The Night Stalker (1972) | 16k subscribers special

An abrasive Las Vegas newspaper reporter investigates a series of murders committed by a vampire.

[@richardstarky1435]

One of the great series in the 70s. The opening theme alone is a treat. At first it seems like a quiet, pleasant work in the office then suddenly turns dark, the fan stops abruptly, the wall clock stops working, music gets scary and Kolchak turning around in horror. Goose bumps....

[@whatevs4531]

Stop it...your scaring me!

[@shadygrady65]

This video quality is wonderful, and this scared the heck out of me when I watched this as a kid, such a a great cast, character writing. Must be noted that the actor, Barry Atwater, who did an outstanding job playing the vampire, actually developed an issue with his eyes because of the constant pain from wearing eye contacts. To remedy this, he choose to take them out, but his eyes remind red from the irritation of contacts. The director wanted to take a break to give his eyes a rest, but Mr. Atwater decided to go on, in which gave him a more natural, eerie effect to his look. Mr. Atwater, also had unusual bone structure, which defined his his looks. He admitted later on in years to come that this was caused by steroid usage over the years. A small trivia for this great-TV masterpiece of horror story telling.

[@draco4540]

this show did scare me as a kid also. but, i loved watching it. some of the funny one-liners went over my head at the time.

[@patrickrossetti5685]

One of the best made for tv movies ever. And great scenes of old Vegas Thanks👍!

[@norealorder5437]

Not a problem. Thanks for watching.

[@Bluebird590]

"do remember night gallery" this programs brings back memories.

[@KajunMs39]

Oh my goodness!! Loved Night Gallery!!!

[@MIXPRO68]

MAN THIS BRINGS BACK MEMORIES WHEN ISAW THIS AS A KID BACK IN THE 70'S-CLASSIC!!!!!!!!

[@albertrivera7332]

Kolchak was the man!

[@maggiesmith856]

Even in one season they had trouble finding a new monster every week.

[@verdiacollins3674]

I'm glad the night stalker came to KZbin Great

[@williamvasilakis9619]

I grew up on this. Great initial tv pilot. Acting is superb. The " establishment " has not changed since that time. Love this so much, thank you with all my heart for putting this great series up

[@chrino21]

When you’ve got both Claude Akins and Simon Oakland angry at you, you’re doing something right. I like to think Kolchak’s still out there, chasing the story, and often wonder what city he’s in now...

[@misterb6416]

I used to love this show growing up, wow. Such fond memories of those day. Such a good show too.

[@mikepasko7493]

It was and still is one of the best tv shows ever............

[@paulplaine3300]

Darren Mcgavin and the night stalker series was absolutely one of the best put out by tv

[@bigwu100]

They have the series on DVD. I like it too. Mannix just came out and Rockford files. The good ole days.

[@supersithlord]

I agree! I still watch those episodes frequently. I wish it would have lasted longer.

[@christopherarnett2851]

You got that right iconic Darren McGavin The Night Stalker.

[@ortho-g9826]

Great series. Many good ones in what is the Golden Age of television. Kung Fu and many, many more. Night Stalker.....great stuff!

[@GreekGypsy]

I loved it!!

[@mikecane]

Saw this when it first aired as an ABC TV Movie of the Week. Scariest damned thing I'd ever seen. Had a B&W TV back then. This is still a classic that holds up. Too bad the TV series that followed the two movies didn't get the ratings to keep it alive.

[@shadowwolf7622]

I couldn't wait to see what new monster Kolshak was going after each week.

[@bold810]

Me, too! Nightstalker was my treat for being a good boy😀

[@Southpaw-rc6vr]

Darren McGavin aka Kolchak was on a episode of X Files and was hinting as Kolchak retired on said episode the episodes are called "Travelers" & "Agua Mala"

[@bold810]

@@Southpaw-rc6vr that's hella cool!

[@lindsaywilmoth3747]

To be fair, the movies after this and the series were very subpar.

[@carlosfcruz-rr9hp]

I used to watch kolchak in the 1970s it was a real treat to watch this episode 48 years later.thank you.

[@fuyu5979]

Just saw The Night Stalker for over 25 times now. First saw it on its original broadcast when I was a young lad. Good acting, writing, location n producer Dan Curtis He was also the producer for the original Dark Shadows of the 1960s. Another classic TV show. Thanks for the upload. Was a BIG fan of the series. Faithfully watching it every week on its original broadcast n syndication. Hopefully u will upload more classic TV programs. Thanks again.

