Imagine going back to 1972 when this was produced. You’d sit with your family waiting for it to be broadcast. There were only three television channels, you couldn’t record it for later because home VCRs weren’t available, everyone gave the TV their rapt attention, there were telephones but it was stuck on a wall 60 feet away in the kitchen (nobody bothered to call during prime time anyway) and it was GLORIOUS! After the scary movie your mom gave you a cookie and a glass of milk and sent you to bed. Dad watched the news and the house was shut down by 11:30. It couldn’t have been any better!
I remember very well. I guess I was lucky because we had at least 10 channels but we lived near Toronto Ontario and got tv stations from Buffalo as well as other cities close by.
When I was a kid, if we were allowed by my mom, we would stay up on Friday nights to watch The Night Stalker with Mom and Dad. There were only 4 channels on TV. Well, 5, if you count PBS. PBS was great for mysteries on Sundays. Mobile Mystery Theater it was called on Sunday afternoons. Sponsored by Mobile Oil Corporation. Anyway, The Night Stalker was my favorite to watch on Friday nights. I still remember laying on the carpet and watching The Night Stalker. Mom would make popcorn on the stove with Crisco and we could smell the popcorn cooking. What a wonderful time to be a kid. Then on Saturday mornings, Cartoons! How beautiful we were back then. Mom, Dad, us kids, and our country. God!, how I miss it.
LIFE WAS MUCH SIMPLER..WASN'T IT..SAME IN OUR HOUSE HOLD. ONE DAY A WEEK WAS TREAT NIGHT..WE LIVED IN APT..WITH A FIRE PLACE... ONLY HAVE IT ON WHEN DAD GOT IT GOING...AND VERY STRICT ABOUT THAT.. BUT THOSE WERE THE DAYS..AND WOULDN'T 🔥 HAVE CHANGED ONE THING ABOUT..
great recall Albert. It was great to be a kid growing up for the most part in this country in the 50's, 60's and 70's. I personally grew up in Las Vegas (b 1955) when the valley had 75k people living there. It was a trip living literally on the Strip (mid), as I did at times from 12yrs old to 18, as my parents were divorced, and my father lived in a few different apartments on the famed road, or just off it. We had, like you noted here with your experience growing up, only five channels. (if you counted the newly available PBS channel c1968) Where did you grow up?
Nobody usually reminiscences about the 70s. Some of us do about the 80s because we are in our forties now. And I've heard a lot of people being nostalgic about the 50s and 60s. But I've never heard people missing the 70s. It's nostalgia's twilight zone.
When I was a kid ( 9 years old in 72 ), see and hear the intro for 'movie of the week' I know it was gonna be good and exciting...Gosh how I so miss those times..
I remember the Mystery Movie Theme the same way, Alias Smith and Jones and so many more - many of which we watched as a Family (especially comedies and variety shows) - I don't know if that even happens any more. Two favourites I watched with my daughters were the original "Life on Mars" and "CSI New York"
Only decades later did I realize how prominently Blacks and women were utilized thruout the series. The writers and producers were waaaay ahead of their time...and Hollywood's all the better for it! Thanks 👍
@@donarthiazi2443 Sorry, no sarcasm intended. Just an unsolicited observation that the series was portraying 1973 with black people and women in positions of authority before it became ' de rigueur'. Hope you feel better 😀
This story was good for it's time, but honestly Darren McGavin makes the movie. He absolutely carries it. Such charisma and charm! I can't imagine it without him!
I love the old black and white Sherlock Holmes series with Ronald Howard (son of Leslie Howard, GWTW Ashley Wilkes) and he reminded so much of someone, and I was trying to think who, then it hit me, Darrin MacGavin! The both have an inmate likability.
This ABC Movie of The Week received wide viewing back in 1972, partly because it was on a school night, which made for it to be viewed by teenagers, who if it was on a weekend night, it wouldn't have had nearly the viewership numbers that it did. Because of this dynamic, the later tv series really an advantage with these viewers from this original telecast in '72, such as myself.
"high on pot or the hard stuff" Classic! _________ (poor dog!) It is worth watching just for the nostalgia of seeing those cars, filing cabinets, clunky telephones, and typewriters. I didn't even know I missed them. Except for the cars. I knew I missed them.
Kolchak: The Night Stalker is an American television series that aired on ABC during the 1974-1975 season. The series followed wire service reporter Carl Kolchak (Darren McGavin) who investigates mysterious crimes with unlikely causes, particularly those involving the supernatural or science fiction, including fantastic creatures. The series was preceded by the two television movies, The Night Stalker (1972) and The Night Strangler (1973). Although the series lasted only a single season, it rapidly achieved cult status and has remained very popular in syndication.
I remember watching one episode where he was seeing the lips of a Zombie shut, what episode or movie title was that one in?? My mom and me both agreed it was the scariest thing we'd ever seen!
I am 59, thank you so much for turning me into an eight year old girl again. I loved the movies of the week, the night stalker series and Darren McGavin. Ahhh when TV was magical.
