The Night Strangler

After an estimated 75,000,000 viewers tuned in to ABC-TV on Tuesday, January 11, 1972, television history was made. That night, one-third of America was transfixed to its TV sets as the tale of an intrepid, hard-nosed reporter named Carl Kolchak pursued an elusive modern-day vampire across Las Vegas before dispatching the bloodsucker with an inevitable stake-through-the-heart. At the time, THE NIGHT STALKER, an ABC Circle Film, became the most watched television program in the history of the medium, which enticed the ABC brass to quickly reassemble key players of the telefilm (actor Darren McGavin, producer Dan Curtis, and writer Richard Matheson) to lay plans for its sequel.

Thus, THE NIGHT STRANGLER hit the airwaves a year after its popular predecessor. The talented Darren McGavin reprises his role as Kolchak, the tenacious newsman in trademark straw porkpie hat and rumply seersucker suit, who arrives in Seattle, meets up with his cantankerous former editor Tony Vincenzo, and lands another unearthly assignment. This time around, the locum tenens of the vampire is an immortal alchemist named Dr. Richard Malcolm, an ex-Civil War physician who gains superhuman strength and avoids death by concocting an elixir of life, a substance whose main ingredient is human blood! Every 21 years since the end of the Civil War, Malcolm returns to the Seattle streets to procure blood from the bases of strangled women's skulls. But Kolchak manages to locate the undead medico's lair in Old Seattle's underground ruins and foils the creature's attempts at another 21 years of dormancy. Again, local authorities ice his chances at publishing his macabre story and the hapless reporter becomes footloose once more.

Like THE NIGHT STALKER, THE NIGHT STRANGLER is a bone-chilling tale that blends gritty detective drama with a touch of the supernatural. Fast-paced plot, nail-biting suspense, and above-average dialogue highlight this sequel, which rivals the original telefilm for originality and overall quality. Contrary to popular opinion, THE NIGHT STALKER and THE NIGHT STRANGLER are much better TV fare than any episode of the much-overrated Kolchak rip-off THE X-FILES, and these telefilms serve to remind viewers that TV has indeed produced some outstanding programs, programs which mark the halcyon days of the medium.

"The Night Strangler" was screenwriter Richard Matheson's sequel to "The Night Stalker," completed in Aug. 1972, only seven months since the original was broadcast, Darren McGavin returning as intrepid reporter Carl Kolchak, Simon Oakland also back as his 'bilious grouch' editor Tony Vincenzo. Instead of a modern day vampire on the loose in Las Vegas, Matheson recalled a tour of underground Seattle, the ruins of a 19th century culture that stirred him into creating a killer from another time ("The Time Killer" was one alternate title), committing a series of six murders of young women over a period of 18 days, only to disappear for 21 years until the next spate of killings. Kolchak finds himself happily employed once more due to a chance meeting with Vincenzo, but the honeymoon doesn't last long as a new story even more incredible begins to take shape due to the diligence of Daily Chronicle librarian Titus Berry (Wally Cox), who helps connect the dots by starting with a previous set of similar crimes from 1952, all detailing a loss of blood from a needle puncture at the base of the skull, rotted flesh left on each woman's crushed throat: "as if they had been strangled by a dead man!" Continuing their research further back, they discover that the same number of victims covering the same span of days dates all the way back to 1889, another lead arriving via author Mark Twain, describing a chance meeting with Dr. Richard Malcolm (Richard Anderson), a former Union army surgeon during the Civil War who believed that immortality was achievable through an 'elixir of life.' Margaret Hamilton puts in a splendid cameo as Prof. Crabwell, whose pontifications on the nature of alchemy conclude that the main ingredient necessary for this potion to succeed is human blood. All of this is too much for a beleaguered Vincenzo and aging publisher Llewellyn Crossbinder (John Carradine), compared by Kolchak to Cotton Mather (Vincenzo: "don't underestimate him, he may be old but his fangs are potent!"), while equally exasperated police captain Roscoe Schubert (Scott Brady) handles the case his own way, until all six victims are claimed by the 18th day. The connection between Dr. Richard Malcolm and a clinic named for Dr. Malcolm Richards leads Kolchak to the fabled Seattle underground and a final date with destiny, revealing a 144 year old culprit ready to disappear for another 21 years once he ingests the final dosage. McGavin may have clashed with producer/director Dan Curtis but it doesn't show in his performance, a spirited, robust presentation of facts (or 'screwball speculation' in Vincenzo's opinion) that even Carradine's publisher can't ignore, until such time that the reporter finds himself unemployed yet again, too damn effective for his own good (both McGavin and Oakland would repeat their roles in all 20 episodes of the subsequent series). As simple and straightforward as the first Kolchak outing was, this sequel is at least its equal with so many intricate threads tied together to weave a web of murder spanning more than a century, with another superb cast bringing it all to vivid life, and special kudos to the set design for the hidden underground, shrouded in fog and a marvel to behold with the rotted corpses in attendance.

