The Night Strangler (1973) (TV)

Director:

Dan Curtis

Writers:

Richard Matheson (written by)
Jeffrey Grant Rice (characters)

Release Date:

16 January 1973 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

A reporter hunts down a 144-year old alchemist who is killing women for their blood.

Plot Keywords:

Blood | Reporter | Serial Killer | Underground | Murder

Cast

Darren McGavin	...	Carl Kolchak
Jo Ann Pflug	...	Louise Harper
Simon Oakland	...	Tony Vincenzo
Scott Brady	...	Capt. Schubert
Wally Cox	...	Mr. Berry
Margaret Hamilton	...	Prof. Crabwell
John Carradine	...	Llewellyn Crossbinder
Al Lewis	...	Tramp
Nina Wayne	...	Charisma Beauty
Virginia Peters	...	Wilma Krankheimer
Kate Murtagh	...	Janie Watkins
Ivor Francis	...	Dr. Webb
Diane Shalet	...	Joyce Gabriel
Anne Randall	...	Policewoman Sheila
Francoise Birnheim	...	Restaurant Woman
Regina Parton	...	Merissa (Ethel Parker)
Richard Anderson	...	Dr. Richard Malcolm
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
George Tobias	...	Stacks / Jimmy Stackhaus (scenes deleted)
George DiCenzo	...	Underground Tour Guide (uncredited)
Bill McLean	...	Charlie the Bartender (uncredited)

Directed by
Dan Curtis

Writing credits
Richard Matheson		(written by)
Jeffrey Grant Rice		(characters) (as Jeff Rice)

Produced by
Dan Curtis	....	producer
Robert Singer	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Bob Cobert		(as Robert Cobert)

Cinematography by
Robert B. Hauser		(director of photography) (as Robert Hauser)

Film Editing by
Folmar Blangsted

Casting by
Hoyt Bowers

Production Design by
Trevor Williams

Set Decoration by
Charles B. Pierce		(as Charles R. Pierce)

Makeup Department
Scotty Rackin	....	hair stylist
William Tuttle	....	makeup artist (as William J. Tuttle)

Production Management
Christopher Seitz	....	unit production manager (as Christopher H. Seitz)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Christopher Seitz	....	assistant director (as Christopher H. Seitz)

Art Department
Robert M. Anderson	....	property master (as Robert Anderson)
Hendrik Wynands	....	construction coordinator (as Hank Wynands)
John Rozman	....	leadman (uncredited)

Sound Department
Gary S. Gerlich	....	sound effects editor (as Gary Gerlich)
Harold Lewis	....	sound mixer
Charles L. Campbell	....	supervising sound editor (uncredited)
John Kline	....	sound editor (uncredited)
Roger Sword	....	sound editor (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Ira Anderson Jr.	....	special effects (as Ira Anderson)

Stunts
Dick Ziker	....	stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Don Johnson	....	gaffer
Robert O. Moore	....	key grip (as Robert Moore)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
James M. George	....	costumer: men (as Jimmy George)
John S. Perry	....	costume supervisor (as John Perry)
Barbara Siebert	....	costumer: women

Editorial Department
Kent Schafer	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Leonard A. Engel	....	music editor (as Len Engel)

Transportation Department
Norman Honath	....	transportation manager (as Norm Honath)

Other crew
Betty A. Griffin	....	script supervisor (as Betty Abbott Griffin)
Lois Kerst	....	production assistant

Production Companies

• ABC Circle Films

Distributors

• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1973) (USA) (TV)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (video)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2004) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Consolidated Film Industries (CFI)  titles and opticals
• Chrysler Corporation  vehicles

Also Known As:

Runtime:

74 min | USA:90 min (video version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

UK:12 (1998 video re-issue) | USA:Not Rated | USA:TV-PG | Iceland:16 | Canada:PG (video rating)

Filming Locations:

20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

ABC Circle Films

Trivia:

At the end of the film Kolchak is telling Vincenzo and Janie Watkins (now both also out of work thanks to him) that he's going to drive them to New York City and that they'll love New York. Director Dan Curtis and screenwriter Richard Matheson had actually planned to do a third Kolchak movie set in NYC. In New York, Kolchak was going to discover that Janos Skorzeny - the vampire from the first film - was not only not dead, but active again! This film was going to complete a planned trilogy of Kolchak movies, entitled The Trilogy of Terror.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: Researcher Wally Cox traces the Night Strangler all the way back to the 1870s. All of the old news paper headlines report a murder in "Pioneer Square". This name wasn't adopted until 1970 to replace the original name of the neighborhood, "Skid Row".

Quotes:

[opening narration]
Carl Kolchak:This is the story behind the most incredible series of murders to ever occur in the city of Seattle, Washington. You never read about them in your local newspapers or heard about them on your local radio or television station. Why? Because the facts were watered down, torn apart, and reassembled... in a word, falsified.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Svengoolie: The Night Strangler" (1996)

Kolchak is back in a superior follow-up to The Night Stalker!

The Night Strangler is the follow up to the successful 1972 TV movie 'The Night Stalker'. Aside from featuring similar titles, the films also share similar plot lines, and it could be said that this is something of a remake of the first film with a slightly more in depth story. I won't profess to be a big fan of the first film in the series, although I found it to be a more than decent TV movie and I did enjoy it. This film isn't a big improvement over the first one, although I would say it's an improvement; with a longer running time and a more well thought-out plot, this one delves into it's subject matter more and feels more like a proper movie than a made for TV movie. Darren McGavin once again plays Kolchak; a maverick reporter who this time finds himself in Seattle after being ran out of Las Vegas (probably for annoying everyone with his constant persistence!). Coincidence strikes and pretty soon he's on the trail of yet another vampire! He discovers that every 21 years for over a hundred years, a group of people have been killed within a small time period and thinks the murders are connected.

The thing that stands out most about this film is most definitely the central performance from Darren McGavin. His portrayal of the stubborn reporter is great to watch and always ensures that the film is entertaining. A lot of the film consists of our unlikely hero trying to convince the relevant authorities that his suspicions are fact and them disbelieving them. These scenes are fairly clichéd, although they are fun to watch; and again it's mostly because of McGavin's excellent impersonation of the central character. Since the film is really about the detective on the trail of the vampire, there's not a great deal of actual bloodshed or bloodsucking in the film, although that isn't much of a hindrance because as a thriller it works very well and director Dan Curtis does manage to create several moments of suspense that kick the action up a level. It's always obvious where it's all going, and the ending doesn't come as a surprise; but it's a fun time getting there. This film and the first one were pilots for a TV series and obviously they did the trick because Kolchak was solving more mysteries in his own TV series a year after this film was released.