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| Courtesy of Kino Lorber |
Adapted from Jeff Rice’s still-unpublished
novel The Kolchak Papers by science-fiction/horror legend Richard
Matheson (Duel; I Am Legend) and directed by veteran television
helmer John Llewellyn Moxey, The Night Stalker opens on a series of
murders being committed on the Las Vegas strip.
As Kolchak (McGavin) rifles through notes and evidence suggesting the
crimes might be the work of a vampire, the prime suspect responsible for
multiple homicides committed years prior turns up at a hospital trying to steal
the blood supply and escapes unharmed. While
the police force struggles to contain the case, Kolchak presents his ideas to authorities
which they reluctantly agree to go along with.
But before they can rescind the deal, Kolchak decides to do his own
investigating which pits him right in the path of the ageless bloodsucker.
A modestly sized supernatural
crime-thriller that’s sort of like a neo-noir before taking on the shape of a Hammer
horror, The Night Stalker is less interested in scares than it is in
plunging ostensibly a confident and cool character into the bowels of
Hell. The great strength of the
character in addition to his resilience and fearlessness is actor Darren
McGavin’s sense of humor while keeping his wits about him. A clear influence on the character of Fox
Mulder immortalized on television by David Duchovny, Carl Kolchak fervently
believes in what he’s chasing but is something of a disheveled, crusty figure
always somewhat unkempt when he isn’t contending with the increasing doubts of
authorities.
Co-produced by Dark Shadows helmer
Dan Curtis and released at a time when horror movies were booming theatrically,
The Night Stalker became the highest rated television program of 1972
and even spawned a theatrical release in Europe. Though shot on the fly (reportedly within
twelve days of production), it looks handsomely composed for a basic network
television film, shot by Mission Impossible director of photography Michel
Hugo. The score by Bob Cobert also further
connects The Night Stalker to Dark Shadows with its orchestral gothic
horror vibes and affiliation with vampirism.
Still, the technical merits take a backseat to the central performance
by Darren McGavin who creates for the audience a great ally to rally behind as
he wades through this old dark house of horrors.
In the years since, the lore and
stature of the Carl Kolchak character and The Night Stalker films and
series have only grown with time. At one
point, Chris Carter prominently featured McGavin on his show The X Files playing
a character known as ‘the father of the X-files’. In 2005 there was a short lived and poorly received
reboot with Stuart Townsend in the role and was cancelled after only six
episodes before the remainder of the season aired on iTunes, further cementing the
idea some things are better left alone. Thanks
to a recently released 4K restoration of the original Kolchak films as well as
the complete series by Kino Lorber, fans of the series as well as newcomers (myself
included) now have a chance to see where it all started and why Darren McGavin
is one of the great underrated actors in television history.
--Andrew Kotwicki
