Alicia I love this movie so much

Bereamic Awesome Movie

ThrillMessage There are better movies of two hours length. I loved the actress'performance.

Lela The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

Lechuguilla Narrated by eager-beaver newspaper reporter Carl Kolchak (Darren McGavin), "The Night Stalker" is Kolchak's account of his involvement in the murder cases of multiple young women in Las Vegas. His narration style is that of a diary of major events, even citing the date and time of day. The script consists of a talky first half wherein a lot of the scenes take place in meetings and one-on-one chat between Kolchak and his co-workers. Action picks up in the second half after the villain has been identified.There are several major problems here. First, Kolchak is not an especially likable guy. He's arrogant, cocky, egocentric, superior, and dominates discussions. Second, the ghoulish theme I found boring. I would have much preferred a standard whodunit with multiple suspects. The film does contain suspense, especially in the second half, but by that time the viewer already knows who the killer is.In addition, the script makes use of the old standby cliché whereby the lone hero solves the case and in the process makes the paid cops look inept. Also, there's no real point to the "Gail Foster" character (Carol Lynley), though Lynley does a nice job in the role.Production design, color cinematography, and editing are acceptable if a bit uninspiring. But that's to be expected, I suppose, given that this is a TV movie. Background music is jazzy in a 1960s sort of way, except for appropriately creepy sounds during the fairly suspenseful second half. Casting is fair. Actors Oakland, Meeker, Smith, and Akins have a similar look and tend to blend into a single character. Overall acting is average."The Night Stalker" (1972) is a cinematic vehicle for Darren McGavin. The film will appeal more to horror fans than fans of whodunit murder mysteries. Since an explanation by logic is not possible in a supernatural theme story, I just could not relate to it. Though by no means a bad movie, I find nothing special about it.

Robert J. Maxwell What a cast. Darren McGavin and Carol Lynley are more or less in their prime but the production has a striking assembly of supporting players that must by this time have been living on residuals -- Claude Akins, Kent Smith, Ralph Meeker, Elishah Cook Jr., and Charles McGraw whose face is now as mauled as his voice. Reminds me of John Ford's collection of falling stars in "The Last Hurrah." The plot is standard. McGavin is a hungry reporter in Las Vegas, always at odds with his boss, Simon Oakland, and pretty much hated by everyone else in authority. A number of young ladies are killed, their blood drained, and on the rare occasions when the killer is encountered, blunt force by the police doesn't stop him and neither do bullets. McGavin concludes that they're dealing with a vampire. When the scoffing is over, the authorities reluctantly accept his conclusion as well as his means of dealing with the vampire -- a crucifix, a wooden stake, and a mallet.The logic of the story is flawed. This is a kind of black comedy and a TV production so not much care goes into it. An informant tells McGavin the address of the vampire's house. The reporter then investigates the house, although it's night and we know the blood sucker is awake at night. Why not wait until dawn, you ask? Well, then you have no rough-and-tumble encounter between the Baron and McGavin. McGavin naturally loses the wrestling match but is saved by the arrival of a friend in the police department. Together -- and with the help of the crucifix and the Las Vegas desert sunlight -- they manage to destroy the monster. Not that it does McGavin any good. The police force the paper to kill the story and boot the reporter out of town.McGavin does well enough by the role of the cocky newspaperman. If sometimes he seems kind of dumb, well we all have our dumb moments. Lynley is luscious but is only there to prove that Darren McGavin's character is heterosexual. The supporting actors do the best they can with their roles. I prefer Kent Smith as the patient, reasonable, accommodating figure from the cat movies of Val Lewton. And I can't help wondering what Claude Akins would do in a sympathetic role.

Rainey Dawn Generally speaking, the 1970s had some good made for TV horror, mysteries and thrillers - I love a few of them. But this I really don't understand the hype over this one. I realize it's a pilot for a short lived series and it's about a vampire but I found it rather boring. Too much washed up reporter trying to get his name back and not enough vampire throughout most of the movie. It does get a little interesting at about 50 minutes into the movie - for me.I was just rather bored with it and had to fast forward to get to the reason I'm watching the film. I wanted to enjoy this film but I did not.I'm giving it a 3 out of 10 for the idea of using a vampire in a pilot TV series.3/10

markfaressa This film is timeless. By timeless, I mean the story could not have been told any better. Of course the clothing and the cars, as well as the score seems dated, but so are these same features in Halloween, The Exorcist and a host of other classic horror films. Jeff Rice's idea of putting a vampire in a night-life city like Las Vegas was pure genius. The film itself is paced very well and we are completely absorbed within the atmosphere. The character of Kolchak, the reporter who figures out and tries to convince us all that this is a real vampire, is flawlessly portrayed by the always great Darren McGavin. I could go on about the movie, but it would become overkill since all of the other posters have hit it on the head. Do yourself a favor and BUY this film for your collection. If you are old enough to remember this movie as a pilot and then recall the series, you will have a blast watching it again. Great memories!