The Night Stalker (1972)

Absolutely the worst movie.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Only in the glory days of television could you have a guy like Carl Kolchak-a middle aged reporter who's worn the same style of clothing for twenty plus years-be the main character and hero of a prime time event. Produced by legendary TV producer Dan Curtis and written by the equally talented Richard Matheson, "The Night Stalker" introduces us to that old school newspaper reporter Carl Kolchak, played by the late great Darren McGavin from "A Christmas Story", in what has to be one of his best and most iconic roles.Our story begins in the dazzling streets of Sin City, where a young woman is stalked and murdered by a creature of the night. Of course, the cops do everything in their power to try to cover up this fact but a certain dogged reporter just won't leave it alone (take a good guess who) much to their and Kolchaks's ever tortured boss ,Mr. Vincenzo's (Simon Oakland in his most memorable role) dismay. But as the bodies pile up, it soon becomes apparent to even the authorities, that only Kolchak has the answers to save the day. "Stalker" is a total blast to watch for several reasons but above all, Darren McGavin, who through his use of tape recordings, provides the audience with a straight forward and at times comical narration of events. Director John Llewellyn Moxey must also be praised for creating a spooky atmosphere for the film as well. And of course what vampire film would be complete without an effective Nosferatu and boy do we get it in the form of Barry Atwater, who may not say a whole lot, but manages to be quite memorable, I assure you! But there's something else I feel the film has and that is a grain of truth. Now I'm not saying that I believe in vampires; however in real life, when something strange is reported, something that defy's all natural logic, the authorities in charge-be they police, government, military,etc.-will never admit to the fact that they can't explain it. Rather, they will do everything in their power to down play the strange nature of the event by playing with words and burying the case as fast as they can (a fact that Kolchak learns the hard way). To sum it up, if you're in the mood for a fun filled, spooky movie, you can't go wrong with "The Night Stalker". Catch it on you tube sometime! Also starring Ralph Meeker, Claude Akins, Charles McGraw, and Carol Lynley.

I hadn't given this one a try before so I decided to pop it in and take a look. By the end I couldn't believe I let this one slip by. This could easily be one of the best TV Movies ever made.This one has one tight little story that will creep you out from start to finish. Even for an early 70's TV Movie, this one is extremely effective with story telling and atmosphere. By the end I knew the ending but I was so blown away the quality of the production and story, it didn't matter.It's a darn shame TV Movies with this kind of story telling doesn't exist anymore. Of course it didn't hurt that Richard Matheson wrote this one so if your a fan of his, jump on board this little gem and hold on. Great script, great acting and supreme atmosphere make this TV movie a winner all the way.

