I'm embarrassed to admit that up until last week I had never seen The Night Stalker (1972), its sequel or the short lived series featuring Carl Kolchak before--I was always a Trilogy of Terror, Gargoyles, and Don't Be Afraid of the Dark guy myself--but Kolchak really is right up my alley (1970s, Dan Curtis, made for TV, supernatural). I had first heard of Kolchak back in the 90s when The X-Files creator Chris Carter admitted Kolchak was the inspiration for and spiritual godfather of Fox Mulder.
Since The Night Stalker is considered one of the great made for television movies of the 1970s, I probably don't have anything new or interesting to say about it that hasn't been said before or better by others, so with that caveat out of the way I will simply say I enjoyed his first outing immensely and look forward to seeing more of Kolchak.
A few things I noticed and/or liked about this movie:
- Darren McGavin was perfect as rumpled newspaper reporter Carl Kolchak. I had really only known him before as the dad in A Christmas Story but loved him here as Kolchak.
- Kolchak drinks beer out of cans with pull off tabs! His apartment is small and dingy and there's nothing in his fridge except a few beers.
- Along with his shabby apartment, Kolchak's car is also really beat up and rusted. He's a real working class schlub which I can totally relate to.
- Hey it's Sheriff Lobo! (Claude Akins).
- I love the neo-noir jazz score that plays while Kolchak is running red lights trying to get to the vampire's latest crime scene.
- Best quote from Kolchak: "I've seen a lot of weird things in my life...I have never, EVER seen anything like this". I wonder if George Lucas had watched this film right before writing Han Solo's eerily similar statement aboard the Millennium Falcon in Star Wars?
Anyway I'm looking forward to watching the sequel The Night Strangler and the series (which I just picked up on sale for around $25 at Barnes & Noble).
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