At the time it premiered on ABC, The Night Strangler was officially the most watched TV movie ever broadcast in the United States. Indeed, just before its premeire on television, the producer had serious regrets that he didnt push for this to recieve a theatrical screening… and having sat down to watch it tonight as part of an upcoming collaboration. I can totally appreciate why.

So this was essentially a TV movie that was acting almost as a potential pilot for a TV series. the Premise is that our hero Carl Kolchak is an investigative reporter who drifts around the states investigating and reporting on supernatural or science fiction related crimes often with unusual motives or twist endings…A series WOULD eventually get comissioned in 1974 titled ‘Kolchak: The Night Stalker’ But this film really is a proof of concept, and its a doozy and a half.

So the film opens with a series of bizarre murders happening in Las Vegas. Women are turning up essentially dumped in allys and on drainage routes physically fine, but completely drained of blood. Noones really keen to pick up the case, so Kolchak gets pulled in off his first vacation in years to investigate. and after doing some digging. Hes a bit lost for an answer. The killer appears to have superhuman strength, looks deathly pale and, whatever he’s using to drain his victims blood, the signs are that its done in less than a minute, that its being done via suction, and that human saliva has been found in the blood of the victims when found.

Kolchak can only really assume one thing…that the killer is either a vampire, or THINKS he’s a vampire…Of course when he attends a police briefing and says this, the police almost laugh him out of the room, before very seriously telling him to NOT publish ANY details about the blood sucking, or to mention ANYTHING about the vampirism…as they dont want to upset the public and err…cost businesses any earnings.

But you cant keep a good dog down, and Kolchaks convinced he’s onto something. and it eventually pays off, when he comes face to face with the killer who, right in front of him, gets shot over a dozen times at point blank range, and can outrun a flank of police cars…Kolchak becomes convinced he’s investigating a living breathing vampire. and when even the law cant seem to figure out how to stop the guy. Kolchak may wind up being their only hope in stopping the brutal murders…

And Ive got to be honest, this one surprised me. its got a kind of dragnet, ‘New Noir’ vibe to it, and it seems to be ahead of its times in many regards, the script contrasts some dark and tongue in cheek humour from Kolchak with actually quite dark subjects which I felt balanced each other quite well. theres a seedy political undercurrent that had heavy notes of the political elements of ‘Jaws’ to me. but predating Jaws by almost 4 years. theres some nice slow burn twists and turns, some surprising downer moments which helped keep a certain sense of pathos. The pacing is pretty much non stop (barring an extended scene walking around a house in the 3rd act which was a bit hard going).

But on the whole? for 1972/73, to see something like this meld together the noir and supernatural horror genres was refreshing to say the least. Yes. the characters are all utterly stereotypical to any Noir film from the 30s to the 50s you’ve ever seen. But that, if anything works in the films favour, cultivating a a nice contrast to the 70s funkadelic vibes, which are very much in full swing here. In short; it balances its tone, pacing and act structuring near perfectly, and clocking in at just over 70 minutes. Its all lean and no fat. which is EXACTLY how I like it.

The direction is incredibly strong, especially given this was only intended as a television feature. its incredibly cinematic and theatrical in its aspirations, and i’d say for the most part it succeeds in its goals. John Llewellyn Moxey by this point was a veteran of this kind of noir/ cop show production, and still had many MANY more good years left in him. and here? He’s in his element and firing on all cylinders, delivering a creative and vibrant piece carefully utilising all aspects of lighting, sound, vision and a superb cast.

The cine too is lush, vibrant and detailed, while its maybe a little *too* grounded in the world of TV for its own good, when it does stretch out and try to go a bit more ‘bigger screen’ it succeeds in spades, and while it may not have been as breathtaking viewed on a 10 inch screen back in 1972, watching a HD scan of it on a 50 inch 4k screen in 2025 is breathtaking in places to say the least. With my only grumbles really being that some scenes really needed just a bit more B-roll, and that some sequences do beging to get a bit plodding (im assuming for the sake of curating runtimes to allow for commercial breaks)

But on the whole? this is a solid edit, with some brilliant visuals that really help sell the dark and strange worlds Kolchak is and will continue to find himself falling into.

Performance wise, its a clean run with Darren McGavin as Kolchak playing the role with levity, but cunning. Its kind of like a diet Columbo turn, with Kolchak being able to gently rib the police and anyone in authority pushing back on him, without having the luxury of a detectives badge to get him in and out of confidential locations. McGavin plays this role carefully and very nicely, bringing a charm and warmth to the character that could have been blunted in other hands. I think he does a superb job here, with a good level of physicality and a clear eagarness to use the set space and frame as effectively as possible.

Credit also has to go to Barry Atwater who plays our mysterious bloodsucking villain. hes intimidating, unsettling, and the revelations about him through the runtime only help to build his character up as someone not to be messed with. Something Atwater really runs with, playing arguably one of the better vampire performances i’ve ever seen.

All of this is cushioned in with a supporting cast who fit the bill perfectly, and…like I said, while they dont exactly break the mould of the noir cop drama style. the fact this is infused with that otherworldly supernaturalism, really helps give this film a boost in ways that I dont think had really been covered up to this point.

The Night Stranglers inspiration was from TV productions like ‘The Twiglight Zone’ and it went on to heavily inspire 90s TV gold ‘The X Files’ and ‘Twin Peaks’ to an extent. and I can absolutely see why, this is a very engaging, very intreaguing and ultimately quite satisfying TV movie. And im really going to have to try and find this one on bluray at the next possible convenience. MUST see, maybe save this one for Early October, and thank me later!

source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/the-night-stalker/