History Film / TheNightStalker

A mysterious SerialKiller (Barry Atwater) stalks Las Vegas at night, murdering prostitutes and draining them of their blood. When cynical and outspoken investigative reporter Carl Kolchak (Creator/DarrenMcGavin) is pulled from vacation by his boss Tony Vincenzo (Creator/SimonOakland) to delve into the murders, he begins to suspect that the culprit is actually a vampire, or at least believes himself to be one. With the authorities refusing to listen to him--even as the killer manages to mysteriously avoid them and demonstrates SuperStrength--Kolchak must convince them of the killer's true nature, stop the menace, and get a good story out of it in the process.

A mysterious SerialKiller (Barry Atwater) stalks Las Vegas at night, murdering prostitutes and draining them of their blood. When cynical and outspoken investigative reporter Carl Kolchak (Creator/DarrenMcGavin) is pulled from vacation by his boss Tony Vincenzo (Creator/SimonOakland) to delve into the murders, he begins to suspect that the culprit is actually a vampire, or at least believes himself to be one. With the authorities refusing to listen to him--even as the killer manages to mysteriously avoid them and demonstrates SuperStrength--Kolchak must convince them of the killer’s true nature, stop the menace, and get a good story out of it in the process.

* ClassicalMovieVampire: Skorzeny dresses like one, but he’s anything but, behaving like a feral animal who never talks onscreen.

* DestinationDefenestration: During his assault on the hospital, Skorzeny throws an unfortunate orderly trying to subdue him out a window. The orderly’s corpse is seen laying on the street when the police and Kolchak arrive.
* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:Kolchak manages to kill Skorzeny, but Masterson and Butcher print a false story so they won’t have to admit to the public there was a real vampire and they smugly use trumped up murder charges to blackmail Kolchak into leaving Vegas, pressuring Jenks to go along with it. When Kolchak asks to if he can tell his girlfriend Gail, who he had just proposed too, Butcher smugly reveals he had forced her to leave earlier. Now jobless and broke, Kolchak desperately tried to find her but gives up, and writes a book about the events, which ''The Night Strangler'' reveals was never accepted to be published (though the novelization reveals he did get the book published, but he had to flee from goons sent by the authorities back in Las Vegas to silence him, menacing he didn’t get any of the profits). And an episode of the series reveals that, although most of his victims were cremated, one was overlooked and was able to kill several more people.]]
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The film has a far more grim and cynical tone than the series that followed it, and lacked much of the franchise’s trademark humor. Vincenzo also has far less screentime, serving as a minor character.

* HookerWithAHeartOfGold: Kolchak’s girlfriend Gail Foster.
* {{Jerkass}}: Sheriff Warren A. Butcher, an aggressive hothead who constantly insults Kolchak even when he’s trying to help, [[spoiler:and takes great glee in running him out of town and separating him from Gail permanently.]]
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Kolchak, who in spite of his abrasiveness and outspokenness being played more seriously, still tries to work in tandem with the authorities to stop Skorzeny, puts himself in danger by remaining in Skorzeny’s house to rescue the blood bank victim, and he is nothing but kind to Gail, who he worries about and tries to help quit being a prostitute because he’s afraid she will become one of Skorzeny’s victims.

* LighterAndSofter: Than ''The Kolchak Papers''. It lacks most of the novel’s gore and it’s darkest moments, like the implication that Skorzeny had repeatedly raped two of his victims, and the Las Vegas authorities killing several of the witnesses. However, it also takes out most of the novel’s humor, and makes the DownerEnding into a complete GutPunch.
* MysteriousPast: Much of Skorzeny’s past is a mystery, particularly how he became a vampire.
* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: [[spoiler:Kolchak’s reward for killing Skorzeny and rescuing the victim he was using as a human blood bank is to be run out of town and left broke.]]

* PragmaticAdaptation: It’s generally a faithful adaptation of ''The Kolchak Papers'', but it changes and swaps character names, merges characters, and jettisons ones that are unnecessary to the plot.

* SuitWithVestedInterests: Masterson and Butcher try to cover up and downplay the murders as much as possible to make sure that the tourist industry is not jeopardized and, at least in Masterson’s case, making himself and the police force look good.

In Las Vegas, a mysterious serial killer (Barry Atwater) stalks Las Vegas, murdering prostitutes and draining their blood. Cynical and outspoken investigative reporter Carl Kolchak (Creator/DarrenMcGavin) covers the murders, and begins to suspect that the culprit is actually is a vampire, or believes himself to be one. With the authorities refusing to listen to him, even as the killer manages to mysteriously avoid them and demonstrates SuperStrength, Kolchak must convince the authorities of the killer’s true nature, stop the menace, and get a good story out of it in the process.

