The Night Strangler

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source: The Night Strangler

Moviecut—The Night Strangler

The Night Strangler

Having seen this movie when it originally appeared on TV in the '70's, I can still remember the chills I got watching it. Seeing it again on video recently, those old chills returned and were just as enjoyable. Kolchak is one of my all-time favorite heroes, a bumbling regular guy who has enough faith in himself to follow his beliefs despite the road blocks thrown in his path by the authorities, who believe only they know the right way. The villain is not your run of the mill monster but as evil, lurking and despicable as the best of them. The premise of the movie that these things can and do exist unbeknownst to the gullible public is what makes this movie so much fun to watch. It makes you want to pull your covers up over your head on a dark stormy night just the way a great horror film should.

Follow-up to the 1972 TV movie "The Night Stalker". Carl Kolchak (Darren McGavin) is now in Seattle. It seems women are being killed and drained of their blood. It also seems this happens every 21 years. Kolchak investigates helped by a wacky woman (Jo Ann Pflug). This is nowhere near as good as "The Night Stalker" despite having most of the same crew involved. The story is kind of vague and the comedy and scares don't really work. Still it looks fantastic, has great atmosphere and good acting. McGavin and Simon Oakland reprise their roles and are great. Pflug is too but her character is annoying. This lead to a TV show called "Kolchak the Night Stalker" which was not a hit but has a cult following now. So this is an OK movie elevated by good acting and atmosphere.

I love this movie! It's better, sexier, and even more scary than the original "The Night Stalker". I know sequels degrade the first films, but this is the best sequel besides "Scream 2" and "A Nightmare On Elm Street 3" that I have ever seen. I love this movie and give it **** stars. SEE IT!

It's a toss-up, but Night Strangler is actually a better movie than the original Night Stalker it derives from. The characters are a lot more fleshed out in this one, while none of the horror is left to slide. There is an incredible range of performance from Simon Oakland, John Carradine, Wally Cox, and particularly Richard Anderson as the alchemist/murderer. There's humanity, pathos, horror, and comedy all mixed up in this one. The original is maybe scarier...but Stalker is still better.

This is the sequel to the hugely successful "Night Stalker" and unlike most sequels this one was just as frightening and just as funny as the original. The story has just the right mix of horror and humor to have made it as successful as it was. The fact that it never took itself seriously and Darrin McGavin's performance helped to make this a very memorable film. After this the critically acclaimed, but short lived series was released the next year and it like this film and its predecessor are still great to watch.