The Night Stalker

The Night Stalker (1972)
Director: John Llewellyn Moxey
Cast: Darrin McGavin, Simon Oakland, Claude Akins
Memorable line: "Now are you willing to listen to my insane ideas?"







* Small Screen Gem *
Television isn't without its gems and one example of a TV movie that inspired a few future directors and programs was "The Night Stalker." (This includes a short lived series by the same name inspired by the original series which aired on ABC in 2006.)

This original and witty pilot spawned a series by the same name. "The Night Stalker" movie starred Darrin McGavin as the intrepid Karl Kolchak. Kolchak is an old fashion, wise cracking newspaper reporter who is like a dog with a bone when he gets a lead on a story. Set in Las Vegas, Kolchak starts covering a mysterious series of murders in which the victims were drained of all their blood. All facts lead to the unthinkable and unspeakable when it comes to city officials -- "It's Las Vegas, we can't scare off the tourists."

The plot thickens with each murder, yet Kolchak gets no cooperation from the authorities. Feeling a moral responsibility and seeing a sensational scoop, Kolchak follows this story to the bitter end.

The production values of the TV movie are indicative of television production standards of the day (sort of bland and without style), but the script is witty and McGavin is compelling as Kolchak. There's a charm behind the production that makes it endearing and engaging.

The series lasted two years and got increasingly more campy as it progressed, but there were some quality episodes in the series.