Dark Intruder

It's 1890 San Francisco and a killer is on the loose. Brett Kingsford (Leslie Nielsen) is a rich Sherlock-like sleuth and an expert in the supernatural. Nikola is his diminutive man-servant and Evelyn Lang is his fiancée. Brett follows the tiny figurines found at the murder sites to an oriental demon. His friend Robert Vandenburg (Mark Richman) is disturbed with surprising connections to the murders.

This theatrical movie is only an hour long. It does feel shortened as a full length movie. It's too bad because I was going along on the ride. It turns out that it may have been a pilot for a never-developed show. I can absolutely see it as a modern supernatural mystery series. Nielsen is great as a Sherlock Holmes like character. It's set up for an intriguing early supernatural TV show and a missed opportunity.

Long before he became an immortal slapstick icon with his role as Frank Drebin in "The Naked Gun" (and became typecast as such until his death), Leslie Nielsen actually was a pretty versatile actor and appeared in numerous cult movies. He starred in the classic fifties Sci-Fi movie "Forbidden Planet" and in the schlocky seventies eco-horror flick "Day of the Animals", for example. Very few people know, however, that Leslie was also the star of this unsold and meanwhile long forgotten pilot episode of a supernaturally themed period series entitled "The Dark Cloak". The pilot film – with an extremely short running time of barely 59 minutes – takes place in the year 1891 in the moody and fog-enshrouded streets of San Francisco. Nielsen is Brett Kingsford, a rather eccentric private investigator specialized the occult. He has a midget butler named Nikolai and doesn't want the world to know that he collaborates with the police, so he disguises whenever they meet to discuss a case. The city is plagued by a series of violent killings, seemingly committed by a monstrous being. Robert Vandenburg, a personal friend of Kingsford who's about to be married, fears that he commits the murders in a sort of trance, but our paranormal investigator suspects there is another explanation.

The Brett Kingsford character is intelligent and slightly arrogant, like Sherlock Holmes, and Nikolai often acts like a miniature version of Dr. Watson. The monstrous murderer is very much like Mr. Hyde (the malicious other side of Dr. Jekyll), while the timing and decors immediately remind you of numerous movies about the infamous Jack the Ripper stories. Most likely these are all the reasons why the TV-series never came and "Dark Intruder" remained an independently released feature film. It's too reminiscent to a lot of other movie franchises and potential sponsors probably didn't want to get accused of being derivative and/or unoriginal. But it nevertheless remains a damn shame that "Dark Intruder" became so obscure, as it's a splendid mystery/thriller with a compelling and convoluted plot, witty and creative comical elements and great performances. The murders as well as various other sequences are tense and hugely atmospheric. The script contains some delightful dialogs, like: "I sense strong psychic indications in this room. Yeah, try using that in court!" and the climax has a nice unexpected twist in store.

As a second feature in 1965, this arrived with little fanfare and was probably dismissed by most viewers. Since it was a discarded pilot for a series called " The Black Cloak'' that was never picked up, the studio probably figured they could a make a buck or two on it. But then when people saw it they realized that like the 1966 Chamber of Horrors ( which had some similar plot elements) , this was a little masterpiece of moody economical horror. Mark Richmond and Leslie Nielsen are terrific as the villain and hero. The creepy black and white photography is atmospheric and the tone is one of dread and impending doom. I saw this once in the theater 41 years ago and I would love to see it again. Why not release this on DVD ?

"Dark Intruder" stars the incomparable Leslie Nielsen as Brett Kingsford, an occult expert who is brought in to help the police investigate a series of ritualistic slayings. In each case, an ivory carving of a gargoyle is left at the scene. Brett has a friend, an importer named Robert Vandenburg (Peter Mark Richman), who is deathly afraid that he might be responsible, given that he is prone to blackouts.

Set in San Francisco in 1890, this decent spook show was a busted pilot for a proposed TV series, which then ended up playing in a number of theatres. Therefore, it's not exactly highly cinematic, but it's certainly a respectable effort, just the same. It makes one think that any series that might have resulted would at least be fairly entertaining. Director Harvey Hart ("The Pyx") gives it superb atmosphere and suspense, and the period recreation is reasonably impressive. Granted, the story (credited to Barre Lyndon) falls short in terms of the mystery quotient, but overall this is fun and a painless way to kill just under an hour.

Nielsen is fun, as usual, playing an unflappable hero with a sense of humour. Richman delivers the standout performance as the story's ultimately tragic character. There's a show stopping role for Werner Klemperer as the mysterious Professor Malaki, an energetic portrayal by Judi Meredith as Roberts' fiancée Evelyn, solid work by Gilbert Green as the police inspector, and an appealing performance by Charles Bolender as Bretts' diminutive butler Nikola. Character actors Vaughn Taylor, Peter Brocco, Bill Quinn, and Richard Venture lend some valuable support.

Punctuated by a shuddery score by Lalo Schifrin, "Dark Intruder" is definitely good of its kind, and worth a look for any fan of genre TV of this period, or Leslie Nielsen completists.

Six out of 10.

This title is now available via Sinister Cinema. The print is in great shape with just a few frame jumps scattered throughout the film. This pilot plays out like you would expect it to. The script is tight to keep the film to @60 minutes. It does have the feel and pacing of a television episode but is done well. The acting is good and the film is very atmospheric. I was surprised to see Leslie Nielson in the lead role. He has a rather evil looking dwarf for a manservant. I kept looking for Werner Klemperer as I noticed his name in the opening credits but must admit he got by me. I only found him by checking the acting/character names at the end of the film. He is in heavy makeup while on screen and even his voice is not recognizable. One negative note is the soundtrack composed by Lalo Shifrin. It contains some mighty cheesy organ playing and detached female vocalizing not unlike the original Star Trek theme! Catch this if you can. It's a neat little thriller and you could do a lot worse.