IMDb RATING
7.3/10
4.2K
YOUR RATING
A reporter hunts down a 144-year old alchemist who is killing women for their blood.A reporter hunts down a 144-year old alchemist who is killing women for their blood.A reporter hunts down a 144-year old alchemist who is killing women for their blood.
- Awards
- 1 nomination
Darren McGavin
- Carl Kolchak
- (as Darren Mc Gavin)
David Armstrong
- Police Officer
- (uncredited)
Margaret Bacon
- Reporter
- (uncredited)
Al Beaudine
- Reporter
- (uncredited)
Francoise Birnheim
- Restaurant Woman
- (uncredited)
Loren Brown
- Bar Patron
- (uncredited)
Bill Clark
- Bar Patron
- (uncredited)
Robert Cole
- Reporter
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaBeyond the 90-minute version, there was additional footage filmed featuring George Tobias as Jimmy "Stacks" Stackhaus, a reporter who had reported on the previous series of "Strangler" murders in the 1930s. In that footage, Kolchak tracks down the veteran reporter and speaks with him about the murders.
- GoofsSeveral of the articles shown in the archive files of the "Seattle Daily Chronicle" clearly have the headline pasted over genuine newspaper pages by the art department; this is especially noticeable on the edition from [Tuesday] 27th March 1952 headed "WOMAN STRANGLED IN PIONEER SQUARE", which is peeling away.
- Quotes
[first lines]
Carl Kolchak: [voice over] This is the story behind the most incredible series of murders to ever occur in the city of Seattle, Washington. You never read about them in your local newspapers or heard about them on your local radio or television station. Why? Because the facts were watered down, torn apart, and reassembled... in a word, falsified.
- Alternate versionsThere is a 90-minute version, which features additional footage with Al Lewis, Kate Murtagh, George DiCenzo, and Margaret Hamilton which was cut for the original TV release. This 90-minute version is the one typically released in syndication to fill the standard 2-hour movie slot.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Svengoolie: The Night Strangler (1996)
Featured review
Every 21 years a formidable strangler is on the loose in Seattle
RELEASED TO TV IN EARLY 1973 and directed by Dan Curtis, "The Night Strangler" chronicles events in Seattle when the strangled bodies of several young women are found. Intrepid reporter Carl Kolchak (Darren McGavin) discovers that the same kinds of murders occur every 21 years dating back to the late 1800s. Simon Oakland plays Kolchak's bellowing boss while Jo Ann Pflug appears as a genial belly dancer who assists Carl. Scott Brady plays the police captain while Wally Cox is on hand as a helpful scribe. Richard Anderson has a key role.
"The Night Strangler" was the follow-up to the highly successful "The Night Stalker" (1972) and led to a series that ran for one season from 1974-1975 (20 episodes), not to mention numerous Kolchak books. The two pilot movies are the best of the batch and established the template (formula) for the series and books.
Like the first film, there's a lot of intrigue, action, ravishing women, horror and suspense, plus a percussion-oriented jazzy score that's even better. "The Night Strangler" adds a little effective comedy and the antagonist is more complicated. The underground lair is mysterious and the mummified family is creepy, but the details of the alchemist's elixir and strategy seem contrived.
It's good to have Kolchak team-up with someone (cutie Pflug), which rarely happens in the ensuing series, but it was welcome when it did ("The Energy Eater" and "Demon in Lace"). There are a few peripheral beauties (Regina Parton, Nina Wayne and Francoise Birnheim), which the rest of the series mostly lacked, except for the debut episode, "The Ripper," and "The Werewolf."
Since this is a TV flick from the early 70s don't expect much gore.
THE MOVIE RUNS 90 minutes (with the original TV release more streamlined at 74 minutes) and was shot in Seattle and the Bradbury Building in downtown, Los Angeles, with studio work done at 20th Century Fox Studios. WRITER: Richard Matheson (teleplay) & Jeffrey Grant Rice (characters & formula).
GRADE: B+
"The Night Strangler" was the follow-up to the highly successful "The Night Stalker" (1972) and led to a series that ran for one season from 1974-1975 (20 episodes), not to mention numerous Kolchak books. The two pilot movies are the best of the batch and established the template (formula) for the series and books.
Like the first film, there's a lot of intrigue, action, ravishing women, horror and suspense, plus a percussion-oriented jazzy score that's even better. "The Night Strangler" adds a little effective comedy and the antagonist is more complicated. The underground lair is mysterious and the mummified family is creepy, but the details of the alchemist's elixir and strategy seem contrived.
It's good to have Kolchak team-up with someone (cutie Pflug), which rarely happens in the ensuing series, but it was welcome when it did ("The Energy Eater" and "Demon in Lace"). There are a few peripheral beauties (Regina Parton, Nina Wayne and Francoise Birnheim), which the rest of the series mostly lacked, except for the debut episode, "The Ripper," and "The Werewolf."
Since this is a TV flick from the early 70s don't expect much gore.
THE MOVIE RUNS 90 minutes (with the original TV release more streamlined at 74 minutes) and was shot in Seattle and the Bradbury Building in downtown, Los Angeles, with studio work done at 20th Century Fox Studios. WRITER: Richard Matheson (teleplay) & Jeffrey Grant Rice (characters & formula).
GRADE: B+
helpful•51
- Wuchakk
- Apr 25, 2018
Details
- Runtime1 hour 14 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1
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