carnage and culture: Top 25 Greatest Halloween Films: #12

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Top 25 Greatest Halloween Films: #12 – ‘The Night Stalker’ (1972)

by John Nolte
http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/
October 20, 2010

Don’t look now, baby, but Kolchak’s coming back in style.

38 years ago, on the evening of January 11th, 1972, wearing his signature porkpie hat and seersucker suit, an immortal (and bow-legged) television character strode onto the ABC network and captured more viewers than any television movie had up to that date. A sequel would quickly follow along with a short-lived series. But thanks to a beautifully crafted script by sci-fi legend Richard Matheson and The Mighty Darren McGavin’s incredible characterization, the immortal Carl Kolchak — newspaper man/monster hunter — had arrived in all his bull-headed, tenacious, intuitive and somewhat arrogant glory.

You see, Carl Kolchak used to be somebody. Once upon a time he soared with the eagles high above most every big city in America soaked in the ink-stained eminence of his beloved profession. Unfortunately, because Carl Kolchak is usually always all about Carl Kolchak, he was also fired from each and every one of those jobs (ten and counting) and today finds himself biding his time for the break that will take him back to the top at a small-time Las Vegas newspaper.

Called back only a couple days into his first vacation in years, Kolchak’s assigned to what looks like the nothing murder of a young woman. The only thing out of the ordinary is that she’s been drained of blood and the only difficulty Kolchak faces in reporting a fairly rote story comes in dealing with all the public officials he’s managed to antagonize over the years — people who would like to see the abrasive reporter run out of town, including the Sheriff (Claude Akins), the District Attorney, and at times, even his own editor, the forever put upon and short-fused Anthony Vincenzo (a perfectly cast Simon Oakland).

Soon, however, the nothing story turns into something that could be Kolchak’s ticket back to New York. More dead girls point to a dangerous serial killer, but the coroner (Larry Linville) upsets everyone’s narrative when he reports that not only were all the victims completely drained of blood but each was found with a human bite mark on their neck. This news, combined with witnessing the killer throw a dozen policemen around like rag dolls and keep going after being hit with a hail of gunfire, convinces Kolchak that what they’re dealing with is a real-life vampire. Slowly the evidence and incidents pile up to a point where even Kolchak’s adversaries have to admit he’s correct. But will they keep their promise and let him print the story?

Though it clocks in at a lean 74 minutes, Matheson’s crazily efficient script (based on a then-unpublished novel by Jeff Rice) short-shrifts nothing in the way of character development, humor, action, the elements that make for a compelling mystery, and of course horror. The climax that finds Kolchak — driven more by blind journalistic ambition than bravery — unwisely entering the vampire’s house is a splendidly creepy piece of suspense that closes on a perfect beat allowing for the film’s overall theme regarding the difficult question of public safety versus their right to know to play out.

Best of all, these questions aren’t answered for us. On one side you have cowardly public officials protecting the status quo and on the other a crusading reporter whose ethics never go any further than his byline. This is an intelligently crafted dynamic that not only reflects the times but respects the audience enough to allow them to make up their own minds.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Robert Cobert’s excellent and instantly recognizable score (that would remain and work as the foundation throughout Kolchak’s run) and the pure pleasure that always comes from watching the likes of Elisha Cook Jr., Ralph Meeker, and those already named, work their magic. But there will never be another Darren McGavin, a legendary ham who delivered the goods like few others. As ABC’s failed attempt to revive the series in 2005 proved, McGavin simply is Carl Kolchak and you can no more replace him anymore than you could Fred Sanford, Al Bundy, Jim Rockford or Ralph Kramden.

The following year would find Kolchak driving City of Seattle public officials crazy in the worthy (and imaginative) sequel, "The Night Strangler", based on an original story and screenplay by Matheson. Finally in 1974, Kolchak and Vincenzo would settle in Chicago to play out their love/hate relationship and battle the monster of the week for a single 20 episode season. Because this was a difficult concept to sustain, both the audience and McGavin eventually got bored but unlike most single season programs, the series lives on in perpetual cable syndication, and for good reason. Though uneven at times, there are a number of individual episodes that arguably rank as standalone classics, my personal favorite being “Horror in the Heights.” The series also contains a sequel (with some startling images) to the movie that started it all.

Overall, the series is very entertaining and at times genuinely scary. If it’s famous for anything, though, it’s for a quirkily smart sense of humor that Bob Gale (“Back to the Future” and a BH contributor) is widely credited for in his role as story editor and writer. The legendary David Chase (“Rockford Files,” “The Sopranos”) would also cut his teeth in the noble cause of extending Kolchak’s television lifespan, which in many ways extended well into the 1990s. Chris Carter credits “The Night Stalker” as having a major influence on his creation of the long-running “X-Files,” and he even cast McGavin in an influential guest-starring role as a former F.B.I agent.

So as Kolchak himself might close with: “And there you have it. A world in which the only thing standing between you, your loved ones and the creatures of the night is a flawed reporter running around in a bad suit and white tennis shoes, carrying nothing more than a cheap flash camera and a cassette recorder. And so tonight as you finish your supper and lock your doors and tuck your precious children safely in their little beds, if you hear a bump in the dark remember to close your eyes and tell yourself it’s only a dream – and hope that you’re right. Because Carl Kolchak lives on only in reruns and will never be replaced.”