The Night Stalker (1972)

John Chard

7.0

Jul 25, 2015

Judge for yourself its believability and then try to tell yourself, wherever you may be, it couldn't happen here. Carl Kolchak (Darren McGavin) is a cynical and brusk Los Angeles newspaper reporter who comes to believe the activities of a serial killer are in fact - those of a modern day vampire! It spawned a sequel and a TV series, such was the impact of this better than average TV horror movie. It's a film of many delights, full of rich and quirky characters, who come to life as the screenplay enjoys toying with audience expectations. Nicely photographed as well, there's a lot of love…

Wuchak

8.0

Apr 25, 2018

A formidable vampire is on the loose in Las Vegas RELEASED TO TV IN EARLY 1972 and directed by John Llewellyn Moxey, "The Night Stalker" chronicles events in Las Vegas when the bodies of several young women are found drained of blood. Intrepid reporter Carl Kolchak (Darren McGavin) increasingly suspects that something supernatural is at foot, which his bellowing boss finds incredulous (Simon Oakland), as well as city authorities (Ralph Meeker, Claude Akins & Kent Smith). Elisha Cook Jr is on hand as an informant while Barry Atwater plays Janos Skorzeny. “The Night Stalker” was a hugely…

This is a nicely done TV thriller. It's campy but has a dark mood that I enjoyed. The "Night Stalker" himself got quite a bit of screen time; he wasn't hidden in the shadows too much. There are a couple of short but good action sequences where the Night Stalker evades police cars, motorcycles, even gun fire. Kolchak manages to handle the Night Stalker a bit too easily when compared to the army of police and their failings, but that is all part of the movie's charm. Darrin McGavin as Kolchak was one of my favorite characters as a youth and I absolutely loved the TV series that followed soon…