The Night Stalker (1972)

4.5 / 5
Tagline: N/A
Directed by: John Llewellyn Moxey
Written by: Jeffrey Grant Rice, Richard Matheson
Actors include: Darren McGavin, Carol Lynley, Simon Oakland
Genre: Horror
Length: 74 minutes
Banned: Nope
Country: USA

Review:
This was a made-for-tv movie that turned into a tv series that I've yet to watch. My Dad actually recommended the series to me as the plots generally deal with a reporter named Kolchak who is often involved in some strange and bloody tale. Every week a different topic, and the very first one (this one) is a vampire tale. A bunch of young girls on the streets of Vegas have been found drained of blood and a mysterious tall dark man is the suspect. Kolchak thinks it's a vampire but of course everyone thinks he's insane. What's interesting is that it does sort of play out like it would happen if a real vampire did exist. The cover-up elements and threats and everything else definitely made sense. The biggest highlight here is the vampire himself which seems to be patterned after Christopher Lee's silent Dracula portrayal making this actually relatively creepy. It had a bit of humor, Kolchak seems like a dork but I think I'll get to like him and it's interesting, this one is very well done indeed.