The Night Stalker, produced by Dan (Dark Shadows/Dracula 1974) Curtis, directed by John Llewellyn (Horror Hotel/The House That Would Not Die) Moxy and scripted by Richard (The Legend of Hell House/Stir of Echoes) Matheson (from a novel by Jeff Rice) was a much heralded, ratings draw in 1972. It lead to a popular sequel, The Night Strangler and the monster-of-the-week series, Kolchak: the Night Stalker (the investigative forebearer to The X-Files and Buffy the Vampire Slayer).
Sally the Zombie Cheerleader (backed by her wisecracking SkeleKat) hosts this television groundbreaker at her edifying School of Horror, giving a spirited salute to its ingredients and construction.
The Night Stalker stars Gavin (A Christmas Story/Hanger 18/The Martian Chronicles) McGavin, as crackerjack reporter (and by-chance Van Helsing), Carl Kolchak; Carol (Beware! the Blob/The Poseidon Adventure) Lynley as his gal, Gail; Simon (Psycho/Bullitt) Oakland as his short-fused boss, Tony Vincenzo; Ralph (Kiss Me Deadly/The Food of the Gods) Meeker as his bureaucratic bud, Bernie Jenks; Claude (Battle for the Planet of the Apes/The Curse) Atkins as Sheriff Butcher; Kent (Cat People/Curse of the Cat People) Smith as hard-headed district attorney, Tom Paine; Charles (The Undying Monster/The Mad Ghoul) McGraw as compliant Police Chief Ed Masterson; Larry (M*A*S*H/Night Gallery/C.H.U.D. II) Linville as unpretentious coroner Robert Makurji; Elisha (House on Haunted Hill/Blacula/Messiah of Evil) Cook as obliging gambler Mickey Crawford; Stanley (Requiem for a Heavyweight/Star Trek) Adams as unsettled car salesman, Fred Hurley; and Barry (Twilight Zone/Night Gallery/Star Trek) Atwater as the titular, Las Vegas bloodsucker, Janos Skorzeny. (For added flavor, the movie's distinct and suspenseful score was composed by Robert Cobert, the man behind Dark Shadows' unmistakable tracks.)
What makes The Night Stalker's urban-horror chills so enthralling is their realistic build-up, where the killer is initially presumed a madman with freakish habits and unusual strength, but turns out to be something far more. Gavin's Kolchak holds it all together with his identifiable tenacity and reactions, making the newsman easy to root for as others deny his claims.
Sally does a splendid job parenthesizing the feature for her devoted Fleshies, being thorough in her details and comedic in her buffers. (She even dons a Kolchak Starter Kit to instill the proper ambiance.)
This episode is definitely one to view; so why not head on over to Zombie U for a nice, vampiric education?
https://www.youtube.com/user/thezombiecheerleader
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