Incannerax What a waste of my time!!!

Supelice Dreadfully Boring

Pacionsbo Absolutely Fantastic

Beystiman It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

azathothpwiggins THE NIGHT STALKER is a fantastic made-for-TV horror movie. It has so much going for it, including its star, Darren McGavin as the grumpy, permanently-rumpled reporter, Carl Kolchak. Investigating a series of impossible murders, where the victims are completely drained of blood, Kolchak seems like the last person on Earth to be useful in such a case. The police agree. Yet, his old-school doggedness is the heart and soul of the story. Then, there's the killer, played quite convincingly by Barry Atwater. His dark presence was the most realistic portrayal of eeevil on network television at that time, or since! This is a Dan Curtis production, so its high quality should be no surprise. Curtis was unquestionably the king of 1970's horror TV! This could be his greatest contribution, as it was not only a solid, believable vampire tale, but also a huge hit, changing the way TV movies would be made. Scary, suspenseful, funny, and innovative, it holds up well all these years later. Co-stars Simon Oakland as Kolchak's explosive, "heart-attack-or-stroke-waiting-to-happen" boss, Vincenzo, and Claude Akins as the no nonsense Sheriff Butcher. Watch for Larry Linville as -what else?- a doctor, Elisha Cook Jr. as a contact, and lovely Carol Lynley as Kolchak's girlfriend, Gail Foster. Perfection...

Wuchak 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 successful TV movie, which naturally led to a sequel, "The Night Strangler" (1973), and a series that ran for one season from 1974-1975 (20 episodes), not to mention numerous Kolchak books. This original movie was the best of the batch with "The Night Strangler" almost as good and even better in some ways. Both movies established the template (formula) for all that followed. What makes this movie "the best of the batch"? Answer: The streamlined story is full of intrigue, action, ravishing women, horror and suspense; and the jazzy score doesn't hurt. As far as the women go, lovely Carol Lynley is on hand as Kolchak's babe, but not enough is done with her. Nevertheless, there are 3-4 peripheral beauties. The sequel flick and the first episode "The Ripper" followed this pilot's lead in the female department, along with "The Werewolf," but the rest of the series was rather weak on this front. Since this is a TV flick from the early 70s don't expect a much gore. THE MOVIE RUNS 1 hour 14 minutes and was shot in Las Vegas with studio work done at Universal Studios & Samuel Goldwyn Studios, CA. WRITER: Richard Matheson (teleplay) & Jeffrey Grant Rice (story).GRADE: A-

gavin6942 An abrasive Las Vegas newspaper reporter (Darren McGavin) investigates a series of murders committed by a vampire.It was based on the then-unpublished novel by Jeff Rice titled "The Kolchak Papers". Rice said he wrote the novel because, "I'd always wanted to write a vampire story, but more because I wanted to write something that involved Las Vegas." Rice had difficulty finding a publisher willing to buy the manuscript until agent Rick Ray read the manuscript and realized the novel would make a good movie.This being the first Kolchak story, it really hits hard. We get everything we love about the man (and his boss). And I am so glad that the ratings were so high, allowing a sequel to be made. Horror fans today (2016) who don't know Kolchak and think of Mcgavin as only the dad in "Christmas Story" are really missing out.

MartinHafer This is one of these made for TV movies that is very enjoyable provided you can suspend your sense of disbelief--and if you can, you'll have a lot of fun.This is the first of two pilot movies of the series that would later be called "Kolchak: The Night Stalker". Based on the enormous popularity of this film as an ABC Movie of the Week, it's not at all surprising that they soon made another film (THE NIGHT STRANGLER).Although the cities changed, there is decent continuity in the series. As always, Darren McGavin was the crazed reporter who always happened to stumble onto stories involving various monsters and his ever-cranky boss was always Simon Oakland--even when he moved from Las Vegas to Seattle. This was odd, as the two always seemed to hate each other but Simon was a wonderful foil.In this film, the monster in question is a vampire and the powers that be in Las Vegas weren't about to admit the truth of the story. Even when there seemed to be no doubt, the city fathers did their best to bury the story. And, not surprisingly, Kolchak wasn't about to let go.Excellent acting by McGavin was bolstered by great supporting actors--including two of my favorite film noir actors, the grouchy and rather ugly Charles McGraw and Ralph Meeker. Additionally, Kent Smith and Claude Akins are on hand--both whose major responsibilities in the film are to be grouchy and harass Kolchak!! Additionally, Kolchak has a love interest (Carol Lynley)--something he wasn't too successful in later episodes.The only negative (and this could be since the Movies of the Week were so rushed) was that the stunt double for the vampire really was poorly integrated. His hair was too long and the guy looked considerably younger. Still, this is a wonderfully entertaining film--one of the better made-for-TV movies of the era.