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.