The Night Stalkers!

The Night Stalker starring Darrn McGavin is probably my favorite TV movie for sure and just might be my favorite movie all time. I never tire of watching it. The idea of putting a gothic horror like a vampire among the brightly lit streets of 70's Las Vegas is too fetching to resist. While that Las Vegas has mostly gone, like nearly all the folks who made this 1971 film happen, the flick still resonates, giving the viewer a peek into the nighttime world that makes Vegas so alluring and dangerous. As the story points out, Las Vegas is a city of strangers, and a predator of humans could well thrive within its borders. The prey is abundant and too naive to hide. This is the first movie to give us a look at Pete Rice's creation of Carl Kolchak, a brave reporter who hearkens to an earlier age when the truth mattered. That such a time likely never existed makes Kolchak all the more potent as an agent for the viewer to penetrate the unknown. Kolchak goes where angels fear to tread and no politician can even imagine. Kolchak penetrates are darkest heart and with his cheap flash camera brings those deadly secrets to life. 

 As good as The Night Stalker is, he sequel The Night Strangler written by Richard Matheson is much like but fails to be original enough to distinguish it from its predecessor. Kolchak is back and he finds infatuation if not live this time beneath the streets of Seattle. Again, there is work to bring the reality of the city onto the small screen but alas the city for all its charm lacks the vivacity of Las Vegas. Instead of a vampire Kolchak must battle against an alchemist from the mists of history. Highlights in this production are JoAnne Pflug and Wally Cox. Let me hasten to add that the debut film as well was superbly cast with the likes of Claude Akins and Kent Smith adding zest to a taut tale. 

Following the success of the two television movies a series seemed logical. Compared to the excellent movies, I've always rather found the episodes wanting, but on this viewing their virtues became evident. The wit which informed the movies is still very much in evidence. Kolchak's relentless pursuit of the truth is undiminished if his motivations seem garbled at times. Often, he pursues as story which will never be published because he seems to have set himself up as a protector of society. The range of threats is pretty wide. We of course get another vampire (connected to the first which was nice), a werewolf, a ghost or two, a zombie, a swamp monster, and such. But also, there are aliens and robots and energy creatures which made for some fascinating tales. Another very entertaining aspect was the wide variety of police officials Kolchak had to contend with, ranging from the naive to the cantankerous to downright conniving. Some were honest some were not, but they all seemed to be a great foil for Kolchak's hijinks. But truth told it was easy to see that after a mere twenty episodes the premise was weakening, and we are probably better off now that Darren McGavin's Carl Kolchak left the small screen with us wanting more. 

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