[@randolphgarcia3494]

PS: THE FAMOUS VAMPIRE IN THIS MADE FOR TV FILM FROM 1972, & BOY WHAT A PERFORMANCE HE PUT ON, WAS THE LATE BARRY ATWATER. THIS IS STILL ONE OF THE HIGHEST RATED TV FILMS EVER MADE. (RIP) PRODUCER DAN CURTIS; (ACTORS) THE LATE DARREN MCGAVIN; CAROL LYNLEY, LARRY LINVILLE & OF COURSE THE LATE BARRY ATWATER. FANTASTIC TV FILM FROM 1972. THE GENIUS OF THE LATE DAN CURTIS LIVES ON FOREVER & HIS MAGICAL TALENTS FOR CASTING & SCRIPTS.

[@brucedavis3816]

Yes what made the vampire also scary was that he doesn't say a word!!!!!

[@dank8865]

I learned about Mr. Atwood from the great Rory Ackerman and his Famous Monsters of Filmland. Bless em & the makers & cast of this & all the mind rotting crap I watched from the time I was 6 for the wasted days of my youth.

[@brucedavis3816]

@@dank8865 yea I agree I watched wau to much TV growing up in the summers whe school was out me and my brothers would watch TV literally all day long

[@michaeltruthson6262]

At the time the vampire cult classic Blacula was blazing the screens as a break out surprise cinematic hit.

[@michaeltruthson6262]

Don't forget the late Claude Akins aka General Erko from Planet of the Apes.

[@sirtrevis]

This is an entirely accurate portrayal of how people with authority and power do business.

[@trappedinacube2105]

Salem's Lot was another made for tv vampire movie that was great, but this one was king!

[@samanthab1923]

The best! I knew Lance, the kid from Back to School specials. This was the scariest thing I ever saw when the dead friend taps his finger on the window!

[@antonysimpson6288]

Salem's Lot terrified me as a kid! Now I watch it as a grown up it still terrifies me!

[@jobones2004]

@@antonysimpson6288 .....me too.....

[@gailpaton1680]

The Night Stalker was a great show in it's day. Loved it but don't remember seeing this one before.. I had a huge crush on Darren McGavin when I was 8 years old and I saw him for the very first time on our new black and white TV where he played the part of the Captain of The Riverboat. One of his greatest performances in my humble opinion was playing the foul mouthed father in A Christmas Story but I loved watching him no matter what he was in. I still watch A Christmas Story every year right after the Christmas tree goes up. , it's as traditional in my house as the tree and the turkey . RIP Sir

[@Eire_Go_Deo]

Have never seen this before and I just came across it in my recommended. Thank you! I’m really enjoying iy

[@KajunMs39]

My love for the paranormal started young. I absolutely loved this as a child 💖 What I was doing watching it, have no idea!!

[@jeansprettypups]

can not turn down a good The Night Stalker grew up on these

[@williamsmith3169]

No woke BS, no puerile SJW agenda's, no lecturing of any kind. Just pure entertainment. Great stuff that makes me miss the 70's.

[@jasonmichael3676]

Not a single woke political message...days long gone.

[@williamsmith3169]

@@jasonmichael3676 The good old days Jason.

[@jasonmichael3676]

@@williamsmith3169 Indeed.

[@chrisoakley5830]

Much better time to be living!

[@maureenwalsh5454]

As a AMAB non-binary ( yes we exist) person, you’re doing the same thing the whole SJWS are doing. Talking about “woke SJW agendas” on a apolitical video

[@lindsaywilmoth3747]

I think I was in the third or fourth grade when this movie came out. My family watch the premier that night. I slept in a upstairs bedroom in a huge house, I remember not being able to sleep for hours every night after bedtime staring at my closet hoping that vampire wasn't going to pop out. to this day and I am 55, this vampire creeps me out like no other vampire.

[@lindsaywilmoth3747]

The only thing that has aged in this movie is the music. It is quite early 70s.

[@dtaylor939]

Did the vampire come out of the closet?

