Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good

Sameer Callahan It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Nayan Gough A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Leoni Haney Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

norman-bloom I have the DVD series and have watched it right through.I watch the series at night after 9pm for maxament effect. I like all the series and episodes. Its too bad the series only lasted for 1 season 1974 to 1975. The remake in 2005 was so bad it didin,t last that long and was canceled after 13 episodes.I wasn,t sorry. You can,t re create a great series like the original nightstalker.The new one had too many characters in it and made carl kolchak weak and it wasn,t even funny at times.I recommend the original series its the best and its a shame that the series didin,t have a longer run.I liked Tony Vincenzo,s character played by Simon Oakland. Him and Carl strangely enough had some good weird chemestry. There were laots of familiar faces in the series and I have the only 3 disc DVD of the series.I do have the Nightstrangler 1972 only on VHS. I loved Carls clothes. It was him and that hat was like a bird ,s nest on his head. He was identifiable at all times. But at least he got down to the story and delt with whatever he had to do. The police couldn,t do what Carl did. He had guts I tell you.You don,t find that in todays news reporters. carl stood out from all others. His boss must be proud of him. If you find this series I recommend you watch it.

calvinnme Kolchak was vastly under-appreciated in its day. In fact, I don't think I knew anyone else that watched the show in its first run - or at least would admit to watching it. Canceled after only twenty episodes in a Friday night time slot, it was pretty much forgotten until twenty years later when its basic format became the inspiration for the X-Files. Kolchak was a reporter on the trail of the supernatural. Like murders following Jessica Fletcher in "Murder She Wrote", the stories would sometimes find Kolchak rather than Kolchak always chasing the story. What made this series different from TV shows prior to it was that the government was shown to be suppressing attempts by Kolchak to get at the truth in just about every instance. This was a first in TV shows, and is possibly attributable to the fact that this show premiered about a month after Watergate blew wide open and the president was forced to resign. Although there are many similarities between this show and The X-Files, Carl Kolchak was no Fox Mulder in appearance or style. Like Peter Falk's Columbo, Kolchak wore crumpled attire and had an annoying way about him, but he did get results. Also, each episode of Kolchak was pretty much self-contained. There was no long-running story arc, such as Mulder's search for the truth in what he believed to be the alien abduction of his sister driving him to look for proof of alien existence. If you like shows about the supernatural and you can handle a little 1970's nostalgia and some cheesy special effects, I advise you give this series a try if you ever run across it.

Joxerlives Saw this in the 90s when it was repeated on late night BBC2 and recently bought the boxset out of sheer curiosity. Didn't disappoint, a thoroughly entertaining and in many ways groundbreaking.Really is Darren McGavin's show, he breathes such life and likability into the in many ways morally reprehensible Kolchak, the sleazy, loner, workaholic reporter who works his way through life bribing and tricking the gullible to get the story. He is heroic but at the same time you get the idea if he was around these days he'd be tapping Hugh Grant's phone. His closest friend seems to be his editor but even they're constantly rowing, their relationship one of the highlights of the show. It's interesting to see the bygone era of print journalism with rolls of quarters for payphones, stories being put out on 'the wire' and journalists researching with books and banging away on typewriters, not to mention the brutal, trigger-happy and corrupt Chicago police of the 70s. Love his car too, a classic Mustang convertible complete with police scanner whilst his outfit is a weird mixture of the formal and down at heel.Some good guest stars, Erik Estrada, Phil Silvers in what must be one of his last roles, Tom Skerrit. You can see the inspiration for Altered States here and the robotic company named the Tyrell corporation. Where the series falls down is its' lack of decent villains, once you get to Helen of Troy they're really scraping the barrel whilst The Sentry is blatantly a guy with a cardboard crocodile head mask. The series treatment of women, inevitably belittled and/or killed is also a little hard to take.

jpm4444 My mom and I were very much into horror films. As a little kid I loved being scared and Kolchak: the Night Stalker was more than happy to oblige me. The creators of X-files constantly gave credit to this series as being their foundation. They even wanted the Kolchak character to be a part of the series. The stories are smart and fun and keep you thinking. A handful of the stories are a little campy like the Sentry which uses a walking reptile like creature, but for most of the stories they deal with evil entities based on the supernatural, folklore, and legends. I love the Tony Vincenzo character; Carls' angry and often yelling editor in chief who is always fighting, but also always supporting Kolchak. From the actors to the great music, this series is a must have for any true horror fan. If you are looking for a slasher series, then this isn't it. For a fun, smart, and often scary and interesting ride, it doesn't get any better than the Night Stalker. I have the DVD series and I watch it often.