Carl Kolchak: The Night Stalker Never Dies

On September 13, 1975, "The Night Stalker" set a record for TV movies with the story of a seedy, abrasive newspaper reporter trailing a vampire in Las Vegas. ABC benefited from the highest ratings of any TV movie aired to that date.

Produced by Dan ("Dark Shadows") Curtis, it was written by Richard Matheson based on an unpublished book manuscript by Jeff Rice. It was the story of a seedy but dedicated reporter who discovers that a Las Vegas serial killer is an actual vampire, constantly impeded by city fathers fearful of bad publicity for the city. Darren McGavin starred as Kolchak, Simon Oakland as Kolchak's editor, Tony Vincenzo, Barry Atwater as the vampire, and Carol Lynley as McGavin's girlfriend.

Sequel

Quicker than you can say Friday the 13th, a sequel was thrown together called "The Night Strangler," featuring Kolchak, his editor Tony Vincenzo, Richard ("Six Million Dollar Man") Anderson as the immortal Jack the Ripper-type strangler, and the underground city in Seattle. You can take guided tours of the underground city which consists of streets about six feet down that were built over when city fathers decided to start all new to include elevating the street level. With clues dug up by a researcher played by Wally Cox, Kolchak finds an isolated pocket deeper than most where a Victorian mansion, inhabited by a strangler straight out of Robert Bloch's "Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper." Guesting were Margaret ("Wicked Witch of the West") Hamilton, John Carradine, Al Lewis, and Jo Ann Pflug. It aired January 16, 1973. Again, it was produced by Curtis and scripted by Matheson.

Series

This also pulled in ratings so the go-ahead was granted for a TV show featuring Kolchak and called "The Night Stalker."

It only lasted 21 episodes, but remains a cult hit. It inspired the X-Files and that, in turn, inspired an inferior, little-publicized CBS remake of "The Night Stalker" series. You can buy both the classic Kolchak as well as the recent remake on DVD. Regrettably the original lacks special features and interviews.

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