Invite 'The Night Stalker' to your Halloween party

Kolchak - - - The Night Stalker is one of those strange magical movies, an ugly mongrel dog with an odd hard to define charm, crafted from a variety of ill fitting less than reputable parts. It just somehow works as a horror spook film, an excellent choice for Halloween.

It was 1972 when television producer Dan Curtis conjured up The Night Stalker, drawing upon his love for the macabre, strange and unusual. Dan Curtis enlisted the aid of Director John Llewellyn Moxey, one of the horror genres master manipulators of ghostly chills. Richard Matheson brought his formidable talents and twisted imagination into the brew, writing the screenplay.

Kolchak - - - The Night Stalker introduced America to an unusual hero, a rumpled, grumpy and abrasive reporter in a loud white suit, Carl Kolchak. Actor Darren McGavin had been kicking around since the infant days of television and though regarded as a reliable character actor, he had yet to truly make an impression. Carl Kolchak was the character of Darren McGavin’s career, a perfect marriage of actor and character.

Several veteran actors lent their talents to Kolchak - - - The Night Stalker . Simon Oakland encouraged to chew the scenerary plays editor Tony Vincenzo with gusto. Claude Akins mumbles his way through as skeptical Sheriff Warren A Butcher. Ralph Meeker, Kent Smith, and Elisha Cook Jr, join in the fun. Watch for a pre-MASH Larry Linville playing a doctor.

Kolchak - - - The Night Stalker is set in Las Vegas and for a ‘modern’ audience, a trip back to 1972 is worth the price of admission. Toss in a series of mysterious murders, young girls drained of blood, carrying the tell tale bite of the Vampire, blend in morbid comedy enlivened by Darren McGavin’s droll delivery, and the result is a well crafted thriller.

Kolchak - - - The Night Stalker can be enjoyed and purchased on its own, but it is best served up with an equally creepy sequel, The Night Strangler. Set in Seattle, an imaginative underground city serves as a spooky playground.

The two films spawned a frightfully short lived series that is also available on DVD. Altogether The Night Stalker in all of its manifestations is a great Halloween treat.