[@ralphreinhardt6020]

Hey NRO thank you for posting this movie . Its much appreciated. 👍👍

[@aperture3000]

Thank you so much for posting this, my father may he rest in peace made Carl Kolchak come to life.

[@evilgenius2221]

cheers for this mate, remember this scaring the sh*t out of me back when i was about 8 years old, late on ITV in the UK, unlike most old nostalgia trips this one holds up really well, Kolchak was a brilliant character...if I remember right, Chris Carter said that he was the major inspiration for Fox Mulder in the X files....

[@kennethdemuchest5171]

That's true.

[@dennisjudd7550]

One of my favorite programs! I tried to never miss an episode! I used to watch Kolchak with my Mom and Dad! They both liked scary shows and movies! I guess that's where I got it from.

[@norealorder5437]

I have a similar story...I used to watch the show with my Aunt. We always had a big bag of popcorn.

[@dennisjudd7550]

My Grandmother who passed away at 104, used to watch Twilight zone and The Outer Limits! I'm still hooked on them! She also liked Night Gallery!

[@TheSilmarillian]

An oldie but a goodie hello from Australia

[@jtothaizzo7000]

bruh, i love this show. also when christmas comes, Ralphies dad is totally the nightstalker

[@gmanbelieves6513]

Amazing how they changed the series after this pilot story line after this pilot, moved the newspaper to Chicago, and his car became a convertible mustang and Vinchinzo his boss became more tolerant toward Kolchak and Kolchak was known more as an eccentric reporter. Also re did the Dracula story too.

[@dtaylor939]

I like this car better.

[@tonyjones1560]

An absolute classic! Everybody was talking about it (at least, in the nerd circles I ran around in)... Nearly half a century later, I have the same reaction in 2020 that I had watching this as a 10-year-old, when Kolchak went into that house: "NOPE!"

[@timallen643]

In those days of television it focused a lot more on mystery and less about the actual looks of the creature or vampire or whatever the episode was about. Darren McGavin voice was perfect for this role it Harkens me to the Magnum PI television program with Tom Selleck where he narrated the role in the television series. Which I was in one of the episodes.

[@kevinturner2196]

This was one of the best shows ever. The precursor to supernatural.

[@mementomatrix]

love the voices of all the actors sound from another time, the americans dont speak in this way anymore in the movies nice accent and diction

[@TheMaxKids]

Thanks to that Cultural Marxism convincing everyone to sound as stupid as possible.

[@Reprodestruxion]

TheMaxKids have you heard how Trump speaks or read his tweets , Shickelgruber? Have you heard Jordan Peterson’s nonsense and fake mid Atlantic try hard routine? And btw I’m one of the few people that doesn’t end his questions with a preposition esp “at”.

[@TheMaxKids]

René Moncayo Perhaps Trump succumbed to Cultural Marxism as well. And?

[@kidmack1121]

@@TheMaxKids It's pop culture! Eschewing 80 to 90 percent of the English Dictionary and choosing to speak in a pseudo urban slang, absolutely wearing the tread off of the same old hackneyed trendy expressions and acronyms has little to do with Marxism and everything thing to with fad and consumerism.

[@kidmack1121]

@MementoMatrix I purposely speak the way my Grandparents, and my coaches and P.E. teachers did. I can remember many off there phrases and cadence.

[@JosieSchuller]

I remember my grandmother talking about this. It was really good! I love that kind of vampire. Nothing suave or sophisticated about him. Just a brute monster looking for blood.

[@jellyomelette87]

Love these programs! Great actors as well! Thank you for sharing!

[@davidellis5141]

1:14:34 That Image has haunted me for almost 50 years ! 😨

[@ansahs]

BRAVO!!!!! THANKS for posting this. As a huge fan of "Mystery Science Theater 3000, i thought I'd be watching a B-movie. This was great and ahead of my time since i wasn't born yet when this came out, even better is that the acting wasn't corny, sub-par etc.. This was actually a series? I certainly didn't waste my time watching. Thanks again.

[@judy9521]

Great show. Thank you for uploading it.

[@MrJohnLombard]

Thanks for posting! Awesome Video Quality. First saw this on a B & W Television when it first aired, think it was an "ABC Movie Of The Week"...

[@draco4540]

i used to love to watch this series when i was about 10 years old back in 1974. a bit scary, a bit campy and a bit funny (humorous). it's funny that the coroner (played by larry linville), also was played as a doctor on the t.v. sereis "mash" as a doctor. his character on mash was "dr. frank burns."

