The Night Strangler

Follow-up to the 1972 TV movie "The Night Stalker". Carl Kolchak (Darren McGavin) is now in Seattle. It seems women are being killed and drained of their blood. It also seems this happens every 21 years. Kolchak investigates helped by a wacky woman (Jo Ann Pflug).

This is nowhere near as good as "The Night Stalker" despite having most of the same crew involved. The story is kind of vague and the comedy and scares don't really work. Still it looks fantastic, has great atmosphere and good acting. McGavin and Simon Oakland reprise their roles and are great. Pflug is too but her character is annoying. This lead to a TV show called "Kolchak the Night Stalker" which was not a hit but has a cult following now. So this is an OK movie elevated by good acting and atmosphere.

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.

I love this movie! It's better, sexier, and even more scary than the original "The Night Stalker". I know sequels degrade the first films, but this is the best sequel besides "Scream 2" and "A Nightmare On Elm Street 3" that I have ever seen.

I love this movie and give it **** stars. SEE IT!

Relocated to Seattle, reporter Kolchak stumbles on yet another series of murders, a series which seems to be repeated every twenty-one years. Of the two movies, `The Night Strangler' has the slight edge. This is possibly down to its location, Seattle. Very unfamiliar to me, it adds certain freshness to the story, while the underground ‘old' Seattle is a fantastic location, macabre and memorable; it sticks in my mind long after watching the movie. The candle lit, cob-webbed corpses are perhaps one of the most vivid images in American genre television.

Also of note is Richard Anderson's villain, a crazed, immortality seeking Doctor, he is far more impressive than the original's vampire. A more assured script (which is genuinely funny in places), plus some enjoyable cameo's (Carradine, Hamilton), help make this a rare sequel which is better than the original.

Sadly, plans for a third movie were abandoned and instead a short-lived, inferior television series (without Matheson's involvement) resulted. A patchy effort, despite McGavin's best efforts it never attained the quality of the two movies.

Part of the success of The Night Stalker and this its sequel has to be the ever-present humour created throughout the script in the character of Carl Kolchak. He is a character that is as stubborn as ever andone that despite his need/desire for a story shows more humanity and ethical standards than the system which continually steps on him. He is at one point a caricature...sneakers and the same suit and the same straw hat....and yet possesses common sense, intelligence and wit. These contradictions in character often provide a lot of comedic relief in the Night Stalker/Strangler movies and the television series as well. No one better understands this than Darren McGavin who essays the role of the obstinate reporter. Each of his performances is a real treat. And although I have been genuinely frightened by these films and the series...many of my fondest memories are about the funny things..the character traits(and outfit) of Kolchak, the discussions between Kolchak and super veteran character actor Simon Oakland(his boss), the situations Kolchak faces out of lack of care, and so on. In many ways The Night Strangler is a better film that the first one...perhaps not as scary..but better written and acted. Great character actors abound with the likes of Al Lewis, Margaret Hamilton, Wally Cox, and John Carradine. The story this time deals with the secret of a man who kills young women for their blood...a need he must satisfy every few years. He lives in a city below a city...and the shots of this subterranean polis are visually striking. Great story, great acting, wonderful sets, and lots of scary moments and funny ones make this a triumph of the small screen.