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JS: I think Moxey was trying to establish that the seventies were a scary time. Speaking of scary, one of my favorite members of Dan Curtis' stock company is also along for the ride; composer Robert Cobert. He did amazing work on Dark Shadows, and continued to work with Curtis through numerous TV movies (and went on to do one of his best scores for the Curtis-directed Burnt Offerings). Like many composers, his scores have a signature feel, and he masterfully creates eerie themes that always manage to fit the subject matter; whether the story is set in a Gothic mansion or on the Las Vegas strip. PE: The script is near-perfect as well. Akins and Oakland were fast running out of ways to say 'Kolchak, get out of here' but that's a nit. What I loved about this film is that it looks sideways at the vampire mythos.

Sure, we've seen dozens of the 'one guy knows about a monster but no one will believe him' but that's not really a point labored here. A vampire with a station wagon sounds like a goofy idea (why not a hearse, right?) but think about it. The guy's got to get around and, ostensibly, Matheson's not buying into the 'man into bat' transformation or, rather, he just doesn't address it. But even if Skorzeny could turn into a bat, or a wolf, how would he carry all those bottles of blood around? With little bat-wing-fingers? How does a vampire dress himself?

Does he keep a clean house (not in this case)? How does he buy that station wagon and buy that creepy house? These things, in other movies, are just a given. We don't question them because we just want to be frightened.

The house is always a castle and the vampire always wears the same clothes, those he was buried in. Richard Matheson lets us in on some of these secrets but he does so subtly. No one discusses it. JS: The isolation with the sunlight, sure, but Matheson wasn't going to deny us a staking, and Atwater really sells it when he realizes he's met his match. Speaking of Skorzeny, it was a nice surprise that he was not just another handsome vampire charming his way to the ladies hearts (or necks). He's a lumbering creature from the moment we first see him, from behind, stalking his prey. His house, as you mention, is equally unattractive.

While not a Gothic mansion, the last act is almost lit as such, which makes for a very creepy showdown between the monster and our intrepid reporter. JS: Think about it—Skorzeny is starting to feel the heat, and he knows he can't keep snatching up ladies of the Vegas night without getting caught. He needs to lie low for awhile, hence stealing blood from the hospital and setting up a tap in the old homestead. I'm more troubled by the fact that Kolchak seems shocked when he fires upon Skorzeny at point blank range with no effect.

After all he had seen, I don't know why he even bothered picking up Bernie's gun. PE: That doesn't really bother me.

It's like the military guys who continue to fire their sidearms at Godzilla. You have to try. Also, even though Kolchak is convinced 'This nut thinks he's a vampire,' there has to be some doubt, even now, that the guy's the real deal. Just a little doubt. JS: I can't imagine it's a coincidence that one of Skorzeny's identities was 'Belasco,' a name familiar to fans of Matheson's Hell House. Serial Turkey 2016 there. PE: It's too bad that the vast majority of the millions of fans of The X-Files and Supernatural have never even heard of The Night Stalker and yet, without it, would those shows have been created? At least in the case of The X-Files, series creator Chris Carter continually acknowledged the debt.

Good for him. JS: Click to check out a period article on The Night Stalker from issue #25 of Castle of Frankenstein magazine, including an interview with Barry Atwater. Thanks to the fine folks at for posting! I last saw this 4 decades ago and it didn't seem that dated to me at all. I remember the hot pants craze of the early 1970's and it was funny to see them again. Frankly, I was sort of worried that I might not like this movie because I am just about completely burnt out on vampire movies.

The recent Twilight crap was the final straw. But what made this vampire film watchable for me, was Darren McGavin and the humor. Though some people gripe about voice over narration, I like it when it is effective and it's well done in NIGHT STALKER. Peter is right about the great cast of character actors backing McGavin up. I believe Simon Oakland was the only character to make it over to the series in 1974.

First of all, Joey Heatherton was DEFINITELY a Vegas headliner in 1972! She was hot stuff, as I recall, and could sing, too! I never liked Carol Lynley, either, and never understood why she was always cast.

I never knew that the Jeff Rice story was unpublished. I remember reading a paperback novel of The Night Stalker by Jeff Rice. I guess it was published after the TV movie was aired. I vaguely recall a good article from Marvel's Monsters of the Movies that had more details on Jeff Rice and the novel, but I read it nearly 40 years ago so my memory may be faulty.

Gary Gerani Looking back, the original NIGHT STALKER telefilm was straighter and more hard-boiled than anything that followed. It was NIGHT STRANGLER that introduced the wacky tone eventually adapted and modified for Universal's weekly version. Although I remember being impressed by the eccentric qualities of STRANGLER and Dan Curtis' flamboyant style of direction (which blew everyone away in 1970 with HOUSE OF DARK SHADOWS), the first film, under Moxey's energetic but grounded helming, seems to have the edge over all other KOLCHAK incarnations when viewed today. A few observations on the observations: In Jeff Rice's original novel, it's explained that people know where to reach Kolchak because he uses one of the hotels as a sort of unofficial headquarters (as Jeff did when he was reporter in Vegas); also in Jeff's book, Skorzeny's house is made as plain and non-descript as possible (Jeff had scouted just such a house to be used in the film, but it burned to the ground shortly before filming started); and Skorzeny's death scene it the book is far more grisly (the TV movie went about as far as they could with that in the early '70s). Intriguingly, Jeff Rice didn't have a Gail Foster character in his original novel. The romance was something they felt was needed for a TV movie in 1972.

From 'The Night Stalker Companion': 'The prototype for Gail Foster, Carol Lynley's character, is Sam, a Las Vegas prostitute who is Kolchak's friend -- not his 'rather close friend.' The network was nervous about a hooker as the leading lady (how times would change!), so her occupation, her relationship with Kolchak and even her name were changed.' Christine, interesting that, as a producer, Dan Curtis did the most to humanize the vampire by giving us a vampire with a conscience, Barnabas Collins on 'Dark Shadows,' then immediately turned around and gave us a vampire so dehumanized, he wasn't even allowed to talk -- just snarl and hiss. Over a six-month stretch in late 1975 and into 1976, two landmark vampire novels were published: Stephen King's 'Salem's Lot' followed by Anne Rice's 'Interview with the Vampire.'

It's almost as if King said, 'I side with 'The Night Stalker,' while Rice said, 'I side with 'Dark Shadows.' Anonymous.I just stumbled across this site while surfing the net for trivia on The Night Stalker and any of it's stars. At 46, I will tell you that somebody in my family must have had the original TV movie on, in '71, as I was aware of it early on. I have an uncanny memory, and still recall the TV commercials advertising the original movie. In fact, I'm convinced that one of the spots had Oakland's saying 'Kolchak', in his usual frustrated way, while they showed atwater as the vampire. Because for years, I was certain there was a missing scene of the vampire speaking Kolchak's name. Anyway, I digress.

That TV movie is the best vampire movie ever made, to me, as it all seems real. Sure, you can tell when it's a stuntman (not on our old B&W TV,though) and there's no gore or digital garbage. And, though creepy, it doesn't leave you emotionally scarred like modern horror movies.

But, I love it, right down to the perfect choice of Atwater as the vampire. Today, it would either be a CGI vampire, or a pretty boy. This guy looked real, but creepy. What's startling to me, at 46, is to watch this movie, like I just did again, and think how it was over FORTY years ago, and most of it's stars are passed on, and anyone in background scenes is either old or dead.including the bikini clad ladies at the pool. I never can process the passage of time. There are many TV reunions that I wish had happened, or that I wish had been done right.

In fact, I can't think of one that worked, though I still think reunions could have been done if 'Fans' had taken over and the producers backed off. But, a Night Stalker reunion.or sequel, would have been great, say around 1992. Unfortunately, even by then some of the key actors were gone. Had that not been true, it would have been great to see McGavin as Kolchak, again (opening with him, maybe scanning through a newspaper in an old apartment in NYC, while sipping a coffee and in a light mood, when suddenly his face turns deadly serious as he sees a story about a grisly murder, accompanied by a composite of Atwater as the suspect). In watching Dan Curtis' interview, along with my DVD, I had forgotten his comment about how, initially, the second movie had Kolchak tracking the vampire in NYC. While I love The Night Strangler, I'd loved to have seen that other version of a sequel. In keeping with the theme of the movie, it seems there are almost no publicity shots of Atwater, except the few we see on Ebay, of McGavin holding up a cross to him.

I have 'one' photo, that I never see, but that's it. I think it's a real kick to learn that the 'Zombie' was also a heavy in The Six Million Dollar Man episode, One of our Runningbacks is Missing, and how he became, I think, a vice principle.

It sort of helps this 46 yeear old get less creeped out when I watch him in Zombie.lol.

As Janos Skorzeny in The Night Stalker Written by (teleplay) (novel) Directed by Starring Music by Country of origin United States Production Producer(s) Cinematography Editor(s) Running time 74 minutes Release Original network Original release January 11, 1972 Chronology Followed by The Night Stalker is a which aired on on January 11, 1972. In it an investigative reporter, played by, comes to suspect that a serial killer in the Las Vegas area is in fact a. Clad Genius Crack Serial Keygen. It was based on the then-unpublished novel by Jeff Rice titled The Kolchak Papers. Rice said he wrote the novel because, 'I'd always wanted to write a vampire story, but more because I wanted to write something that involved Las Vegas.' Rice had difficulty finding a publisher willing to buy the manuscript until agent Rick Ray read the manuscript and realized the novel would make a good movie. The 1973 novel (renamed The Night Stalker) wasn't published until after the TV movie had already aired, and was delayed according to Rice because the publisher wanted both Rice's original novel and the 1974 sequel The Night Strangler (written by Rice but based on the screenplay by author Richard Matheson) so 'they could be placed on the top of the publisher's list in the 1 and 2 positions for 1974.'

Directed by (a veteran of theatrical and TV movies), adapted by, and produced by (best known at the time for ), The Night Stalker became ABC's highest rated original TV movie, earning a 33.2 rating and 54 share which was unheard of for an original TV movie at the time. [ ] The TV movie did so well it was released overseas as a theatrical movie and inspired a sequel TV movie titled, which aired in 1973, a single-season TV series of twenty episodes titled which ran on ABC between 1974–75, and a short lived 2005 TV series called. Actor Darren McGavin recalled that his involvement began when 'My representatives called to say that ABC had purchased the right to a book called The Kolchak Papers. They were into a kind of first draft of a script by Richard Matheson, and they called the agency to ask them if I’d be interested in doing it. My representative read it and called me.' The popular TV movie, along with its sequel and the TV series, provided inspiration for Chris Carter's. Carter featured actor Darren McGavin in the show as a tribute to the actor and the project that inspired his popular series.

[ ] Originally Carter had wanted McGavin to play Kolchak, but the actor elected not to, so the role was rewritten, making McGavin's character Arthur Dales the 'father of the X-files'. Contents • • • • • • • • Plot [ ] In the opening, Kolchak is sitting on the bed of a sleazy hotel room, listening to a replay of his dictation on his portable tape recorder.

The notes are about a series of murders that have plagued the, and a cover-up of those events by the authorities. All of the victims had their bodies drained of blood. When a meeting is conducted with the sheriff's department, the FBI, the police and others, they discover the suspect's true identity is Janos Skorzeny, who is the prime suspect in multiple homicides involving massive loss of blood extending back years.

When Skorzeny attempts to rob a hospital, the police are called to stop him. Skorzeny is shot multiple times without effect, and manages to escape by outrunning a police car and motorcycle.

Kolchak's girlfriend Gail Foster (), either a Vegas showgirl or local prostitute (or both), urges him to explore vampire lore. The evidence persuades Kolchak to suspect that Skorzeny is a, much to the disbelief of his boss Anthony 'Tony' Vincenzo (). Following yet another failed attempt to capture Skorzeny despite overwhelming police force, the authorities strike a deal with Kolchak to eschew their traditional investigative methods for his vampire-centric approach in exchange for giving him exclusive rights to the story. Acting on a tip, Kolchak locates Skorzeny's safe house and pursues the story on his own fearful that the police will renege on their deal. Compromised when the vampire returns, Kolchak struggles to escape and is nearly killed by Skorzeny before his FBI friend, alerted to Kolchak's presence in the house, arrives and joins the fight.

Realizing that dawn has broken, Kolchak and friend force a weakened Skorzeny back against a sun-drenched staircase and stake the vampire, just as authorities burst through the front door. Kolchak writes his version of the story for the newspaper and proposes to his girlfriend, telling her that they will both move to New York City. The authorities, however, unwilling to publicly admit that Skorzeny was the vampire Kolchak claimed, print a false version of the newspaper story with his byline and threaten to charge him with first degree murder unless he quietly leaves Las Vegas. They also tell him that his girlfriend Gail has already been forced to leave the city for 'engaging in unsavory activities'. Carl exhausts his savings placing personal advertisements across the country in a futile attempt to find her. The final scene reverts to Kolchak in his sleazy hotel room. He explains that if anyone tries to verify the events in the book they will find that all witnesses have either left town, are not talking, or are dead.

He concludes by noting that Skorzeny and all his victims have been cremated, destroying any further ability to investigate the matter and, ironically, eliminating the possibility that those killed by Skorzeny would themselves rise as vampires and perpetuate the curse. This section does not any. Unsourced material may be challenged and. (September 2016) () The film is based on an original unpublished novel written. The novel was subsequently published in paperback form after the movie aired. In the story, reporter comes across a while working on the who is a modern-day named Janos Skorzeny. Pocket Books finally published the book as a paperback original using the title The Night Stalker, with a photograph of McGavin wearing his trademark and.

While some location filming was done in and around Las Vegas, the majority of the filming was performed at in Los Angeles. Subsequent history [ ] The Night Stalker garnered the highest ratings of any TV movie at that time (33.2 rating - 54 share). It did well enough that it resulted in a 1973 follow-up movie called and a planned 1974 movie titled The Night Killers which instead evolved into the 1974-75 television series titled, with McGavin reprising his role in both. An episode of the series titled 'The Vampire' was an actual sequel to this movie, deriving its story from characters introduced in it.

Following the series' cancellation, the franchise itself was still thought well enough of to prompt two more movies which were created by editing together material from 4 previous episodes of the series, with some additional narration provided by McGavin as Kolchak to help connect the plot lines. No new footage was included, however. On September 29, 2005 aired a remake of the 1974 series Kolchak: The Night Stalker, titled. ABC owned the rights to the original TV movies, but not the Universal TV series, and were limited only to using characters that had appeared in those movies. Release [ ] The film was released on a double feature with by in 2004.

The DVD also has a 21-minute interview with producer and director Dan Curtis divided up for each film (14 minutes for the first film and, then, on the flipside, a 7-minute interview discussing Strangler). See also [ ] • • • (3rd produced movie) • References [ ].