MovieChat Forums > The Night Stalker (1972) Discussion > The original movie

The original movie

posted 19 years ago by oxblood
15 replies | jump to latest

I found the original movie on vhs last month. I remember seeing it on tv in the 70's when i was a kid. I was a bit young to understand but seeing the tape brought it all back and it's still scary. The fact that most of the movie was from Kolchak's perspective made it scarier. Janos Schorzeny, the vampire was creepy. Not some shakespearan-spouting-Transylvanian wannabe, in fact he had no dialogue at all outside of a few snarls. But what an imposing figure. The mystery of this guy was better without words.

I notice everyone on this board is talking about the series and not the movie. I wonder, has anybody ever seen the original movie? I thought the series was a bit of a joke after the movie.

[–] crisso 19 years ago

I remember seeing the movie when I was very young in the 80s, and was a bit freaked out by it (I always remembered that scene near the beginning when the woman was walking alone at night and, as she nears the camera, a hand reached out and grabs her by the neck, that was scary!). I remember I watched the film again a few years later, still with those memories in mind, and found it just as scary. I was pleased to see that it was out on DVD and bought a copy a few months ago - scary as ever, and, unlike the first two times, I was able to appreciate the humour, too (the scene near the end when Kolchak goes to Janos's house was a real nail-biter!) . I hadn't seen the sequal before (The Night Strangler, also on the same DVD) and although it was good, it didn't have the same feel of the Night Stalker. A classic.

[–] dougglenn1215 19 years ago

The original Night Stalker movie is one of my all-time favorites. I saw it when it originally aired. It scared the hell out of me as a kid and I loved every minute of it. Darren McGavin was terrific as the always rumpled Karl Kolchak.

The movie has great scary scenes broken up by moments of humor. The tension still builds throughout, especially towards the climax, and then the cynical ironic ending! I guess I'll avoid saying anything too specific so I don't tread onto spoilers.

I was amused when I realized, years later, that the vampire, Skorzeny was played by Barry Atwater. Atwater also player Surak, the man who gave logic to the Vulcans on Star Trek! (Granted Mr. Atwater played a lot of roles, but I got a kick out of these being at such complete opposite ends of the spectrum.)

It was good to hear Chris Carter acknowledge the Night Stalker's influence on the X-Files (also the influence of The Invaders.) It was a thrill for me when they had McGavin guest star on X-Files. Another thrill came when Roy Thinnes from The Invaders guest starred. Made me think Chris Carter may be as much of a fan-boy as many of us watching.

[–] brads_62 19 years ago

Horror movies in general and the Vampire legend captivated me from the beginning. I still remember my parents taking me to the movies to see Count Yorga Vampire back in '70. Christopher Lee's rendition of Dracula was quite good IMO.

Having said that, no one ever put me under the bed like Janos Skorzeny. When The Night Stalker originally aired, the style was a complete 180 degree turnabout from anything I had ever seen. No castle, cape or bats. Just the creepiest vampire i had ever laid eyes on. As Kolchak said: "try to tell yourself, where ever you may be, it couldn't happen here". As I watched the original showing I could hardly breathe I was so taken by it. So taken by it, when Kolchak entered Skorzeny's house, I got up from where I was seated and turned the channel. I had had enough. I know, what a wimp! Months later I would see the entire movie. Barry Atwater's portrayal of the vampire was and still is the best I've ever seen. Barnabas Collins could only pale in comparison (no pun intended).

Kolchak and Vincenzo were so good together in their parts. It wouldn't be till years later that I could fully appreciate how good some of the humor actually was. Providing a light side to a very scary affair. The talk of a remake is intriguing. But in my view, it would be impossible to try and capture what the original movie did so faithfully.

[–] princebuster82 19 years ago

This was one of the first VHS tapes my father bought when I was a kid and I watched it over and over again. Still one of the creepiest sequences ever filmed was when he was in Janos's house towards the end. Even more remarkable was that this was a TV movie (back when occasionaly a TV movie was made that was worth watching).

The Night Strangler was limp and the TV series was a joke (literally). The Night Stalker TVM his nothing like its offspring, it's a very realistic story that everyone involved did a good job with. Most of the people that are into the series are usually the ones that watched it when they were younger and many have never even heard of the original movie. At all costs see this awesome film!