Wrote about this movie in my Diary. All the kids at school were talking about "The Night Stalker." the next day after it aired. Amazing to see Las Vegas, in it's young days.❤
I remember watching this in that 70’s house I grew up in, with the shag carpet, the orange sofa, and the avocado recliners. Mom was on the couch, Dad in the recliner, my sister sleeping in the rocker, and I was on a quilt in the floor, watching that huge floor model TV. Nobody wanted to go to bed afterwards, and Dad made an extra check of all of the doors. Oh, for the days when my Dad was alive, and we were all still young…
@@leapinglaura7343 As a native Las Vegan (b 1955), who has lived all my life here, (sans 6-7 yrs abroad in the late 70's/early-mid 80's), I nurd-ishly stop this movie here on TH-cam occasionally, to verify small details, that as a longtime local, who was 16/17 yrs old at the time of the filming and playing of this, satiate my memories then. Still trying to sleuth out the location of the interior casino shots. Downtown or Strip casino? There's a case, albeit minimal, that the casino MIGHT be the Stardust, as in a shot where the casino gaming table supervisor watching the action on the table of the individual playing blackjack and talking to McGavin, is wearing a matching garish colored blazer, shirt trio. I was working as a 16 yr old busboy in Aug/Sept '71, at the coffee shop (Palm Room) there. (Stardust)
Was in the 8th grade when it aired in 72 Couldn't wait too watch it ABC advertised it alot Kept me on the edge of our flowered sofa At that time it was the most viewed movie on network TV in history
"bwkticn," "Nobody wanted to go to bed afterwards, and Dad made an extra check of all of the doors." Not unlike Tuesday nights, only a few years prior -- after another fright fest watching "The Invaders," also on ABC. 'Alien beings from another planet' [how the narration went in the main titles] -- that only architect David Vincent (like Darren McGavin as Kolchak; Vincent was skillfully played by, and ideally suited for, Roy Thinnes) knew about -- scared the bejesus out of most of us.
We used mattresses on door frames on concrete blocks with lots of pillows for couch and our rug was light yellow and the fridge avocado green. The kitchen counter tile was avocado green with dark wood paneling.
My parents let me watch both movies but they covered my eyes at points....even though it scared the hell out of me i loved it!!!! When the show started they let my big brother and myself watch them alone.....I was almost 8 when the show started and i loved it more than ever!!!! Monday morning in school all of us brave boys who watched would excitedly discuss things like headless motorcycle riders and 8ft tall native american spellcasters.........werewolves and zombies... aliens vampires jack the ripper.......Louisiana swamp monsters....monsters that looked like those you trusted most......i watch metv every saturday night at midnight....50 years later I still love watching it being broadcast and I hope there are youngsters today who find it as cool and engaging as i did at that tender age.....may the legend of the man called kolchack live on!
This is the greatest vampire movie I've ever seen. I was 12 in 1972 when I saw The Night Stalker. Love the intro of ABC movie of the week. It brings back warm feelings of family togetherness.
Was thinking the same when the music kicked in. I’m the same age. Oldest of 5. Watched with my bros. Check out the Norliss Tapes & Salems Lot. Good Vamps 👻
I remember the two movies when I was in high school, plus the series we never missed. No cell phones, computers, ipads or any other technology. No cable tv, no vcrs yet either. You watched at home or you missed it. A more perfect cast was never found.
Technology, though, would have affected the conclusion of the movie. If there had been cell phones, the Internet, and social media, Kolchak and Gail Foster wouldn't been separated at the end. He wouldn't have had to place personal ads in the local papers trying to find her.
I used to watch the movie of the week with my mother. There was McMillian and Wife and others as well. I loved these times RIP mom. You were the best mother ever.
mccloud and columbo....and macmillian and wife are all still broadcast here in philadelphia on channel 10.2 over the airwaves..free....the rest of our programs come from free sites on the net that have every show possible
This is seriously one of the best vampire films of all time. Based on the realism, script, and actors. Two Mike Hammer's together against a single unbelievable foe. RIP to all involved
My late brother loved the Night Stalker series. He would have been in his glory. This brings back so many memories and saddness. I love these movies, as well. Ms. B. Churchill
Same here. I was turned on to it when it was part of CBS Friday latenite in the late 70's. Stayed up late as a 9 year old with all the living room lights off to add atmosphere.
Oh my goodness! I had forgotten all about the ABC Movie of the Week! This is when the whole family would sit in the den and watch the same movie because there were very few channels on TV. I can remember my big sister popping popcorn on the stove, and my dad sitting in his favorite chair ... a La-Z-Boy recliner.
I remember watching this movie with my dad (R.I.P., Dad) when I was a sophomore in high school, all those years ago. Still gives me chills. The actor, Barry Atwater, who portrayed the vampire was badass! The growling, snarling, hissing!
As a person who works on movies and TV shows...I still think this was one of the best shows on TV when I was a kid...still love it...and McGavin was awesome.
darren was the ultimate professional.............not just this but everything he was in...........a rare breed...up there with peter falk............a great friend
i met (columbo) through sinatra met darren through telly savalas.......and i rate tel better than all of them put together..........and they were all brilliant
theres is a funny story about why i called telly, tel...even though his name wasnt terry, english slang for terry he said if i change my name 2 terry what will you call me then...........i said..........ted........hahahaha
One of the only movies that showed the true strength of the vampire.Tossing officers like rag dolls and impervious to bullets. Barry Atwater gave an outstanding performance without uttering a single word.
This great movie, and series was the inspiration for the X-Files, as quoted by Chris Carter. Darren McGavin never received the Emmy he deserved for this role as acknowledged by the entertainment industry. Rest in peace Mr. McGavin, your perfectly fallible, dogged-reporter "Carl Kolchak" lives on with a whole generation of Boomers and their kids.
This was probably the best of all of the Movie of the Week editions. I remember watching this when it was first shown on TV; it scared the crap out of my entire family. Those were the good old days of network television!