''The Night Stalker'' is a 1972 television horror film directed by John Llewelyn Mosley, written by Creator/RichardMatheson, and produced by Dan Curtis of ''Series/DarkShadows'' fame, based off an unpublished novel, ''The Kolchak Papers'', written by Jeff Rice.

The film received the highest ratings of a television film at the time, and received a 1973 sequel, ''Film/TheNightStrangler'', and a television series, ''Series/KolchakTheNightStalker'', which, while only lasting one season, became a beloved CultClassic for its genuinely disturbing content and quirky dark humor.

* UngratefulBastard: [[spoiler:After Kolchak kills Skorzeny, Masterson and Butcher renege on their deal, run him out of town with false murder charges, print a false story, and force Jenks into going along with it, taking great glee in doing so.]]
* VampireVannabe: Kolchak initially suspects Skorzeny is this, until Gail talks him into believing that Skorzeny is the real deal. Notably, in spite of this mundane explanation, Masterson and Butcher dismiss this as fantastical bull crap.

* LighterAndSofter: Than ''The Kolchak Papers''. It lacks most of the novel’s gore and it’s darkest moments, like the implication that Skorzeny had repeatedly raped two of his victims, and the Las Vegas authorities killing several of the witnesses.

** [[spoiler:''The Kolchak Papers'' and novelization of ''The Night Strangler'', give some more insight into it. Kolchak had actually managed to sell his novel to Jeff Rice, but before he could claim any profits off of it

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:Kolchak manages to kill Skorzeny, but Masterson and Butcher print a false story so they won’t have to admit to the public there was a real vampire and they smugly use trumped up murder charges to blackmail Kolchak into leaving Vegas, pressuring Jenks to go along with it. When Kolchak asks to if he can tell his girlfriend Gail, who he had just proposed too, Butcher smugly reveals he had forced her to leave earlier. Now jobless and broke, Kolchak desperately tried to find her but gives up, and writes a book about the events, which ''The Night Strangler'' reveals was never accepted to be published. And an episode of the series reveals that, although most of his victims were cremated, one was overlooked and was able to kill several more people.]]

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:Kolchak manages to kill Skorzeny, but Masterson and Butcher print a false story so they won’t have to admit to the public there was a real vampire and they smugly use trumped up murder charges to blackmail Kolchak into leaving Vegas, pressuring Jenks to go along with it. When Kolchak asks to if he can tell his girlfriend Gail, who he had just proposed too, Butcher smugly reveals he had forced her to leave earlier. Now jobless and broke, Kolchak desperately tried to find her but gives up, and writes a book about the events, which ''The Night Strangler'' reveals was never accepted to be published.]]

* UngratefulBastard: [[spoiler:After Kolchak kills Skorzeny, Masterson and Butcher renege on their deal, run him out of town with false murder charges, print a false story, and force Jenks into going along with it, taking great glee in doing so.]]

* HookerWithHeartOfGold: Gail Foster.

* HookerWithHeartOfGold: Gail Foster.

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:Kolchak manages to kill Skorzeny, but Masterson and Butcher print a false story so they won’t have to admit to the public there was a real vampire and they smugly use trumped up murder charges to blackmail Kolchak into leaving Vegas, pressuring Jenks to go along with it. When Kolchak asks to if he can tell his girlfriend Gail, who he had just proposed too, Butcher smugly reveals he had forced her to leave earlier. Now jobless and broke, Kolchak desperately tried to find her but gives up, and writes a book about the events, which ''The Night Strangler'' reveals was never accepted to be published.]]

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:Kolchak manages to kill Kolchak, but Masterson and Butcher print a false story so they won’t have to admit to the public there was a real vampire and they smugly use trumped up murder charges to blackmail Kolchak into leaving Vegas, pressuring Jenks to go along with it. When Kolchak asks to if he can tell his girlfriend Gail, who he had just proposed too, Butcher smugly reveals he had forced her to leave earlier. Now jobless and broke, Kolchak desperately tried to find her but gives up, and writes a book about the events, which ''The Night Strangler'' reveals was never accepted to be published.]]

The film received the highest ratings of a television film at the time, and received a 1973 sequel, ''The Night Strangler'', and a television series, ''Series/KolchakTheNightStalker'', which, while only lasting one season, became a beloved CultClassic for its genuinely disturbing content and quirky dark humor.

!!Tropes:

''The Night Stalker'' is a 1972 television horror film directed by John Llewelyn Mosley, written by Creator/RichardMatheson, and produced by Creator/DanCurtis, based off an unpublished novel, ''The Kolchak Papers'', written by Jeff Rice.