The Night Strangler is the follow up to the successful 1972 TV movie 'The Night Stalker'. Aside from featuring similar titles, the films also share similar plot lines, and it could be said that this is something of a remake of the first film with a slightly more in depth story. I won't profess to be a big fan of the first film in the series, although I found it to be a more than decent TV movie and I did enjoy it. This film isn't a big improvement over the first one, although I would say it's an improvement; with a longer running time and a more well thought-out plot, this one delves into it's subject matter more and feels more like a proper movie than a made for TV movie. Darren McGavin once again plays Kolchak; a maverick reporter who this time finds himself in Seattle after being ran out of Las Vegas (probably for annoying everyone with his constant persistence!). Coincidence strikes and pretty soon he's on the trail of yet another vampire! He discovers that every 21 years for over a hundred years, a group of people have been killed within a small time period and thinks the murders are connected.

The thing that stands out most about this film is most definitely the central performance from Darren McGavin. His portrayal of the stubborn reporter is great to watch and always ensures that the film is entertaining. A lot of the film consists of our unlikely hero trying to convince the relevant authorities that his suspicions are fact and them disbelieving them. These scenes are fairly clichéd, although they are fun to watch; and again it's mostly because of McGavin's excellent impersonation of the central character. Since the film is really about the detective on the trail of the vampire, there's not a great deal of actual bloodshed or bloodsucking in the film, although that isn't much of a hindrance because as a thriller it works very well and director Dan Curtis does manage to create several moments of suspense that kick the action up a level. It's always obvious where it's all going, and the ending doesn't come as a surprise; but it's a fun time getting there. This film and the first one were pilots for a TV series and obviously they did the trick because Kolchak was solving more mysteries in his own TV series a year after this film was released.

The follow-up story to The Night Stalker once again finds wisecracking reporter Karl Kolchak investigating a string of bizarre murders that yet again points to an unnatural suspect. Deftly crafted and making fab use of its added runtime, The Night Strangler is just as impressive as its predecessor and is a sequel done right, for it takes what was good about the first film and builds on top of it.

Directed by Dan Curtis, the story follows almost the same route as before and retains all the fascinating aspects of the original. Additional runtime allows for more of Kolchak's ranting & friction with the powers that be. The plot is simple in structure but executed with finesse and the improved production value is evident in its elaborate set pieces. The antagonist however is less memorable in this one.

Just like the previous entry, the film comes equipped with a spooky atmosphere for the night scenes and the camera is skilfully utilised to heighten the build-up. Darren McGavin reprises his role as Kolchak and is even more abrasive, intruding & exasperating than last time which only works in the story's favour. The finale is a tad too expository and is amongst the weaker aspects but it still wraps the journey of a fine note.

Overall, The Night Strangler is slightly more polished in looks, more focused in content & more confident in executing the original formula and also improves upon the original in few aspects. Despite lacking a fearsome villain, the film makes up for it by creating an aura about him. The ride is almost as entertaining & satisfying if not more, the interest in the outcome is never lost, and McGavin's grating act comfortably steers the film past the finish line. A worthy sequel.

Having seen this movie when it originally appeared on TV in the '70's, I can still remember the chills I got watching it. Seeing it again on video recently, those old chills returned and were just as enjoyable. Kolchak is one of my all-time favorite heroes, a bumbling regular guy who has enough faith in himself to follow his beliefs despite the road blocks thrown in his path by the authorities, who believe only they know the right way. The villain is not your run of the mill monster but as evil, lurking and despicable as the best of them. The premise of the movie that these things can and do exist unbeknownst to the gullible public is what makes this movie so much fun to watch. It makes you want to pull your covers up over your head on a dark stormy night just the way a great horror film should.