My dad turned all 7 of us kids onto tons of great television. Mission Impossible Columbo Kolchak The Night Stalker and too many others to mention. This 1972 movie of the week and 1973 follow up (The Night Strangler)movie led to the television series. The two movies broke viewership rating records for those two years. It was tough to try to make+tell as jam packed a story+production in 45-50 minutes when it transitioned into a weekly series, but the series was very rewarding too. Darrin McGavin was a gem of an actor, perfect here. Part of my childhood childhood died when Don Adam's, Bob Denver, and Darren McGavin all died the same weekend several years ago. Just came back 14 days later and watched the original movie which started it all AGAIN. The combination of Darren McGavin great acting and great writing make this 1972 movie one I can come back and watch again and again by now dozens of times if not hundreds.
Fond memories of a time long past. These were the kind of shows that went past your bedtime during the weekdays. You rarely saw the end until you were older and happened to catch the full episodes in reruns. This was before the internets ease of information access. Thank you !
I will take the peace & quite of the 1970s any day over this BS we have today. Three to five TV Channels, no VCRs, Records, 8 Track-Tapes, and Cassettes, Albums, and then Large Laser Disk ( what we call DVDs & Blue-Ray today) began in 1978. Those were good times...
I'm 58 - I use to watch this show when I was 11yo. It terrified me. I never watched horror in my adult life, this maybe why. Funny and wonderful to revisit this classic. Thankyou. Xx
Yeah there was and answering machines. Some kids had cassette recorders to tape off the radio and talk into for fun. George Harrison worried that early song releases would be boot legged that way and didn't release any teasers until his albums came out. You can see them in a lot of movies and shows, including Brady Bunch and any of these Ed and Lorraine Warren ghost movies.
In 1972, I was working for a New Hampshire newspaper as a bureau correspondent. I had flown out to Ohio to spend the holidays with my family. On the way back home, my plane was grounded at LaGuardia because of snowy weather and I had to spend the night at the airport. I bought myself copies of the Night Stalker and the Night Strangler at the airport bookstore and read them while I was spending the night sitting in a reception area. The lights were all on and I was the only one there. Got a kick out of Kolchak's battle with his editor, Vinchinzo, as it reminded me of my editor. Later, I saw the movie and the TV series with Darren McGaverin.
03:48 Did you all notice, when he pulled down his mask??? That's FRANK BURNS OF MASH!!! ~ Larry Linville!!!! 🤩 Also I just Love seeing Las Vegas in its smaller days! Most of all the old casinos are gone but I can see everything that used to be there!!! Beautiful.
The Kolchak series scared me so much as a kid, but I had to watch it. My mother would fight with my father because he would let me watch it, and she thought it was too adult. I lived in Vegas from 1998 to 2002, and in 2001 there were a series of dead bodies found in seedy hotels. The news was reported on the radio one morning, but not on the television news that night. Never heard anything else about the murders. It made me think of a classic Kolchak monster cover-up.
WOW😲 that looks worthy for some more investigation🤔you should dig into that you might end up with something you should try researching that🧐 because that's very intriguing to say the least🤔💀👹👽🤖👻👁
I liked McGavin's confidence and personality. I also liked the way his character so bravely fought the monsters he encountered all alone. He was always outmatched, but it never stopped him from tracking them down and finding a way to finish them off. Modern vampires drive cars or fly private planes, like in another vampire film I saw, "The Nightflier."
Richard Matheson was such a huge talent. Loved Darrin McGavin too. This was the highest rated TV movie for years. Great Vampire Movie. Hell, great movie..period.
Since the 50s, NJ-bred prodigy Richard Matheson excelled in every conceivable form of the specialized genres of sci-fi and horror: screenplay, teleplay, short story, and novel. An original Twilight Zone alum whose best episodes rank alongside Rod Serling's, Matheson's influence on the dark side of imaginative storytellers is far reaching -- Harlan Ellison, Stephen King, Anne Rice, and George Romero to name a few. I wouldn't call him underrated (especially among legion consumers of fantasy fiction), but I would venture to say he is grossly neglected relative of his quality and output. Fans of Duel, Stir of Echoes, I Am Legend, What Dreams May Come, Omega Man, and The Incredible Shrinking Man more closely associate those wonderful films with their capable interpreters (directors and stars) than with the man who originally dreamed them up on paper and ink.
...yeah...almost as GOOD as...Brides of DRACULA'''...with John-Carradine'''...& BeLa-Lugosia''' some FREAKy Looking GUYS''+...Vincent-Price-+&--BORIS-KARLOFF'''...That sucKer was ...scary...Looking''''
The memories that opening just brought back.... WOW! Totally forgot about that movie of the week theme song. Thank you for this upload, LOVED The Night Stalker back in the day!
R.I.P. Dad, I did the same also with all the Movies of The Week that were shown. Those movies were the best, sad that don't have them any more, just reality TV which Reality at all.
@@crabbyappleton4384 ...no...Dad and me...sneaking around ...with Cake-&-Ice-cream-&-While He RAIDED-...The frig''...with ...Left-Over-HAM-&-CHEESE''...Sandwiches'''...'' DEAR-OLD-...Dad''''-(-RIP-)-...He was...90...yrs. Young ...i say young ''cause it seemed He NEVEr GREW ...OLD''''..p.s.- They say Laughter '''...is GOOD for The SOUL...Dad was a ...funny Kinda of ''GUY'''
So much better than the slasher movies to come later in the '80s. Atmospheric, scary, loud sounds, dark corners, late at night in the vamp's house. What was he thinking?
I vividly remember the very night this was broadcast on television. It was 1972 and I had just been discharged from the Army. I was sitting in the living room with my mother and father at their house watching this❤
Just wanted to thank the poster of this video for including the ABC movie of the week intro. That took me straight back to my childhood when I saw this movie, and others, with my father. He past away back in 07. As soon as I saw that intro I thought of him.
