, and the thing is
kept mostly atmosphere-free, the actual lead vampire looks a little bit
ridiculous, and with its grostesquely big ears and bushy eyebrows looks
more like a fun Halloween mask than anything actually creepy. All that
said, the episode is still enjoyable for its hokeyness and camp, but it
also feels like wasted potential.
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