The Night Stalker (1972) (TV)

Director:

John Llewellyn Moxey

Writers:

Richard Matheson (teleplay)
Jeffrey Grant Rice (novel)

Release Date:

11 January 1972 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Plot:

An abrasive Las Vegas newspaper reporter investigates a series of murders committed by a vampire.

Plot Keywords:

Reporter | Vampire | Blood | Murder | Newspaper

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Darren McGavin	...	Carl Kolchak
Carol Lynley	...	Gail Foster
Simon Oakland	...	Tony Vincenzo
Ralph Meeker	...	Bernie Jenks
Claude Akins	...	Sheriff Warren A. Butcher
Charles McGraw	...	Police Chief Ed Masterson
Kent Smith	...	District Attorney Tom Paine
Elisha Cook Jr.	...	Mickey Crawford
Stanley Adams	...	Fred Hurley
Larry Linville	...	Dr. Robert Makurji
Jordan Rhodes	...	Dr. John O'Brien
Barry Atwater	...	Janos Skorzeny

Also Known As:

The Kolchak Papers (USA) (original script title)
The Kolchak Tapes (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

74 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

USA:Not Rated (DVD) | USA:TV-PG | Iceland:16 | UK:PG (1998 video re-issue) | USA:Unrated

Filming Locations:

Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Company:

American Broadcasting Company (ABC)

Trivia:

The role of Skorzeny was intended for Robert Quarry but he was forced to decline due to his contract with AIP.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the fight in the swimming pool, everyone falls in with their shoes on. When they are shown underwater, everyone is in their stocking feet. When they come out of the water, they all have their shoes back on again.

Quotes:

District Attorney Tom Paine: [after a disastrously failed capture attempt of Skorzeny] Well, what are we gonna do?
Carl Kolchak: [from the back of the room] *Now* are you willing to listen to my insane ideas?
Sheriff Warren A. Butcher: [angrily] Kolchak, get out of here!
District Attorney Tom Paine: Warren, hold it, hold it! Kolchak, you were there, weren't you?
Carl Kolchak: Yes.
District Attorney Tom Paine: Every man we've questioned insists not only that Skorzeny was possessed of incredible strength, but that he was shot more than once during the capture attempt.
Carl Kolchak: [sarcastically] Oh, I'd say thirty or forty times.
Police Chief Ed Masterson: I'm sorry, I'm not buying that.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Supernatural: Free to Be You and Me (#5.3)" (2009)

Soundtrack:

Manhattan

STILL scary...

Richard Matheson has scripted some of the finest fantasy to ever grace the screen (big and small) and this one, based on the then-unpublished novel by Jeff Rice, took us all by surprise in 1972. I remember the feeling of unease that crept over me as the tale unfolded that night so long ago. I remember a pale man dressed in black, robbing bloodbanks, and the not-so-heroic reporter who dogged his trail, determined to find the truth of the matter, no matter what the cost. I was mesmerised. And greatly satisfied, on all counts. Try watching this one alone, at night, and you'll experience the sheer terror that only the best fright films can engender.