I had forgotten that music and intro completely, but remember and love the NBC Mystery Movie theme. It was great to see the old ABC movie theme again after all these years!
Dad passed away in 1997, my mom in 2015. That theme takes me right back to being a toddler watching these shows with my parents, I miss both of them so much!
This made for tv movie on ABC scared the crap out of me and my brother when we were ten and eight years old. It was AWESOME and we were hooked as fans. For a television movie, it told a great story.
Darren McGavin could do no wrong. Good guy or bad guy, he could act with the best of them. This flick is one of THE finest TV movies ever made. Action, realism, solid acting, one of my favorite movies as a kid, and still stands up to anything produced these days.
This is the best...I got it on DVD. Darren McGavin at his best. The great Dan Curtis, creator of the original Dark Shadows, produced this. Love those ABC Movies of the Week. Especially The Night Stalker with Darren McGavin.
I remember I had a 4th grade school choir program that night. Told my parents I wanted to stay home and watch that movie, but no dice. My older brother told me how great it was when I got home....dumb choir concert... :)))
2023. Still watching. Kolcheck.
Watching in 2024
@@kimberlyowens5496 ditto, they just showed it a week ago on svengoolie, have a feeling the second one willl be on this week
Soon to be 2025 and still watching
01 January 2025
07-Jan-25
Imagine going back to 1972 when this was produced. You’d sit with your family waiting for it to be broadcast. There were only three television channels, you couldn’t record it for later because home VCRs weren’t available, everyone gave the TV their rapt attention, there were telephones but it was stuck on a wall 60 feet away in the kitchen (nobody bothered to call during prime time anyway) and it was GLORIOUS!
After the scary movie your mom gave you a cookie and a glass of milk and sent you to bed. Dad watched the news and the house was shut down by 11:30. It couldn’t have been any better!
I remember very well. I guess I was lucky because we had at least 10 channels but we lived near Toronto Ontario and got tv stations from Buffalo as well as other cities close by.
@@michellehill4148 Not stations, Networks. ABC, CBC, NBC, and PBS, and that was it.
The news then Jonny Carson o ya..😊
@@michellehill4148 Greetings neighbor! From Buffalo NY! The Night Stalker was the best!! 👍👍👍
I miss it.
During the commercials, I had to pick up bread and milk at the closest convenience store. You should have seen me run going and returning.
Seen him in X Files; nice touch!
Awesome ❤ !
When I was a kid, if we were allowed by my mom, we would stay up on Friday nights to watch The Night Stalker with Mom and Dad. There were only 4 channels on TV. Well, 5, if you count PBS. PBS was great for mysteries on Sundays. Mobile Mystery Theater it was called on Sunday afternoons. Sponsored by Mobile Oil Corporation. Anyway, The Night Stalker was my favorite to watch on Friday nights. I still remember laying on the carpet and watching The Night Stalker. Mom would make popcorn on the stove with Crisco and we could smell the popcorn cooking. What a wonderful time to be a kid. Then on Saturday mornings, Cartoons! How beautiful we were back then. Mom, Dad, us kids, and our country. God!, how I miss it.
LIFE WAS MUCH SIMPLER..WASN'T IT..SAME IN OUR HOUSE HOLD. ONE DAY A WEEK WAS TREAT NIGHT..WE LIVED IN APT..WITH A FIRE PLACE... ONLY HAVE IT ON WHEN DAD GOT IT GOING...AND VERY STRICT ABOUT THAT.. BUT THOSE WERE THE DAYS..AND WOULDN'T 🔥 HAVE CHANGED ONE THING ABOUT..
We had an extra channel in Detroit from Windsor, Canada. I watched original airing Kolchak when I was only nine. What were my parents thinking? 😀
great recall Albert. It was great to be a kid growing up for the most part in this country in the 50's, 60's and 70's. I personally grew up in Las Vegas (b 1955) when the valley had 75k people living there. It was a trip living literally on the Strip (mid), as I did at times from 12yrs old to 18, as my parents were divorced, and my father lived in a few different apartments on the famed road, or just off it. We had, like you noted here with your experience growing up, only five channels. (if you counted the newly available PBS channel c1968) Where did you grow up?
You just rolled it all up as my life in a nutshell 😂 Too cool…. We ROCK🤘🏼
Sounds like our house but in 72!!
Whoever chose Darrin McGavin to play Kolchak was a genius! 😊😊
I think its his story telling.
Any male actor cast first would have made the part his.
You would be saying that of anybody playing the part.
I think I smell a TROLL!! .....PS with pimples
Agree😊
Or just good at their job.
The 70's were quite the era.
yea I agree
Nobody usually reminiscences about the 70s. Some of us do about the 80s because we are in our forties now. And I've heard a lot of people being nostalgic about the 50s and 60s. But I've never heard people missing the 70s. It's nostalgia's twilight zone.
When I was a kid ( 9 years old in 72 ), see and hear the intro for 'movie of the week' I know it was gonna be good and exciting...Gosh how I so miss those times..
Same here I remember. 😊
Yeah. me too
Same here. So grateful to have grown up in the 60’ and 70’s! Best of times.
I remember the Mystery Movie Theme the same way, Alias Smith and Jones and so many more - many of which we watched as a Family (especially comedies and variety shows) - I don't know if that even happens any more. Two favourites I watched with my daughters were the original "Life on Mars" and "CSI New York"
I really believe we have too many choices for anything to seem special now
Kolchak the Night Stalker was way ahead of it's time. Entertainment at it's finest.
