TRIVIA:

A number of references to the works of director Alfred Hitchcock and other movies feature in this episode.

Most obvious are the references to Hitchcock's Psycho: the custodian of the apartment building is a strange young man by the name of Norman Baines, who bears a resemblance to Anthony Perkins' character Norman Bates (Kurt Paul, who played Baines, also played mortician Norman Blates in Sledgehammer, and a Bates-like killer in Psycho IV); like the character of Norman Bates, Baines has a passion for taxidermy -- just look at his apartment; the original Psycho house is visited by Michael and Bonnie, and belongs to Grant's "Mother" (who watches them from Mother's window); and a variation of the Psycho theme can be heard at various intervals throughout the episode, plus the "NEXT, ON KNIGHT RIDER" TEASER. Bonnie discovers the "body" of the previous resident in her bathtub, after pulling back the shower curtain just like Bates does in the film.

Bonnie witnesses a murder through her apartment window just like James Stewart in Hitchcock's Rear Window, while there are sinister Birds at the Psycho house (the script mentions a Raven -- a nod to Edgar Allan Poe). Michael and Bonnie attend the Foundation costume ball as Rhett Butler and Scarlett O'Hara of Gone With the Wind, while Norman wears a pumpkin mask similar to those in Halloween 3: Season of the Witch. Simon arrives as an evil Cylon (from Glen A. Larson's original Battlestar Galactica).

The hologram projector found at Bonnie's apartment projects a demonic goblin head that talks in code -- a tape recorded message played backwards (a technique used by the Devil himself in The Exorcist) that reveals the address of the aforementioned Psycho House: 36 Fairview Road (Psycho was set in Fairvale, California).

The movie being screened at the drive-in at the episode's climax is the classic Creature from the Black Lagoon. The teenagers watch the film through 3-D specs (for reasons that become clear when watching the episode).

The fourth season episode FRIGHT KNIGHT contains another reference to Hitchcock's work. Investigating murder on a movie set (Universal's backlot), Michael states "Hitchcock would've loved it... we've got a Saboteur on our hands." Devon replies, "I'm glad you didn't say Psycho."

Actor Jason Evers previously appeared in the first season episode NOT A DROP TO DRINK.

SCRIPT TO SCREEN:

Michael was planning to attend the Foundation costume party as Long John Silver. K.I.T.T. recommends St. Francis of Assisi.

Michael actually breaks into the Central Costume store. When a security guard disturbs him, he calls on K.I.T.T. for a diversion: K.I.T.T. animates a suit of armor to scare him silly. The sequence is cut from the episode.

Originally, Michael and Bonnie discovered Linda's body in a pit hidden beneath the porch of the Psycho House.

SCRIPT - 3RD DRAFT - REV. 8/29/84

NITPICKS:

* Nitpicks contain spoilers

GO TO NITPICKS

LOCATIONS:

Parkdale Cleaners:
15268 Hartsook St., Los Angeles, CA 91403

36 Fairview Road:
Universal Studios Backlot, Psycho House

Drive-In:
Sepulveda Drive-In Theatre, Erwin Street, Van Nuys, CA

RELATED LINKS: