Among the most well-known legends in horror is the legend of the vampire. Whether it is used as a symbol of pure evil or a sympathetic creature, everyone is familiar with vampire myth. A man or woman who is dead and yet alive, undead if you will, who sleeps in a coffin by day, stalks the Earth after sundown seeking its prey. A single ray of sunlight falling upon a vampire, would kill it. Blood, our very life force, is the nourishment it seeks and by routinely drinking blood, the vampire continues on forever.
Simply a timeless tale, variations of the vampire myth have existed in motion pictures almost since the beginning of the medium itself. Although some of the early films were not willing to fully commit to the vampire myth (the lost film LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT is an example of this), Tod Browning’s DRACULA changed all that. In the years since, the vampire has existed in many forms, many times, many eras and many locations. From the broken battlements of crumbling Eastern European castles to the more recent 30 DAYS OF NIGHT, set in an Alaskan town that stays dark for 30 full days. It is this ability to morph into different scenarios that keeps the vampire relevant in a culture that has far surpassed the silly superstition associated with the story.
Timeless as a vampire story may be, the opposite it true of many films from the 1960s and 1970s. Few films have aged as badly as films made in the late 1960s and early 1970s that were set in then modern times. The counterculture of its time has become almost a self-parody. The style of dress and sometimes inane slang have become a great source of ridicule by modern popular culture. It’s kitsch, it’s camp and sometimes it’s fun, but rarely effective anymore (one needs only to see Hammer Films’ two dismal attempts at placing Dracula in 1970s mod-England to know that), but there are exceptions to the rule.
It seems almost impossible that in this new century, a middle aged man living in the 1970s wearing a powder blue seersucker suit could seem so badass and yet that is exactly the way I’d describe Carl Kolchak, the intrepid Las Vegas reporter in THE NIGHT STALKER.
The story begins in an apartment as our hero, unkempt and possibly sleep deprived sits up in bed. A cassette tape is popped into a tape recorder and played for us. It sets up the story of a single baffling crime that soon spun into “one of the greatest manhunt in history.” Throughout modern Las Vegas, bodies are being found with all the blood drained out of them. The crimes are leaving the police dumbfounded. One in particular sees a body found in the desert sand with no footsteps leading to or from the crime scene. Reporter Carl Kolchak was called back into work from vacation to cover a20routine two day old murder of a swing shift change girl. Upset at the thought of being forced back to work for such a routine story, Kolchak nevertheless works hard at cracking the details of the crime. As the facts soon begin to unravel, the skeptical Kolchak begins to doubt his own findings as the main suspect soon becomes a man born in Romania in 1899. This would make the murderer 73 years old.
The very idea that a 73 year old man could be stalking the night seems ridiculous at first, but after the police nearly catch the man and he throws them around as though he possesses some superhuman strength, it becomes clear to Carl that we have a vampire on our hands. The thought of a vampire stalking the streets of modern day Las Vegas is obviously met with a great deal of resistance by the police. Can Carl prove that it is indeed a vampire stalking the city and more importantly, can he find a way to stop this evil creature from continuing his reign of terror over the city despite the police force’s unwillingness to help?
Director John Llewellyn Moxey was no stranger to the horror genre. By 1972, the Argentinean born British director had been behind the camera of many a tale of terror including 1960’s HORROR HOTEL and the 1971 TV film A TASTE OF EVIL. He would continue to work frequently in the genre until is retirement in 1991.
Star Darren McGavin made two made for TV thrillers in 1972 and as difficult as it is to fathom, the one directed by Steven Spielberg is the lesser of the two! McGavin was perhaps best known at this time for his portrayal of Mike Hammer in “Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer” although the 50 year old actor would find success on several other shows, landing starring roles in “Riverboat” and “The Outsider.” The success of THE NIGHT STALKER would lead to a short-lived spinoff series where McGavin would reprise his role as the reporter battling all kinds of creatures in a “monster of the week” style format. In 1983, another role would add to his legendary status when he played Mr. Parker (aka The Old Man) in the yuletide classic A CHRISTMAS STORY. He would receive an Emmy nomination for his portrayal of Bill Brown on the hit series “Murphy Brown” in 1990 and win a Cable Ace Award in 1992 for the TV movie CLARA. He would also appear as the father of titular character BILLY MADISON in the 1995 hit film. McGavin would top off his career working on another legendary supernatural series, “The X-Files.” Series creator Chris Carter, a great fan of THE NIGHT STALKER, sought out McGavin to play Agent Arthur Dales in two episodes in 1998 and 1999. McGavin would pass away in 2006.
There is no gore in THE NIGHT STALKER. There is barely any blood at all. THE NIGHT STALKER success lives and dies with its central character, the loveable, but severely flawed Carl Kolchak. The film stands as a rarity in the genre, a monster movie that’s not about a monster. It’s about people. It’s about a reporter who wants to give the public some truth despite the powers that be that would hold back the truth and hide from the facts while hiding behind the statement that it’s for the good of the community. It’s about an editor who, though often disagreeing with his star reporter, loves him dearly and their explosive relationship is an integral part of the film (and subsequent series). Lastly, it’s about a selfless man who risks everything he has, his career, his woman and his reputation for the greater good. A more noble type is rare and it comes from a very unlikely source.
Beloved by millions and developing a cult status the likes of which is rarely seen today, THE NIGHT STALKER was a ratings bonanza, pulling in a staggering 33.2 Nielsen rating with a 54 share, a feat rarely achieved again by a TV movie excluding mini-series. This would naturally mean a sequel and on the following year, many of the same characters were back for another of my 31 Greatest Horror Movies, THE NIGHT STRANGLER.