Only decades later did I realize how prominently Blacks and women were utilized thruout the series. The writers and producers were waaaay ahead of their time...and Hollywood's all the better for it! Thanks 👍
The precursor to The X-Files...
@@berniemac3
What's your point? Despite your witty attempt at sarcasm, you make no sense at all. 🙄
@@donarthiazi2443 Sorry, no sarcasm intended. Just an unsolicited observation that the series was portraying 1973 with black people and women in positions of authority before it became ' de rigueur'. Hope you feel better 😀
ABSOLUTELY
This story was good for it's time, but honestly Darren McGavin makes the movie. He absolutely carries it. Such charisma and charm! I can't imagine it without him!
I read somewhere that kojak, telly savales was up for the role@!!
A Christmas story ! Great acting and plot m
I think Brian Cranston could do it .
@@ApothecaryGrant the need me to play the role cause I could be just as contrary
I love the old black and white Sherlock Holmes series with Ronald Howard (son of Leslie Howard, GWTW Ashley Wilkes) and he reminded so much of someone, and I was trying to think who, then it hit me, Darrin MacGavin! The both have an inmate likability.
Darren McGavin was great in everything he did RIP
What was the name of the Lone Ranger's nephew's horse 😂
Victor!😂😂😂
ABSOLUTELY AGREE!
McGavin did another made for tv movie in 1970.
"The Challenge" it is also on TH-cam
@@natureboy1313 don't forget a Christmas story
Great show , great times , wonderful days of hanging out with friends , no internet, no mobile phones , only home made fun .
Spot on post!! I miss those days.
This ABC Movie of The Week received wide viewing back in 1972, partly because it was on a school night, which made for it to be viewed by teenagers, who if it was on a weekend night, it wouldn't have had nearly the viewership numbers that it did. Because of this dynamic, the later tv series really an advantage with these viewers from this original telecast in '72, such as myself.
Amen
Yes
AMEN!!! ❤
Awesome. When TV was quality. Never will be the same. Thanks for sharing.
"high on pot or the hard stuff"
Classic!
_________
(poor dog!)
It is worth watching just for the nostalgia of seeing those cars, filing cabinets, clunky telephones, and typewriters.
I didn't even know I missed them.
Except for the cars.
I knew I missed them.
What a classic line that was.
I love that line😊
Kolchak: The Night Stalker is an American television series that aired on ABC during the 1974-1975 season. The series followed wire service reporter Carl Kolchak (Darren McGavin) who investigates mysterious crimes with unlikely causes, particularly those involving the supernatural or science fiction, including fantastic creatures. The series was preceded by the two television movies, The Night Stalker (1972) and The Night Strangler (1973). Although the series lasted only a single season, it rapidly achieved cult status and has remained very popular in syndication.
I remember watching one episode where he was seeing the lips of a Zombie shut, what episode or movie title was that one in?? My mom and me both agreed it was the scariest thing we'd ever seen!
This was the early. X FILES
Thanks!
This episode was filmed in 1971.
Best show in history. 🫡
I am 59, thank you so much for turning me into an eight year old girl again. I loved the movies of the week, the night stalker series and Darren McGavin. Ahhh when TV was magical.
Same here. But a dude. lol.
Me too!
Same with the Christmas Story. Great actor.
Same here
Am 58 next wen, a this took me back to love it.😊
Wrote about this movie in my Diary. All the kids at school were talking about "The Night Stalker." the next day after it aired. Amazing to see Las Vegas, in it's young days.❤
I remember watching this in that 70’s house I grew up in, with the shag carpet, the orange sofa, and the avocado recliners. Mom was on the couch, Dad in the recliner, my sister sleeping in the rocker, and I was on a quilt in the floor, watching that huge floor model TV. Nobody wanted to go to bed afterwards, and Dad made an extra check of all of the doors. Oh, for the days when my Dad was alive, and we were all still young…
Our shag carpet was orange, and the sofa avocado. Completely different lol!
@@leapinglaura7343 As a native Las Vegan (b 1955), who has lived all my life here, (sans 6-7 yrs abroad in the late 70's/early-mid 80's), I nurd-ishly stop this movie here on TH-cam occasionally, to verify small details, that as a longtime local, who was 16/17 yrs old at the time of the filming and playing of this, satiate my memories then. Still trying to sleuth out the location of the interior casino shots. Downtown or Strip casino? There's a case, albeit minimal, that the casino MIGHT be the Stardust, as in a shot where the casino gaming table supervisor watching the action on the table of the individual playing blackjack and talking to McGavin, is wearing a matching garish colored blazer, shirt trio. I was working as a 16 yr old busboy in Aug/Sept '71, at the coffee shop (Palm Room) there. (Stardust)
Was in the 8th grade when it aired in 72
Couldn't wait too watch it
ABC advertised it alot
Kept me on the edge of our flowered sofa
At that time it was the most viewed movie on network TV in history
"bwkticn," "Nobody wanted to go to bed afterwards, and Dad made an extra check of all of the doors." Not unlike Tuesday nights, only a few years prior -- after another fright fest watching "The Invaders," also on ABC. 'Alien beings from another planet' [how the narration went in the main titles] -- that only architect David Vincent (like Darren McGavin as Kolchak; Vincent was skillfully played by, and ideally suited for, Roy Thinnes) knew about -- scared the bejesus out of most of us.
We used mattresses on door frames on concrete blocks with lots of pillows for couch and our rug was light yellow and the fridge avocado green. The kitchen counter tile was avocado green with dark wood paneling.
I was 12 years old and watched it with my Father. Love you Dad
ME TOO
Me as well. xx
I'm 67 ,I remember watching this episode in 72 when I was 16 came on Friday nights loved Kolchack.