[@lynnscotland826]

Love these movies no sex no swearing lovely .

[@billsye5703]

Lynn scotland just pointless violence against women

[@freedomrider266]

@@billsye5703 Reality, let's face it.....ALL violence is pointless!

[@danielmelendez253]

Lynn scotland LOL! Plenty of swearing by me! “ Get that SOB!” Hahaha! Great story!

[@lenathompson4856]

Somebody said it.

[@skepticynic5150]

Carol Lynley made me think of sex....bad girl!

[@rosecanjura9799]

Thank You so very much for posting the greatest thriller show ever. Greetings from Canada, Autumn of 2020. Keep safe everyone. ;D

[@jerry1612]

Hard to belive that every one in this epesode is now dead. The 70's was a time of great movies and great actors. So glad I was able to grow up that decade. I was 17 when this epesode aired on TV.

[@J.A.1969]

This film and the second one, The Night Strangler are amazing examples of how creative writers and directors and actors can really make a made for television film really work. Never really realized that by the time this film takes place, Kolchak was pining and struggling to get back to his glory days when he was a more successful reporter. Only thing I found off about him is that in this film he seems more concerned about getting back his higher status in the news game and less concerned about the victims and the safety of the public. Otherwise he's a likeable guy who just has too much of an independent spirit to work well with others as is evidenced in the TV series later on. I recall as a kid seeing this on late night TV and the scenes that really freaked me out the most was when he finds the woman in the upstairs bedroom hooked up to an IV being slowly drained of her blood. That whole sequence did actually scare me a lot for a made for television film. I keep going back to this film also because of the soundtrack. The music in this is absolutely killer. That groovy jazzy improv like music that plays when Kolchak drives around with the scary piano playing against that jazzy improv sound is so sensational. Makes you feel like you're in the car with him in Las Vegas.

[@chrisoakley5830]

All the main actors and actresses in this movie have all had extensive experience and successful careers in both TV and film. You just don't see movies with casts like this anymore!

[@sonicplaygsg7820]

Yes, Great cast of my favorite 70's actors!!

[@chrisoakley5830]

@Slippery Storm this is night stalker not pee wee.

[@chrisoakley5830]

@Slippery Storm your welcome.

[@chrisoakley5830]

@Slippery Storm OK excuse my punctuation.

[@MichaelMaxwell747]

"High on pot! Or the hard stuff!" Yes,that is the world we lived in.

[@BrianMax]

I loved this show when I was a kid. It scared the hell out of me, too.

[@tourbillon13]

Absolutely loved this...! Oh the injustice of terrified ignorant men. A perfect study. Question is... Do YOU believe in Vampires?!! 😳😂

[@susankeller164]

This was a really good series. One of the best.

[@allknowerofwwetna1]

Really enjoyed this film! Thank you for uploadeing

[@1SeanBond]

One of the best ever one of 2 Movies made then a 1 year series! It was out of this world as a kid! Awesome job and excellent content!🙂✌🍻Cheers!

[@norealorder5437]

Thanks for watching.

[@brilliantgeorge]

the narration of the reporter adds lots of character to this movie, kept reminding me of Text Murphy an old adventure series for the PC

[@danrooc]

Wow, they really featured a terrific vampire! Not a single word, it was like a hellish creature inside a human body fostering from the viewers imagination.

[@tropicvibe]

Darren Mcgavin as well as Barry Atwater did a great job here. A couple of cool trivia bits; At the end of the movie Kolchak appears to still be fearful and with good cause...in The Night Stalker episode "The Vampire" some construction workers accidentally release a female vampire near Las Vegas (!) who then goes on rampage in L.A., presumably one of Skorzeny's victims whose body was never recovered. Janos Skorzeny is also the the name of the evil werewolf drifter in the 80's TV show "Werewolf".

[@michaelvaughn8864]

Man, I hadn't seen this in years since I was in high school in the mid-80's. Awesome flick. Loved the late Darren McGavin. The sequels of The Night Strangler and The Demon and The Mummy were good, too. Not in the same class as The Night Stalker though

[@cambodianwavelength]

Very well written.....in stark contrast to today's trash.

