Flyerplesys Perfectly adorable

Konterr Brilliant and touching

Stoutor It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

Rio Hayward All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

hrkepler Probably the best made for television (horror) movie of all times, or at least it is in the very top. 'The Night Stalker' wonderfully mixes the style of 1940s film-noir and '70s horror.When string of odd murders where victims are drained from blood occur in Las Vegas, a has been crime reporter Carl Kolchak (Darren McGavin) starts to investigate in the need for good story. Soon he discovers that the killer is indeed a real vampire. He warns the authorities, but Kolchak's discoveries are not heard, rather they want to quiet the relentless journalist, until the moment when police has to face the unstoppable killing machine in real life.As the film is made for television, it is pretty tame in the department of blood and gore, but that doesn't reduce the film's horror value a bit. The films winds up the tension with very first minutes and doesn't loose its focus and psychological suspense until the climatic finale between the heroic journalist and the vampire. The charismatic lead, who looks and sounds like he has stepped out of some '40s crime film, is supported by fantastic cast of interesting character actors. Screenplay is masterfully written by horror genius Richard Matheson. And the vampire is actually scary and threatening.

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newspaper reporter (Darren McGavin) investigates a series of murders committed by a vampire.It was based on the then-unpublished novel by Jeff Rice titled "The Kolchak Papers".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.

lost-in-limbo So this is where it all begun. The enigmatic Darrin McGavin as Carl Kolchak the investigative reporter donning a straw hat, seersucker suit and white sand-shoes who always finds himself at the end of something supernatural that when it comes down to printing his story. Who's going to believe him. What was simply a one-off movie of the week had a winning formula which would spawn another made-for-TV film a year later (The Night Strangler) and a short-lived TV series which no doubts was an inspiration for latter TV shows. Nonetheless "The Night Stalker" was a made-for-TV feature produced by none other than Dan Curtis and the teleplay penned by Richard Matheson who adapted it from an unpublished novel by Jeffrey Rice. An ageing, former top crime newspaper reporter Carl Kolchak takes on a story, which sees a brutal murder of a showgirl. He finds out that the cause of death was due to her losing a huge amount of blood and bite marks where discovered on her neck. Then a series of murders start to occur in the same fashion, while also blood is being stolen from hospitals. The police are trying to conceal it, while Kolchak goes about getting clues to put in together. Could it be some maniac who thinks they're a vampire or is it the real deal?Fun, exciting, macabre and unique. Where's a better place to stage something which is strange and wonderful, Las Vegas is where those would considered those descriptions the norm. But the driving factor was the larger-than-life performance of McGavin, who's strong-willed and nosy persona was somewhat a nuisance for police authorities, political officials and of course his own editor, Vincenzo (play with vigour by Simon Oakland). These inter-actions were always amusing, for its suspense, but more so the witty laughs. This comes to light when he chucks out his vampire theory during a press conference, which of course he's shot down for. Even with the rich humour, the investigative side is tacked with snappy suspense and eerie thrills. Like those encounters when Kolchak watches on as the police struggle to contain the killer when they have him pinned or the finale standoff in a traditional Gothic sense which sees Kolchak risking his own life to finish the job which no one else will do. This makes the dying stages and final wrap-up in the District Attorney's office even more downbeat and heartfelt, as Kolchak virtually gets a stake to the heart in a no-win deal that sees him packing his bags after writing the story of his life for it to only hit the cutting room floor. Then you get the signature sign off. Matheson's clever script is a nice mix of horror and mystery with the witty, razor sharp dialogues and Kolchak's imitate voice-over lending well to the off beat story and highly engaging relationships (like the one McGavin's shares between the angelic Carol Lynley). The support cast are nothing short than remarkable; Ralph Meeker, Claude Atkins and Charles McGraw leave their marks. In the role as the sinister vampire, Barry Atwater is agreeably good with his striking features and overall silent, but animal-like presence. He's turn is more fiendish, than suave. Director John Llewellyn Moxey is sturdy in delivery. Production values are solid and the set-pieces are straight-forward, but comfortably competent in its positioning and use of shadows and lighting. An highly entertaining cult fare. "Don't look now, baby, but Kolchak's coming back in style."

Chase_Witherspoon Taut little TV-scale shocker hits all the right notes as it tells the story of intrepid reporter Carl Kolchak (McGavin) chasing the story of a modern-day vampire (Atwater) whose lust for blood is resulting in several young women dying horrible deaths, and the local police precinct clueless to the culprit or motive. Predictably, when Kolchak attempts to convince the authorities to suspend disbelief ditch the revolvers and arm themselves with crucifixes, he's branded a crackpot and threatened with gaol.McGavin is superb as the irritatingly tenacious media man with the straw hat and loud jackets, whose female acquaintance - Carol Lynley - becomes unwittingly pawned in his ensuing battle with the establishment. Kent Smith plays the DA with appropriate pomp and ambivalence, Claude Akins is the disbelieving police chief whose had a gut full of Kolchak's apparent disrespect, Simon Oakland Kolchak's long-suffering editor, and Ralph Meeker has his close friend and contact, perhaps the only other person who can be convinced that Barry Atwater is a blood-sucking vampire. There's small roles for Larry Linville (pre-Frank Burns), Stanley Adams and Elisha Cook, Jnr rounding out an impressive cast.As a TV movie it's quite compact (75 minutes), so my only gripe is that there wasn't more to enjoy. Fortunately it spawned a short-lived TV series ("Kolchak") and a sequel of sorts ("The Night Strangler") and it's a series worth catching if you have the opportunity. As another reviewer has already telegraphed, there's not a lot of gore to be found here, but the violence remains quite strong by seventies TV standards.