Back in the good old days, When you watched TV with the family.
My parents let me watch both movies but they covered my eyes at points....even though it scared the hell out of me i loved it!!!! When the show started they let my big brother and myself watch them alone.....I was almost 8 when the show started
and i loved it more than ever!!!! Monday morning in school all of us brave boys
who watched would excitedly discuss things like headless motorcycle riders
and 8ft tall native american spellcasters.........werewolves and zombies...
aliens vampires jack the ripper.......Louisiana swamp monsters....monsters that
looked like those you trusted most......i watch metv every saturday night at midnight....50 years later I still love watching it being broadcast and I hope there
are youngsters today who find it as cool and engaging as i did at that tender age.....may the legend of the man called kolchack live on!
i was a youngin' of 12yrs old when i saw this show and i absolutely loved it lol!!!!
Barry Atwater as the Vampire never says a word of dialogue but is still terrifying. That is truly great acting.
True.
😊😊
Àé4fb c❤
Vampires driving a hard deal with car salesman lol
Body language speaks volumes!!!
This is the greatest vampire movie I've ever seen.
I was 12 in 1972 when I saw The Night Stalker.
Love the intro of ABC movie of the week.
It brings back warm feelings of family togetherness.
It sure does👍💯
Was thinking the same when the music kicked in. I’m the same age. Oldest of 5. Watched with my bros. Check out the Norliss Tapes & Salems Lot. Good Vamps 👻
Me too
For me, The Horror of Dracula with Christopher Lee was my favorite. But this movie of the week was very creepy and frightening.
Absolutely
5:43 am, here in Massachusetts, and I am loving this start to my day ! Nothing better than Kolchak.
I remember the two movies when I was in high school, plus the series we never missed. No cell phones, computers, ipads or any other technology. No cable tv, no vcrs yet either. You watched at home or you missed it. A more perfect cast was never found.
Technology, though, would have affected the conclusion of the movie. If there had been cell phones, the Internet, and social media, Kolchak and Gail Foster wouldn't been separated at the end. He wouldn't have had to place personal ads in the local papers trying to find her.
Loved it when he was telling Dion Oakland what the vampire did!
Growing. Up. Watching. This. All. The. Time I. Enjoy. It 👍👍
I used to watch the movie of the week with my mother. There was McMillian and Wife and others as well. I loved these times RIP mom. You were the best mother ever.
mccloud and columbo....and macmillian and wife are all still broadcast
here in philadelphia on channel 10.2 over the airwaves..free....the rest of our programs come from free sites on the net that have every show possible
I was 20 years old when I first watched this with my mom. Then we watched the tv series. Ahh the good old 1970's.
When i heard the music of the network, i just felt so great. Had to smile and could smell popcorn somehow!!😂😮😊
This is seriously one of the best vampire films of all time. Based on the realism, script, and actors. Two Mike Hammer's together against a single unbelievable foe.
RIP to all involved
My late brother loved the Night Stalker series. He would have been in his glory. This brings back so many memories and saddness. I love these movies, as well.
Ms. B. Churchill
Not to be confused with the “Night Stalker”, Richard Ramirez, whose killing spree came about a decade later in L.A.
God bless you....
My brother was born the day before the series started I lost my brother last year bitter sweet.
One of my favorite shows ever I used to watch this when I was a kid
Same here. I was turned on to it when it was part of CBS Friday latenite in the late 70's. Stayed up late as a 9 year old with all the living room lights off to add atmosphere.
@@gregsmith7949we had it on tv here in Australia in the 70's as well
Mcgavin looks, talks and walks the same in every show he was in. One of the true greats.
Oh my goodness! I had forgotten all about the ABC Movie of the Week! This is when the whole family would sit in the den and watch the same movie because there were very few channels on TV. I can remember my big sister popping popcorn on the stove, and my dad sitting in his favorite chair ... a La-Z-Boy recliner.
still good 5 decades later
Grrrreat! 👍
5 😮 nooooooo 😂
Kolchak the night stalker is a true classic.I remember my mom and dad watching this in the early and mid 70's when i was little..
I remember watching this movie with my dad (R.I.P., Dad) when I was a sophomore in high school, all those years ago. Still gives me chills. The actor, Barry Atwater, who portrayed the vampire was badass! The growling, snarling, hissing!
BARRY ATWATER...? GOTCHA, YOU KNOW YOUR GOODNESS....! TRUE PERSON OF THE 70s.....THANKS
Yep
@@stephenernsberger9678 Barry Atwater, An EXTREMELY CREEPY dude😬😳😲
Great, greater...greatest, to me. I almost expect to see Barry still snarling and hissing tomorrow and far into the future. Thanks!🧛♂️
Me too. I was 10 years old watched it with the parents and didn't want to go to sleep after this movie was over.
I love this! I was born in 75. This show was awesome 👍🏻!
As a person who works on movies and TV shows...I still think this was one of the best shows on TV when I was a kid...still love it...and McGavin was awesome.
darren was the ultimate professional.............not just this but everything he was in...........a rare breed...up there with peter falk............a great friend
JOHN STANZ you saying peter falk or darren mgavin was your friend?? either way its pretty cool
i met (columbo) through sinatra met darren through telly savalas.......and i rate tel better than all of them put together..........and they were all brilliant
theres is a funny story about why i called telly, tel...even though his name wasnt terry, english slang for terry
he said if i change my name 2 terry what will you call me then...........i said..........ted........hahahaha
So agree!
Kolchak was an old fashioned reporter, the type you no longer see.
Claude Akins one of my favorite Western Character Stars May he RIP
One of the only movies that showed the true strength of the vampire.Tossing officers like rag dolls and impervious to bullets. Barry Atwater gave an outstanding performance without uttering a single word.
He had some Vulcan strength that carried over from a Star Trek episode.
This is what I grew up with as a teen in the 70s. So glad this was digitized blu-ray.
Me too ☮️
Used to watch this late with my mom. Lots of great memories. RIP, Mum.
It's 2023
The soundtrack introduction was so energetic
This show was awesome 😎
I loved this show when i was a kid.
This great movie, and series was the inspiration for the X-Files, as quoted by Chris Carter. Darren McGavin never received the Emmy he deserved for this role as acknowledged by the entertainment industry. Rest in peace Mr. McGavin, your perfectly fallible, dogged-reporter "Carl Kolchak" lives on with a whole generation of Boomers and their kids.
Watch the X-Files episode dedicated to Darren obviously with the Night Stalker referring to story.
I was 7 years old when this came out. I couldn't wait to watch it eventhough I couldn't sleep afterwards
Always fun to watch this again and again...
This was probably the best of all of the Movie of the Week editions. I remember watching this when it was first shown on TV; it scared the crap out of my entire family. Those were the good old days of network television!
My dad and I watched Night Stalker every week! We loved it!! Great memories 💗
My dad turned all
7 of us kids onto tons of great television.
Mission Impossible
Columbo
Kolchak The Night Stalker and too many others to mention.
This 1972 movie of the week and 1973 follow up (The Night Strangler)movie led to the television series.
The two movies broke viewership rating records for those two years.
It was tough to try to make+tell as jam packed a story+production in 45-50 minutes when it transitioned into a weekly series, but the series was very rewarding too.
Darrin McGavin was a gem of an actor, perfect here.
Part of my childhood childhood died when Don Adam's,
Bob Denver, and Darren McGavin all died the same weekend several years ago.
Just came back 14 days later and watched the original movie which started it all AGAIN.
The combination of Darren McGavin great acting and great writing make this 1972 movie one I can come back and watch again and again by now dozens of times if not hundreds.
Fond memories of a time long past. These were the kind of shows that went past your bedtime during the weekdays. You rarely saw the end until you were older and happened to catch the full episodes in reruns. This was before the internets ease of information access. Thank you !
Passed
The first real XFiles right here. Was an amazing show ❤❤
There was actually a show on the original files, where Darin McGavin starred and he was credited in universe with starting the x files
To me , one of the top vampire movies made!
Ah memories. I used to love watching these night stalker series.
Me too!✌️
Awesome. Scared me so much when I was little.
Kolchak was wayyyy before the times providing excellent serialized horror television, intelligently made-direction, writing and acting.
And also in the defence of the First Amendment too.
I will take the peace & quite of the 1970s any day over this BS we have today. Three to five TV Channels, no VCRs, Records, 8 Track-Tapes, and Cassettes, Albums, and then Large Laser Disk ( what we call DVDs & Blue-Ray today) began in 1978. Those were good times...
I remember seeing Darren Mc Gavin downtown Los Angeles filming one of his movies.. it was a honor to watch him...act ...
I believe the Night Strangler (1973) the sequel to the Night Stalker (1972) was filmed parts around downtown Los Angeles and downtown Seattle too.
I'm 58 - I use to watch this show when I was 11yo. It terrified me. I never watched horror in my adult life, this maybe why. Funny and wonderful to revisit this classic. Thankyou. Xx
Quite entertaining. Lovely to see old videos of my beloved LV
OMG the opening with the ABC effect took me back to my child hood
I know exact same here felt weird man.
Yeah there was and answering machines. Some kids had cassette recorders to tape off the radio and talk into for fun. George Harrison worried that early song releases would be boot legged that way and didn't release any teasers until his albums came out. You can see them in a lot of movies and shows, including Brady Bunch and any of these Ed and Lorraine Warren ghost movies.
Businesses used answering machines. I never met a person using them until much later.
OMG
it is heaven
Classic.
Kolchak brings back memories.
I was a kid watching him on Channel 7 .
Loved it.
Respect to Darren Mc Gavin.
Near DC/Maryland?
WABC7 NYC
Much respect
In 1972, I was working for a New Hampshire newspaper as a bureau correspondent. I had flown out to Ohio to spend the holidays with my family. On the way back home, my plane was grounded at LaGuardia because of snowy weather and I had to spend the night at the airport. I bought myself copies of the Night Stalker and the Night Strangler at the airport bookstore and read them while I was spending the night sitting in a reception area. The lights were all on and I was the only one there. Got a kick out of Kolchak's battle with his editor, Vinchinzo, as it reminded me of my editor. Later, I saw the movie and the TV series with Darren McGaverin.
Great story. Better then a Ted Baxter story. lol.
A good visual. Thank you.
Classic! So glad I grew up at this time.
03:48 Did you all notice, when he pulled down his mask??? That's FRANK BURNS OF MASH!!! ~ Larry Linville!!!! 🤩 Also I just Love seeing Las Vegas in its smaller days! Most of all the old casinos are gone but I can see everything that used to be there!!! Beautiful.
Yes, I did recognize old ferret face.
This series was a fantastic series and I miss it!
Funny, most folks are here because their loved ones let em watch and boom, hooked.
Thanks Dad, I love you. We'll watch this again one day.
PistolPete Lamar so sweet.