[@andrewmark3682]

Actor Barry Atwater was given red contact lenses for his part as vampire Janos Skorzeny, he wore them for long durations, as a result his eyes became extremely red and sensitive, later scenes were filmed without him needing these contact lenses.

[@reggiewalden3681]

I heard that they are going reboot THE NIGHT STALKER

[@metaldad1967]

@Bernard Barnett Most of the X-Files episodes were inspired by Kolchak: The Night Stalker episodes

[@samanthab1923]

Get David Chase, he wrote some of the old ones.

[@sandraseven6575]

They did get the reboot but mess it up.

[@jentorres9076]

They already did. 10ish years ago

[@alexsaucedo8032]

Carl K. . Lmao BAWHAHAHA. Hahahaha. . Love this oldie but GOODIE. Good memories good times

[@bigtalk2598]

Virginia Gregg, a longtime staple of the Dragnet radio and television series, is in this movie. She was wonderful in all of her different roles on Dragnet. Same person, a thousand different voices and looks. A great actress.

[@charlescontreras7499]

I loved this movie, and Barry Atwater as the vampire scared me, he was ferocious!

[@BrennerBay]

Still one of the best vampire movies ever made.

[@kvx999]

The greatest made for television movie of all time!

[@thergvproject285]

Just finished watching this one. Great old movie.

[@collingalanos1783]

Barry Attwater was so chillingly perfect in the role of Janus Scorzany.

[@cierakitty]

Loved this show...wish they would do re-runs of it

[@whatevs4531]

I like how kolchak is the only reporter ever on the scene no paparazzi no CNN just him

[@travisfriedland9346]

Darren McGavin was one of the best I remember him in a movie called tribe Jan-Michael Vincent anyway I always felt bad he can never get his stories published but I had one idea of my own what if they wrote an episode that he ran up against the captain of the Flying Dutchman haunted ships and all the rest of it would have made a great episode anyone agree

[@romanwojciechowski3840]

Watching this as a kid, this was awesome ! Boom!

[@lowephato]

Thank you. Great copy.

[@scottwilliams5794]

Ditto.

[@kerryedavis]

Barry Atwater also played the Vulcan leader Surak in an episode of Star Trek. (The one with Abraham Lincoln etc.)

[@GeminiladyJackson-xq6hc]

Barry Atwater also played a warlock on an episode of Bewitched.

[@mementomatrix]

really nice pacing, very well thinked photography

[@waynebutler7030]

You do know there is another episode that continues this in the Night Stalker TV series if you can find it in host it that would be great oh yeah in that episode The Vampire is a woman and she is the victim of the vampire in this one

[@norealorder5437]

I actually have that one. I'll try to upload it...that's if KZbin will permit it.

[@tapeize]

Thanks for spoiling it for everyone!

[@tomtomlinson8666]

@@norealorder5437 aren't there copyright issues by doing this with kino-lorber?

[@shawntipton7398]

This was such a cool movie, I had not watched Kolchak until recently but since I am an X-files obsessive and it is and will remain my favorite show. I had to check Kolchak out, it had been recommened to me many times and I love the character and series. This film had a follow up episode called The Vampire, also very good.

[@LATVERIAN1]

Greatest vampire film ever made.

[@jawz8966]

dad recorded this on VHS tapes back in the 90s and we only had a VHS tapes with only two episodes that were the Ripper and the Vampire. How did Catherine Rollins become a vampire you ask well in the episode Kolchak said she came from Los Vegas, and before there was only one vampire terrorizing the city and we just witnessed him being staked in this movie. Catherine Rollins was killed by the same vampire right here in this movie and he buried her out in the desert hence in the vampire episode we saw hands coming out of the dirt scarring the woman who ran off after witnessing what she saw. So there were really 5 female victims of the first vampire in this movie, Catherine Rollins was the first then Sheryl Hughes from the begining of the film, Bonnie Renyolds, Carol the cocktail waitress, Marry Brandon the showgirl, Shelly Forbs would have been the 6th victim if she hadn't been rescued. And this is where Chris Carter was inspired and influenced to create his series The X Files

[@TheRochester45]

Put those VHS tapes on DVD, etc, with a company like Legacy Box

[@ELViejito100]

32:21 Just look this escene my god! the acting is amazing

[@demongo2007]

Biggest shock of the movie was what the LV strip looked like in 1971.

