The Night Stalker/The Night Strangler (1972)

 The Night Stalker/The Strangler
I believe these movies came out in the 70's. I was very impressed with the sound and picture quality. I remember seeing both of these movies when I was very young--they were really scary! I recommended these movies to a friend in work and he watched them with his young daugter--she had a hard time sleeping that night. It seems these two movies are just as scary today as they were when they first aired in the 70's. These movies are two of my all time favorits. March 30, 2008

 A walk down a (scary) memory lane
The memories of 70's "Movies of the Week" come flooding back when watching these DVD's. The original "Night Stalker" movie was terrific at the time and still good stuff right now - amazing how a good story can make for a good movie rather than depending on high-tech special effects to bring in the audience. The "Night Strangler" was a decent psuedo-sequel - like how it showed off the Seattle underground, something not readily aware to many. Quality of both recordings is not great but still loads of fun watching these - recommended for the Kolchak fans out there. February 28, 2008

 A Must Own Classic !
Darren McGavin has always been 1 of my favorite Actors so when they made The Night Stalker series featuring him, they had my vote. The Pilot episode 'The Night Stalker' is already a classic but along with 'The Night Strangler' who features Richard Anderson, A Movie that has both of the OSI leader's from TV's 'The Six Million Dollar Man', McGavin(The Pilot) & Anderson(The Series), These two give a great performance of good vs evil... February 10, 2008

 The Original X-Files!
In 1972's "The Night Stalker," Carl Kolchak is a Las Vegas newspaper reporter working on a story about the mysterious murders of showgirls, the victims being found with bite marks on their necks and drained of their blood. Only downtrodden Kolchak is a good enough investigator, and a sensible enough one, to discover and believe the truth about the elusive killer. Unfortunately, the authorities refuse to accept the possibility of the existence of vampires. Carl is naturally forced to find a way to expose the truth and/or dispatch the creature himself.

That is basically the Kolchak formula, actually, if you add to it his stories being buried due to lack of evidence or some sort of cover-up. However, thanks to the captivating acting of A Christmas Story's Darren McGavin as stubborn and relentless Carl Kolchak, it never seems to get old. At least, not to us diehard fans (I was born in '75, but grew up watching reruns of the TV series on late night television). Produced by "Dark Shadows" creator Dan Curtis (who directed the second Kolchak film), "The Night Stalker" was a huge hit of a TV movie and resulted in the creation of "The Night Strangler" the following year. Strangler took a more unique turn, as Kolchak, forced to leave Las Vegas and finding himself in Seattle, ends up in pursuit of an all together different type of monster: an extraordinarily old alchemist who has found the secret to eternal youth and enhanced vitality. Unfortunately, it is a secret that requires a series of murders every 20 years.

As in the series, Kolchak's boss in both films is Mr. Tony Vincenzo, a bloated, nervous wreck of a man who blames most of his suffering on incessant bickering with Kolchak himself. Often taking punishments along with Carl, Vincenzo (Simon Oakland) finds himself run out of Vegas and Seattle as well, both characters ending up together again for the short-lived TV series set in Chicago, Illinois. Popular as it was, the TV series was given a poor time slot, and I don't doubt the formula wore thin for some viewers after a while, either. However, for those of us who loved it, not only is the series on DVD as well, but Moonstone publishing has been doing a Kolchak comic book series over the last few years that keeps pretty loyal to the old show. Not so loyal was the awful remake series from 2005 that had more in common with X-Files (minus the charisma and chemistry), a show that oddly enough was inspired by the original Night Stalker TV series. Personally, I have always wanted to make some bigscreen Kolchak movies myself one day, and since the revival series bombed, perhaps that window is still open. Anyway, for something current that has a bit of a Kolchak feel, I recommend the CW series "Supernatural".

As for this DVD, it is a single disc with one film and one extra on each side. The extras are short interview sessions with Dan Curtis, the second one being very light. Still, it's amazing we were given any extras at all, though more would definitely have been welcome. The films look and sound great, are appropriately fullscreen, and are definitely a treat for the Kolchak fanatic. They're loaded with stars and great performances. Barry Atwater plays the ghastly vampire in "The Night Stalker", along with Claude Akins as a sheriff (but not Lobo) who makes trouble for Carl, and Carol Lynley as Carl's girlfriend. Yes, in these films, Carl shows a mild interest in more than just his stories! In "The Night Strangler", the murderer in question is played by Richard Anderson of "Bionic Woman" and "Six Million Dollar Man" fame and the views of the underground city where he makes his lair are hauntingly fascinating!
February 2, 2008

 Night Stalker DVD

This was exactly what I was looking for. It brought back so many good memories for my family over the holidays. January 12, 2008

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