The Night Stalker (1972)

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

Director:

John Llewellyn Moxey

Writers:

Richard Matheson (teleplay), Jeffrey Grant Rice (story) (as Jeff Rice)

Stars:

Darren McGavin, Carol Lynley, Simon Oakland

2 wins.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Darren McGavin	...	Carl Kolchak
Carol Lynley	...	Gail Foster
Simon Oakland	...	Tony Vincenzo
Ralph Meeker	...	Bernie Jenks
Claude Akins	...	Sheriff Butcher
Charles McGraw	...	Chief Masterson
Kent Smith	...	D.A. Paine
Elisha Cook Jr.	...	Mickey Crawford
Stanley Adams	...	Fred Hurley
Larry Linville	...	Makurji
Jordan Rhodes	...	Dr. O'Brien
Barry Atwater	...	Janos Skorzeny

Storyline

Carl Kolchak is a newspaper reporter with an abrasive personality that has gotten him fired ten times from various big-city papers. Now he's reduced to reporting for a relatively small-time paper in Las Vegas. It's here he gets the story of his life. But will the local sheriff, or the D.A., or even his own boss, let him print it? He has an ally in the FBI agent brought in to investigate this strange case. It seems someone is biting the necks of young girls and draining their blood. Can this killer with supernormal powers really be a 70-year-old Romanian millionaire? Can he really be a vampire? And can an aging reporter do anything to stop him?

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Plot Keywords:

serial murder | 1970s | las vegas | nevada | reference to dracula | 

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Genres:

Horror | Mystery

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 January 1972 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Kolchak Papers

Filming Locations:

Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$450,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

ABC Circle Films, Dan Curtis Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

74 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The music from the 1970 movie House of Dark Shadows was used towards the end of the TV movie Night Stalker. It is particularly noteworthy towards the end of the movie as Kolchak and Bernie Jenks (Ralph Meeker) are fighting Janos Skorzeny (Barry Atwater) in the vampire's house.

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Goofs

During the fight with Skorzeny at the swimming pool, when the police finally have him pinned down on the ground, they let go of him and one of the officers tells him to "get up...slowly." None of the officers attempt to put handcuffs on him, which they would have done immediately, especially with someone suspected of multiple murders.

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Quotes

[about his vampire story]
Carl Kolchak: Judge for yourself its believability and then try to tell yourself, wherever you may be, it couldn't happen here.

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Connections

Featured in A Little Night Music with Robert Cobert (2018)

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Soundtracks

Manhattan
Music by Richard Rodgers
Lyrics by Lorenz Hart
Performed by Darren McGavin

User Reviews

Creepy vampire film.

Las Vegas is a town where the unusual is considered normal.However when former top reporter Carl Kolchak played by Darren McGavin meets with police reluctance while covering the murder of a showgirl his curiosity is aroused.Suddenly there is a series of murders apparently committed by the vampire killer.The closer Kolchak gets to the truth the less he is able to reveal and the more frightened he becomes."The Night Stalker" is a taut and suspenseful mix of vampire horror and comedy.The cast is superb with McGavin playing Kolchak like a 1940s' reporter who has emerged from a time capsule into the 1970s.The portrayal of vampire Skorzeny is positively bone-chilling.I'm not deeply into made for TV horror,but "The Night Stalker" is very good.