[@keithacenas205]

Besides Salem’s lot this was my favorite vampire movie “ they don’t have shows like this anymore and hat tip to Robert covert & dan Curtis !

[@MedMom993]

I'm a 90s baby but I love 70s & 80s horror movies for some odd reason 😂😂

[@jeffyoung60]

The 2005 reboot of The Night Stalker was a complete misfire. Now if the studios had intended a completely different horror drama show then I might be mistaken. But it was my understanding from the preview commercials that the show would be something of a reboot. In the first episode there is even a computer-generated cameo of Kolchak smiling and leaving the INS office while dressed in his 1974 cheap suit costume. The show featured a stereotypical, moody, mysterious, humorless young man that supposedly has deep, dark secrets of a mysterious background. An ambitious, loud-mouth investigative reporter latches on to him without his consent and both form an unlikely pair going around investigating mysterious going-ons, while she competes with him to show she's the smartest and most discerning. There was never a partnership chemistry between the two. Each episode was a grind to watch. In fact I never got beyond two or so episodes before I lost all interest. After two episodes it became very clear to me the show was trying to be derivative of the X-Files, rather than the monster-of-the-week. I believe the show lasted less than the season, got cancelled and just as quickly got forgotten. To the smart-alec trolls who always make the same comment, oh yeah, I know, I know, I know...it's just a tv show. Happy now?

[@williamshakespeare2070]

I remember there was a kolshak ,kojak, and Kodiak with Clint walker same time period .I was 12 watched in back parents bedroom .Father had some game in living room.

[@shengchenfan]

I remember this one as a kid.

[@deadave100]

Back in the day...My family use to sit and watch Friday Night TV.......it was either Columbo...McCloud or Nightstalker....

[@upstairs1307]

“After several high-profile newspapers fire him for his difficult attitude, investigative journalist Carl Kolchak (Darren McGavin) finds a job following the police beat for a small Las Vegas publication. When Carl discovers a series of dead showgirls drained of blood with bite marks on their necks, the police hesitate to take the case any further, and his boss (Simon Oakland) wants nothing to do with the story, leading Carl to believe there may be a real vampire prowling the city streets.”

[@brianofphobos8862]

I think it was a great move to never have the vampire speak. More inhuman.

[@jerryhollis8155]

I cannot believe how beat up his 5 year old Camaro is.

[@frankcastle4435]

That was one hell of a movie.

[@alevine1951]

Enjoyable, despite silly script and obvious made-for-tv production values of the day. Was hoping this was the one with the Seattle underground city. Liked seeing long-gone but familiar character actors. Which was more improbable - Kolchak staking a vampire or bagging young Carol Lynley?

[@Oldclimber1]

And ... then there is ... Carol Lindley. One of the finest of the fluffy, but beautiful women of the 70's.

[@taxmn]

Remember when this show was the ABC Tuesday night movie of the week. Plum Skerred for a week after seeing it.

[@terrypekarek3439]

I loved this show

[@chesterclingan1068]

I was a fan when he was doing the Mike Hammer series.

[@bcre8v]

My favorite episode.

[@zakalon123]

One of the best vampire movies ever made even though it is a tv movie which makes it even more impressive when you think about it. It is a realistic depiction of how a vampire story/hunt would go in modern day society. But two things bother me. If Skorzeny has robbed a few blood banks. Why does he still need to hunt victims? surely the stolen blood will keep him going for a while? Another thing Skorzeny's victims if not properly dealt with, will become vampires themselves and thus spread the curse of vampirism. Well as we can tell at the start they didn't just immediately cremate the bodies. So some of them females must of become vampires themselves and started to attack people etc etc. Why is this not mentioned to Kolchak? Just a thought.

[@druellapartee2010]

There is no way the DA... Sheriff Deputy and Police Captain would have gotten away with what they did to the Kolchak Character today!... There are too many variables to prove... Without A Doubt!... Egregious misconduct on those Public Officials had that occurred today!...

[@vankeithbarnes1333]

Carl was dead on about this story and why the authorities would go out of their way to try and conceal the incident, they would lose their reputation, and their political careers to panic and paranoia.

[@Heavenzvoice]

Took me a few years to realize Darren McGavin played Adam Sandler’s father in Billy Madison! He is hilarious:)