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Kolchak
Double Feature
Anchor Bay Edition
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Night
Stalker
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Night
Strangler
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Every
now and then an actor and the character he or she plays are
such a perfect fit that one can't imagine anyone else in the
role. Such is the case with Darren McGavin's portrayal of the
intrepid, brash, somewhat seedy newspaper reporter Carl Kolchak
in two landmark made-for-TV movies broadcast on ABC in 1971-72.
At a time when horror was considered less than a mainstream
genre (especially on TV), the first Kolchak telefilm was a huge,
surprise hit — for years it remained the all-time ratings champ
for a made-for-television flick. Naturally this resulted in
a sequel and eventually a short-lived weekly series. Though
he disappeared from the boob tube over a quarter-century ago,
Kolchak's legacy lives on: X-Files creator Chris Carter
cited the character's investigative brushes with the weird and
unexplained as an inspiration for his own show. Kolchak fans
can rejoice that Anchor Bay has put the original telefilms,
The
Night Stalker and The
Night Strangler, on a single DVD.
The first (and best) of the Kolchak stories finds Carl working
for a daily paper in 1970 Las Vegas. Fired from a succession
of jobs with prominent A-list publications in New York, Boston,
and Washington D.C., he's none too happy with his lot — the
veteran newshound is just spinning his wheels, praying for the
one big story that could catapult him back to the majors. Chafing
under his stern, dictatorial editor, Tony Vincenzo (late, great
character actor Simon Oakland), crotchety Carl gets through
the days with the help of booze and the company of his hooker
girlfriend Gail (Carol Lynley). But things change in a big way
when a bizarre string of murders suddenly strikes the gambling
mecca, leaving the police and sheriff's office completely baffled.
Young women begin to die at a nightly rate, overpowered by a
super-strong attacker who apparently drains their bodies of
blood. Both Carl and law enforcement officials quickly conclude
that a deranged maniac is on loose, stalking the city under
the delusion that he's a vampire. Somewhat callously Carl sees
the murders as his journalistic ticket back to the Big Time.
He throws himself at the story with great enthusiasm, incurring
the wrath of Sheriff Butcher (TV mainstay Claude Akins), who
regards Kolchak as somewhat lower than an earthworm on the evolutionary
scale. Local politicians pressure Vincenzo to keep details of
the vampire murders out of the paper, ostensibly in the name
of public safety, placing further roadblocks in Carl's path.
Kolchak's frustration mounts after he personally
witnesses a battle between police officers and the killer, an
incident that proves without question that the suspect doesn't
just think he's a vampire, he is one — an actual, honest-to-God
undead blood-drinker. (The killer fights off 20 or more of the
cops, taking numerous pointblank gunshots to the body without
so much as a scratch, before escaping into the darkness.) In
consequence, even with some dead policemen to explain, the Vegas
authorities clamp down even harder on the news blackout. Carl,
motivated more by proving he's right — and scooping the big
story — than saving lives, conducts his own investigation to
track down the vampire's lair.
The
Night Stalker clocks in at a very
brisk 74 minutes sans commercials, from back in the days when
a 90-minute TV program only had 16 minutes of ads. (Today there
are almost 17 minutes of commercials in an hour-long show!)
Its breakneck pace never detracts from the terrific acting or
the smart, adult dialog penned by Richard Matheson, screenwriter
of such gems as House Of Usher
and The
Devil Rides Out. McGavin was simply
born to play Kolchak —
a very likable yet far from angelic or virtuous character —
and he is ably supported by the TV and B-movie veterans that
round out the cast. The scenes in which Carl has it out with
editor Vincenzo are real highlights given how well McGavin and
Oakland play off one another. (So well, in fact, that the Vincenzo
character was brought back for Strangler
and the weekly series.) While quite obvious that it's a stunt
man in all the action scenes, Barry Atwater (whom some will
recognize as Vulcan philosopher Surak from the classic Star
Trek episode "The Savage Curtain"), nonetheless cuts a memorable
figure as vampire Janos Skorzeny... even though he doesn't have
a single line of dialog in the film. (Shades of Christopher
Lee!)
A
30-year old TV production, The
Night Stalker is of course devoid
of any heavy violence, nudity or gore. This will likely turn
away much of the under-25 crowd as "boring". Their loss.
The second Kolchak telefilm
picks up with Carl down on his luck in Seattle, Washington.
Unemployed (and unemployable), his fortunes immediately improve
when he runs into his old boss Vincenzo, now city editor of
the Daily Chronicle. In a rare fit of sympathy Tony gives him
a job with the paper and his first assignment: the strangulation
murder of a stripper in the Pioneer Square district. Naturally
this isn't any ordinary killing, but the first in a string of
bizarre homicides the police find themselves helpless to prevent.
The victims' necks are crushed as if by superhuman strength,
each bearing a hypodermic puncture wound at the base of the
skull. Back in his (un)natural element, the irrepressible Kolchak
steps on numerous toes and riles the Seattle authorities to
eventually ferret out the murderer —
a 144-year old alchemist (Richard Anderson, Steve Austin's boss
on The Six Million Dollar Man) who's collecting the slain
women's blood to concoct a restorative "elixir of life".
(And who happens, by the way, to resemble Darkman dressed like
the killer in Blood
And Black Lace.)
Practically a remake of
Stalker rather
than a sequel, The Night Strangler
again has McGavin in top form; it's always
fun to watch an actor sink his teeth into a role he obviously
loves. With 16 more minutes of running time the script (again
by Matheson) is a bit more leisurely paced than the first movie's,
certainly funnier. Director Dan (Dark Shadows) Curtis,
who also produced, injects more atmosphere and suspense into
the proceedings in lieu of "cops vs. creature" action
scenes, which dominate the first film. An almost giallo-style
stalking sequence is quite well done, especially considering
this was made for television.
The supporting cast is topnotch, notably Oakland and familiar
B-movie faces Scott Brady (as Police Chief Shubert) and John
Carradine (autocratic newspaper owner Mr. Crossbinder). '70s
TV regular Jo Ann Pflug — who appeared on just about every game
show on American television during the decade — is
also quite good as the motormouth belly dancer who helps Carl
track down the killer. Be warned, though: there is a tremendous
amount of shouting in the film, as virtually every scene in
which McGavin and Oakland appear together has them yelling at
each other at the top of their lungs!
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| Anchor
Bay's DVD release of the Kolchak telefilms comes with both movies
on a single disc; one has to flip it over to play
Strangler.
Besides some brief liner notes there are no Bonus features at
all, which is a pity. This would have been an unbeatable package
were there an audio commentary with McGavin (even if only for
one of the flicks). Still, the two
best Kolchak tales for the price of a single-film disc is nothing
to sneeze at. Aside from a bit of hiss during the final half hour
of Strangler,
sound and picture quality are okay; there's some grain and artifacting
occasionally in evidence, but not so much that it prevents enjoyment
of the films. 7/01/01 |
| UPDATE
This DVD was discontinued by Anchor Bay in 2002; MGM released
a new, improved version in August 2004. Read the EC review of
the MGM disc here. |
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