[–] 19 years ago

[deleted]

[–] mmarcopolo 18 years ago

"Yes this is one creepy but very good vampire movie,I seen it when it first aired back in the early 70s I was in my early teens ,and it did scare the crap out of me,much like the "the Norliss tapes" another very creepy flick!"

Yes, I remember the Norliss Tapes. I believe it was produced by the same people. It was really good and I was kind of expecting it to produce the same results as The Night Stalker.

I only jst saw the '72 Night Stalker TV movie a few years ago on cable. I was really shocked at how good it was. I was expecting to see the old 70s series not realizing it was the original movie. I was really creeped out by Janos Schorzeny. He was intense and not like at all the hip Eurotrash, romeo vampires seen in movies these days. He was all serious business. Im actually pretty sick of vampire movies cuz their all the same but if they continue making them (which of course they will) they should go back and view these two movies and really learn how to make vampires scary again instead of jst making them action figures. Also I saw the Masters of Horror ep "The V Word" recently. It wasnt great bt the director did great job making the scenes with the main vamp scary. He was much more frightening than the usual vamps.

[–] rogerscorpion 18 years ago

Well, Brads, by now you know they solved THAT by not even trying to capture what made McGavin's films & series work.
They wanted a sexy young guy on an obsessive mission w/a female partner.
Guess, since Chris Carter got some of his ideas for the X-Files, from the Night Stalker, they decided to get ALL the ideas for the remake from The X-Files.

Carpe Noctem

[–] no_no178 18 years ago

did anyone rember the charactoe rene? is there any pics out there? thanks

"SAY IT IF IT'S WORTH SAVING ME"

"WE ALL WANT SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL
I WISH I WAS BEAUTIFUL"

[–] amon_101 18 years ago

I don't recall a character named Rene in the movie.
I can get you pics, but please clarify who it is you're looking for.

...Dan

Check out my web page: http://www.captiongallery.com

[–] no_no178 18 years ago

is this the same movie?

http://imdb.com/title/tt0093621/

"SAY IT IF IT'S WORTH SAVING ME"

"WE ALL WANT SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL
I WISH I WAS BEAUTIFUL"

[–] amon_101 18 years ago

Nope. Different movie. This "Night Stalker" is the one with Darren McGavin, which spawned the TV movie "Night Strangler" and the short-lived TV series "Kolchak: The Night Stalker."

...Dan

Check out my web page: http://www.captiongallery.com

[–] bamatommy 18 years ago

The original "Night Stalker" movie was excellent, but the sequel, "The Night Strangler", sucked.

The series was good, but it seemed to go downhill as it went along. The best episode in the series, which only lasted one year, was "The Ripper". Kolchak encounters THE Jack the Ripper. Very intense and suspenseful.

The second-best episode of the series was the one with the female vampire. Very good episode.

The reason the series only lasted one year is that Darrin McGavin didn't get along with one of the producers.

I remember watching the series when I was a kid. I was seven years old when it came out. It was the year before "Jaws" came to the theater.

[–] 18 years ago

[deleted]

[–] CampoGiro 17 years ago

I agree about the vampire. In the original story, the vampire did speak occasionally, but Mr. Atwater played the role right by not speaking. It added to the vampire character's considerable menace. Barry Atwater was a very good, but very underrated actor who is greatly missed. He was also a bit of a prankster, as he entered one of the casinos in full vampire makeup during the filming of Night Stalker. I think it was almost an hour before anybody paid him any attention.

[–] eeleyebrown 17 years ago

Atwater was great. I got it on VHS at a RIte Aide some years ago and I remember having a discussion with some friends about him not speaking. I knew he hadnt but obviously he had to have had the power of speech at some point since he purhased a car from the dealer.

Anyway, I wish they made vampire movies more like this. More feral than campy or Euro like was posted earlier. Ever since the Hunger, they've been trying to make vampires seem so cool. They're not even scary anymore. Now they're all martial arts experts and joinng the corporate world (Blade, Underworld, Kindred:The Embraced). More human than monster, so where's the horror??