REVIEW: The Night Stalker (1972)

It's a shame they brought back "The Night Stalker" as a television series (and not a very good one, I hear) because I really can't imagine Kolchak not being played by Darren McGavin. In preparation of the new release of the old series on DVD, I went into my vast and disorganized video vault and came back out with my copies of the McGavin TV-movies: 1972's The Night Stalker and 1973's The Night Strangler. I've seen both of these movies before, although I was barely paying attention to Strangler -- I think I was busy sending money to charity or adopting homeless kittens or something. Perhaps there was a video game in there. Regardless of my charitable attention-sapping antics, I decided to pop the first of the two back into the ol' DVD spinner and see if it could bring back the Halloween spirit.

The time: 1972. The place: Las Vegas, Nevada. The man: Carl Kolchak, reporter for the Las Vegas Daily News. Kolchak is what one might consider a "loose cannon" type of reporter: always out to get the truth, by any means necessary, and always (or almost always) at odds with the authorities and his very own editor Tony Vincenzo. He's one step above the con men of the world, and you get the feeling that if he weren't working for the Daily News, he'd just be another name in their police blotter column.

Kolchak begins with the perfect "X-Files" hook; he's sitting in a hotel room with a few day's worth of stubble, dictating the story into his always-present tape recorder, and concludes his opening with "Any attempt to verify these events will be unsuccessful." (Or something to that effect.) It might seem old hat nowadays with all the conspiracy types of TV dramas, but it still works; it's a script from Richard Matheson, the man behind I Am Legend and countless other famous stories and scripts.

The story itself begins like any other police procedural: a woman's body was found, in a trash bin, with date and time dictated in Kolchak's narration. Turns out that the body was empty of blood, none of which was found at the scene. Kolchack uses his wits, charms, and favors to get more information out of the police, and more and more bodies begin to turn up with the same problem: no blood. Some of them also have other mysteries around them; one woman's body was found in a sand pit, with no footprints leading to or away from it.

A few more bodies turn up, and as Kolchak's story unfolds he meets with increased resistance from his editor and the police, who want to keep the story of the "vampiric night stalker" under wraps in order to avoid alarming the populace. Kolchak, of course, doesn't believe in vampires; but that starts to end once he and the police actually encounter Janos Skorzeny, the Night Stalker, and realize that he's much more than a man.

Eventually, Kolchak and his FBI friend Bernie (I think he was in the FBI) track the vampire down to his lair, and attempt to do what's necessary. There's a nice semi-twist ending (not in a supernatural way) that surprised me by being, you know, intelligent. I think it's what would have actually happened had the events in the movie occurred, and it was a nice twist that most other movies never even go into.

When I started writing this, I had assumed that there was actually more to the story, but in hindsight it's a pretty simple tale. The vampire kills, and Kolchak and the police try to track him down and stop him, often arguing along the way. Despite its simplicity, the premise really works because of the procedural elements; it's a lot like "Dragnet" was, and to an extent the "Law and Order" franchise. It's very by-the-book and matter-of-fact, and that's incredibly refreshing when compared to the stupidly credulous horror films I normally watch, in which the first reaction to most murders is "OMG WTF it must have been a ghost!!!!!!" I like when characters display a degree of doubt and skepticism that's at least half-realistic.

The other half of the film's success is from Darren McGavin. Most people remember him best as the father from A Christmas Story, but from now on I think he'll be Kolchak in my mind -- horror always trumps comedy in my brain. He's absolutely electric in this movie; every line rolls off his tongue with character and nuance. McGavin portrays Kolchak as a man with different sides -- he can be charming, sneaky, intelligent, smarmy, angry; the character is completely believable, thanks to the fantastic work being done. It almost makes me want to get a cheap hat and a tape recorder.

I also give honorable mentions to the rest of the cast, which is primarily made up of other journeymen actors. Notable (for me) is Ralph Meeker as Kolchak's pal Bernie, since Meeker played Mike Hammer back in the awesome Kiss Me Deadly of 1955. It's almost strange to see a movie like this: slow, methodical, with a cast of middle-aged or older men. These are pretty rare in this world of 20-year-old sexpot victim slasher films, and it's great to see one for a change of pace. Not that I don't like lots of mindless scary slashing and 20-year-old sexpots, but every once in a while it's nice to know that some actors can actually still act with talents other than their breasts.

Just a few more notes: The Night Stalker was apparently the prime inspiration for the "X-Files" series, which featured its own investigative approach to the supernatural. Frank Spotnitz, a producer on "X-Files," just launched the new "Stalker" TV show with the bland, lifeless Stuart Townsend in McGavin's role. The vampire's real name is Janos Skorzeny, which was also the villain's name in "Werewolf"; at one point the vampire uses the alias Bela Blasko (if I'm remembering correctly), which is Bela Lugosi's birth name. Finally, The Night Stalker was produced by Dan Curtis, the man responsible for that vampiric daytime soap, "Dark Shadows." So many connections!

I recommend this movie, once again going against my passionate hatred of the 1970s. It's a great little flick to watch late at night, just to get yourself in a spooky mood. It's a little dated, and not really scary, but I think in the context of investigation and procedure it doesn't really matter that it's not frightening. It's a neat, small, and entertaining story, and it's worth every Netflix penny.

Go rent and enjoy.