It's hard to imagine now, but by the early 1970s the vampire was, cinematically speaking, something of a dead issue. (Rimshot.) True, the UK's Hammer Studios were still plugging along with their Dracula Variations, starring Christopher Lee and a parade of bosoms in period costume, to increasingly musty effect. Attempts to modernize the concept, as in Dracula AD 1972, did not exactly catch fire.New motifs dominated the scene. Hitchcock's Psycho kickstarted the enormously profitable psychopath industry, Romero's irony-laced Night of the Living Dead established a taste for gore with social awareness. Polanski's Rosemary's Baby made even the presence of the Devil as imminent as a neighbor ringing the bell. The crux was immediacy -- vampires wore capes and came from the Old World. They were just so 19th century. Who would be scared?Curiously enough Richard Matheson, one of the industry's most prolific pros, had both reinvented and doomed the vampire as a credible agent of horror in 1954, by writing the novel I Am Legend. An tale of a lone human in a world taken over by vampires, it changed the field by making vampirism a scientific phenomenon instead of a supernatural one, and directly paved the way for Romero's visceral apocalypse. When the novel was filmed as The Omega Man in 1971, that hokey v-word had been taken out entirely; they weren't Nosferatu, just mutants.So it makes poetic sense that Matheson should help rescue the genre by scripting one of its modern classics: The Night Stalker. Adapted from an unpublished story by Jeff Rice, this whipsmart TV movie recharged the batteries by keeping it real.In a modern (1970s modern, that is) and believably seedy Las Vegas, a series of odd murders begins. The police call it the work of a serial killer. But as the anomalies pile up, our protagonist, a down-on-his-luck reporter named Carl Kolchak, forms a different opinion. "I hate to say it," he informs the chagrined authorities (and he doesn't hate to say it either; he's sitting on the scoop of the century and he's grinning like a Cheshire Cat) "But it looks like we've got a real, live vampire on our hands."Kolchak, as played by the wonderful Darren McGavin, is a masterstroke of characterization. With his cheap suit and outsize ego he's a walking irritant, and his exchanges with the police and his weary editor Anthony Vincenzo (Simon Oakland) are rich with comic detail. (The sheriff informs Carl that he is present by "the mutual suffrage of us all." "Sufferance," corrects Kolchak.) He makes the perfect hero here by having almost nothing of the heroic about him, except a certain hard-headedness that serves for courage. He *knows* he's right, and he might just get himself killed to prove it.Terrifically entertaining, The Night Stalker became the highest-rated TV movie of its time, spawning a sequel and a short-lived but quite fun series with a disproportionately large footprint. The X-Files, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Supernatural, Fringe-- all these shows can count themselves as Kolchak's progeny.For better or worse (generally for worse, although see Let the Right One In) vampires now crowd the screens again, and through inflation are once again a devalued commodity. In movies like Blade or From Dusk till Dawn or 30 Days of Night they appear in hordes. But as The Night Stalker reminds us, one vampire ought to be enough for anybody.

'The Night Stalker' is a 1972 T.V. movie based on Jeff Rice's ( then ) unpublished novel. When shown originally in America, it garnered the highest ratings of the season, inspiring not only a sequel - 'The Night Strangler' - but also a series which Chris Carter later acknowledged as the major inspiration for 'The X-Files'. I myself saw it late one Saturday night on I.T.V. - possibly around 1975 - and it struck me as unusually scary for a television product. On the school bus on Monday morning, it was the main topic of conversation.Set in present-day Las Vegas, the police are baffled by a series of horrific murders. In each case, the victim is young, female, and completely drained of blood. Human saliva is found in their veins. Carl Kolchak ( Darren McGavin ), an eccentric news reporter, tries to get at the truth, but is thwarted at all turns by the authorities, who are trying to cover up the presence of a vampire in the town. When said vampire - Janos Scorzeny ( Barry Atwater ) - is caught trying to steal blood supplies from a hospital, the police close in. Kolchak witnesses at first hand the killer effortlessly swatting the men away like flies. It seems he is also gifted with superhuman strength...Intelligently written by Richard Matheson, 'The Night Stalker' combines horror and humour to great effect. In his book 'Danse Macabre', Stephen King is rude about Rice's novel, but in fact it is as good as many of his works. Las Vegas, a city that never sleeps, is a perfect place for a latter-day vampire. No cobwebbed castles or horse-driven carriages for Janos. He stalks the casinos and even drives a car! The cast, particularly McGavin and Simon Oakland as his bad-tempered editor 'Tony Vicenzo' - are fantastic. But Atwater is the one you will remember. He does not say a word, but conveys menace with his eyes. I had a heck of a job getting off to sleep after originally seeing this! Also around are Ralph Meeker ( 'Bernie Jenks' ), Claude Akins ( 'Sheriff Butcher' ), Kent Smith ( 'D.A. Tom Paine' ), and Elisha Cook Jr. ( 'Mickey Crawford' ) all of whom provide first-rate support.The cherry on the cake is the twist ending. Having dispatched 'Scorzeny' with the customary stake through the heart, Kolchak then finds himself arrested for murder! With no solid proof that the vampire existed, the reporter is ordered to leave town forever. Even his girlfriend, Gail Foster ( the lovely Carol Lynley ), is kicked out too! There's ingratitude for you! Though the spin-off series is available on D.V.D. in the U.K., neither this nor 'Night Strangler' is, and that's strange. Vampires now tend to be thought of as children's literature fodder. Watch this and you will see them from an era in which they were frightening! Directed with great style by Britisher John Llewellyn Moxey.