Guest
One of the best slices of television terror of the ‘70s if you ask me, The Night Stalker (1972) and The Night Strangler (1973). They all star Darren McGavin as Carl Kolchak, as the first two movies explicitly made reference to, a character straight out of The Front Page. He’s a disheveled newspaperman who will do anything to get his story. It just so happens that the stories he follows have an odd tendency to be supernatural. Supporting Kolchak in the films and series is Simon Oakland as Tony Vincenzo, a hot tempered editor who clearly has stomach ulcers. Kolchak makes his life much harder because even though the stories are right, Vincenzo can’t publish them. That’s especially true in the movies, where Vincenzo wants to publish Kolchak’s stories but is prevented from doing so. In the series, it is usually the case that evidence is destroyed or withheld, not allowing Kolchak to file a story. The Night Stalker The first movie was The Night Stalker, produced for ABC and released as part of its Movie of the Week series. It is different from the second film and the series in being more serious. It was based on an unpublished story by Jeff Rice, who would go on to be credited as the sole producer of the series. But despite its sad ending and Kolchak’s more serious nature, the basics are all there. Kolchak figures out that a series of killings is being done by a real-life vampire. He tries to convince the authorities that this is the case, but in the end, the authorities cover up the truth. Today, I find the “people will panic” explanation to be tired and unbelievable. But it worked in 1972. Barry Atwater plays the title role with intense stillness. Also of interest is Larry Linville as the coroner, who stands out in being open-minded to Kolchak’s vampire theory. Elisha Cook Jr has a small role as one of Kolchak’s informants. Carol Lynley plays Kolchak’s girlfriend. She’s good but seems a bit out of his league. Other familiar faces include Claude Akins, Kent Smith, and Stanley Adams. The Night Strangler The Night Strangler was an original story and screenplay by Richard Matheson. He had also written the screenplay for The Night Stalker, but you can tell that he gets to be more of himself here. Matheson was a great science fiction and horror writer. But he was really at his best when he combined these genres with comedy as he did in The Comedy of Terrors and Roger Corman’s The Raven. The whole movie has a lighter tone, with an absolutely fabulous ending. But that doesn’t mean it lacks for horror. Much of the third act is quite suspenseful. At the end of The Night Stalker Kolchak was run out of Las Vegas. So at the beginning of The Night Strangler, we find him in Seattle. The movie opens with Vincenzo at a bar where he orders a glass of milk (remember the ulcers). As he’s being served, he overhears a voice that sounds familiar. So he asks the bartender, “Take a look around that corner; see if there isn’t someone there who looks like he just came from a road company performance of The Front Page?” So the two are back together again! But even with its upbeat ending, it still ends the same: moving on to another city. The film also stars Jo Ann Pflug as Kolchak’s love interest. She’s a college student who is a belly dancer by night. She is also a chatter box — outdoing even Kolchak himself. The Night Strangler is filled with even more familiar faces than its predecessor. They include Richard Anderson in the title role. You probably know him as Oscar Goldman in The Six Million Dollar Man. But it also includes Al Lewis, Wally Cox, and John Carradine. There are many more you’ll recognize, but those three are especially delicious.
