The Night Strangler [VHS]

Both of these movies garnished tremendous TV ratings when they first aired. The Night Stalker being the highest Nielson rated TV movie to date when it first aired on Jan 11th 1972. Darren McGavin was perfectly cast as the trouble prone investigative news reporter in his familiar crumpled suit, straw hat and driving his classic 1966 yellow Ford mustang convertible. Similar traits to Lt. Columbo but yet I realize two entirely different characters. Kolchak is an Independent wire services reporter chasing after a crime story lead that in his case always ends up having a supernatural antagonist with a shocking twist ending to it. I also compare Kolchak to Columbo because they both initially come across sometimes as bumbling and disorganized to the unaware observer. Both characters can be irritating to others at times with their constant off the wall questions and quirky mannerisms. However, as the viewer learns early on, it's all part of their own ingenious plan to catch their suspected culprit. The only difference is that when Kolchak succeeds, there's always some type of para normal circumstance left surrounding the case. Kolchak never tells anybody the true facts of the story. Why? Frankly it's because because he realizes nobody would ever believe him. It's a travesty of justice that this TV series only lasted just one season (20 episodes) on ABC between September 13, 1974 – March 28, 1975. Possibly, future theatrical releases or instead TV Movies of the Week would've earned higher numbers in fan viewership. However, the network was determined to go ahead with their plans of a weekly TV series. In fact I understand that Darren McGavin was all in the idea of doing future movie sequels . I just know as a kid I loved watching this weekly series. It didn't matter to me that the series was moved 3 times by the network to different timeslots and days of the week. As a loyal fan, I always sought it out. I never missed an episode. Unfortunately, I would imagine though that many adults, in all the confusion of finding the right air date, took the easier route available and just gave up looking entirely. That's probably the reason the show in the end was ultimately cancelled. Relive the brilliance of Kolchak and maybe for some of you, for just the very first time. Discover for yourself, why this double feature movie became a supernatural cult classic. Spawning a weekly TV series like no other. One that many imitators years later, tried desperately to duplicate in form, but still could never surpass the original. My advice is to pop yourself a bag of popcorn, turn down the lights, turn on the TV and just get ready to have yourself and your family a scary fun time. Enjoy.