A made–for-TV movie on a top-100 horror list. Hard to believe, for sure. The Night Stalker is peculiar in some other ways too. At times it is more of a newspaper movie than a horror movie. Or an expose story about a police cover-up, that happens to have a vampire in it.
But still it more than holds its own as a horror movie. Even though, made for TV in the early 70’s,it could only show a limited amount of violence. (Remember, this is years before CSI or
Law and Order SVU, let alone Criminal Minds.) An excellent screenplay by the veteran writer Richard Matheson (The Incredible Shrinking Man, The Devil’s Bride, to name just a
few) is one key. When the suspense starts to come, you get
some truly creepy atmosphere. This is a credit to the
director, John Llewellyn Moxey who had previously directed a movie in England with even more of a sinister atmosphere,
Horror Hotel.
Horror Hotel was set in present times, but in a lonely little town, looking like it had barely changed in years. The filmmakers realized they needed to use a radically different approach for
The Night Stalker. Here, the setting is Las Vegas, with no fog and few lonely places. It is bright lights, 24 hours a day. Nothing Gothic about it. More people working night shifts than day shifts. Everything about it screaming–Modern.
But when the reporter Carl Kolchak (Darren McGavin) learns about a possible serial killer, evidence definitely points to a maniac who thinks he is a vampire. Victims drained of their blood. Killed only during the night. Soon afterward, a hospital is robbed of its blood supply. Kolchak, an intelligent, intuitive man, immediately senses a connection.
You may find it hard to take a reporter as the main character in a
horror movie, especially someone as full of himself as Kolchak
is. He is arrogant, believing himself to be the most insightful guy around. And he is never shy about letting people know this. His mouth and his attitude have caused him to lose one job after another. But he has not changed.
Yet at the same time, he follows the courage of his convictions. In addition, he gains some sympathy due to this; He is forced to deal with law enforcement officials who are at least as egotistical as Kolchak is. And more selfish. They think like politicians, obsessed with making themselves look good, whatever the cost. If other people have to get hurt in the process; too bad. That’s the way it goes. Kolchak is the last guy they want around,
someone who is not only in your face, but steps ahead of them.
Carl Kolchak–his ego is infuriating to people in power
Kolchak’s lady friend Gail finds him a book on vampire lore, and he educates himself real fast. What Kolchak finds out about a vampire’s powers is not so different from what the heroes in Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula find. Kolchak learns the necessary weapons: a crucifix, a wooden stake and a large mallet/hammer. Stoker’s book mentions the vampire’s sensitivity to daylight. It emphasizes too something that few or none of the Dracula movies had mentioned—a vampire’s physical strength at night. Already you have seen the killer taking on a guard dog, a Doberman, and killing it with his hands, with barely a struggle.
A crowd of police is unable to stop the killer
Kolchak’s intelligence lets him match the law enforcement people step-for-step, and later gets him a few steps ahead. The police are stuck at a point Kolchak already got past; they think their suspect is insane, with vampire delusions. Kolchak has seen enough to believe their man truly is a vampire. He has already gotten a good look at this man, identified as Janos Skorzeny, said to be over 70 years old. Yet Skorzeny has fought off several police
officers and survived nightstick blows to his head. He has
also survived numerous gunshots, not just from handguns but from a shotgun as well. Unless every shot missed him, very
unlikely.
Gail believes in Kolchak and has the instincts to point him
in the right direction
Your perception of Kolchak changes once he decides to go into Skorzeny’s house alone. Not every smart-ass narrator would have the nerve for this. The scenes inside the house don’t grip you as hard as for example, similar scenes in Silence of the Lambs or the original Psycho. Some, but not a lot of music is heard. There is little use of editing for shock. Instead of Skorzeny suddenly jumping out and grabbing Kolchak, the movie simply shows him pulling into the driveway.
Yet these scenes still carry their share of tension. You already know what Skorzeny is capable of doing, in scenes at the blood bank and in the backyard and pool. And Kolchak is not experienced in dealing with vampires—he’s no Buffy.
In addition, Barry Atwater, who plays Skorzeny, creates a sinister, powerful presence. An actor vaguely familiar from guest shots on a wide variety of TV series and three years on one soap opera, Atwater is up to seizing his big opportunity. And without saying a single word. His expressions, his intense hisses and sighs make up for the missing dialogue.
Barry Atwater as Janos Skorzeny
As unlikely as it sounds, The Night Stalker may have influenced Silence of the Lambs. One small, brutal detail, the vampire keeping a woman captive, tied to a bed, hooked up to a blood bag. Her face pale as a ghost, she is barely alive, her mouth sealed closed with adhesive tape. Like Catherine, the Senator’s daughter in Silence, she is on schedule to die. But not
until she has served her purpose, for a killer who has no concept
whatever of her as an individual. Kolchak wants to save her but knows he must deal with Skorzeny first. You feel for her and for Kolchak too, in this insane house. You hope he is ready to deal with all he has gotten himself into, much the same as you feel for Jodie Foster, trapped in the pitch-black of Buffalo Bill’s basement.
One more unique feature in regards to The Night Stalker. It was the inspiration for a brief TV series, also starring Darren McGavin.