I watched this series when I was a university student. And when I was in my forties I bought the dvd. I love this show! From Japan ❤
O hi yo gonzai mas! 👋 🇯🇵
The Kolchak series scared me so much as a kid, but I had to watch it. My mother would fight with my father because he would let me watch it, and she thought it was too adult. I lived in Vegas from 1998 to 2002, and in 2001 there were a series of dead bodies found in seedy hotels. The news was reported on the radio one morning, but not on the television news that night. Never heard anything else about the murders. It made me think of a classic Kolchak monster cover-up.
WOW😲 that looks worthy for some more investigation🤔you should dig into that you might end up with something you should try researching that🧐 because that's very intriguing to say the least🤔💀👹👽🤖👻👁
Cover -up ? Shocker there.
I was like 5 or 6 when this was new. It scared me to trauma... back then kids of any age watched what the rest of the family did.
@@gypsylotusblossom777
Madame Justice, with your name, maybe you’d be better off investigating those murders…? 😊
@@gypsylotusblossom777 the cops don't need amature detective's 😂
Oh wow The Movie of the Week!!! Brings back kid memories. Hey kids, this was before cable. Live and learn ya spoiled brats🤣😂👍🏾
I was 4 years old when this aired but I later remember watching the Night Stalker series, the good old days 😁👍
I liked McGavin's confidence and personality. I also liked the way his character so bravely fought the monsters he encountered all alone. He was always outmatched, but it never stopped him from tracking them down and finding a way to finish them off. Modern vampires drive cars or fly private planes, like in another vampire film I saw, "The Nightflier."
The Nightflier was also awesome
Richard Matheson was such a huge talent. Loved Darrin McGavin too. This was the highest rated TV movie for years. Great Vampire Movie. Hell, great movie..period.
Since the 50s, NJ-bred prodigy Richard Matheson excelled in every conceivable form of the specialized genres of sci-fi and horror: screenplay, teleplay, short story, and novel. An original Twilight Zone alum whose best episodes rank alongside Rod Serling's, Matheson's influence on the dark side of imaginative storytellers is far reaching -- Harlan Ellison, Stephen King, Anne Rice, and George Romero to name a few. I wouldn't call him underrated (especially among legion consumers of fantasy fiction), but I would venture to say he is grossly neglected relative of his quality and output. Fans of Duel, Stir of Echoes, I Am Legend, What Dreams May Come, Omega Man, and The Incredible Shrinking Man more closely associate those wonderful films with their capable interpreters (directors and stars) than with the man who originally dreamed them up on paper and ink.
...yeah...almost as GOOD as...Brides of DRACULA'''...with John-Carradine'''...& BeLa-Lugosia''' some FREAKy Looking GUYS''+...Vincent-Price-+&--BORIS-KARLOFF'''...That sucKer was ...scary...Looking''''
agree jack ryan
Only vampire that ever scared me! Literally, no other seemed real, or menacing, or horrible, like this one.
It was one of the first takes of vampires in the modern era ever made. That and the mystery format and great writing made it a real milestone.
The memories that opening just brought back.... WOW! Totally forgot about that movie of the week theme song. Thank you for this upload, LOVED The Night Stalker back in the day!
Don't you wish that style would come back ?
👍 l smiled when l heard the introduction….. good memories! 70’s and 80’s the best!!❤
@@jeaniehorton5964 Absolutely! No comparison to today's world whatsoever.
@@notgivinup 👍👍❤️
Great stuff. Neverevergiveup! 🤓
all these old time actors,geez I'm getting old.I remember watching this with my parents.R.I.P.mom and dad
R.I.P. Dad, I did the same also with all the Movies of The Week that were shown. Those movies were the best, sad that don't have them any more, just reality TV which Reality at all.
Me too. On the couch all curled up with my Mom.
Yeah, life has me wondering too. Not worrying about dying. It will just seem weird for me not to be around any more.
@@crabbyappleton4384 ...no...Dad and me...sneaking around ...with Cake-&-Ice-cream-&-While He RAIDED-...The frig''...with ...Left-Over-HAM-&-CHEESE''...Sandwiches'''...'' DEAR-OLD-...Dad''''-(-RIP-)-...He was...90...yrs. Young ...i say young ''cause it seemed He NEVEr GREW ...OLD''''..p.s.- They say Laughter '''...is GOOD for The SOUL...Dad was a ...funny Kinda of ''GUY'''
Cali Den my parents watched it with me and they are gone.
Great show. I was 12 when I saw this on tv in the early 70's. Thanks for the upload.
This was frightening back in the day. The 1970s fright movies on TV and the theaters kicked ass!
So much better than the slasher movies to come later in the '80s. Atmospheric, scary, loud sounds, dark corners, late at night in the vamp's house. What was he thinking?
I vividly remember the very night this was broadcast on television. It was 1972 and I had just been discharged from the Army. I was sitting in the living room with my mother and father at their house watching this❤
I loved the Night Stalker.. Carl Kolchack is amazing character.
The best vampire movie ever...... and I lost a lot of sleep behind this in 72' !!!
yes it is
Rodney Miller
Rodney Miller I I
I loved the Nightstalker episodes as a kid! So happy to see this.
Just wanted to thank the poster of this video for including the ABC movie of the week intro. That took me straight back to my childhood when I saw this movie, and others, with my father. He past away back in 07. As soon as I saw that intro I thought of him.
I had forgotten that music and intro completely, but remember and love the NBC Mystery Movie theme. It was great to see the old ABC movie theme again after all these years!
your most welcome jeff
Jeff Larken wow, that beginning had me thinking of my dad also. Like a time machine.
My dad died in 07 too. Sad thing to have in common. Take care, sorry for your loss. 😓😓😓
Dad passed away in 1997, my mom in 2015. That theme takes me right back to being a toddler watching these shows with my parents, I miss both of them so much!
Love this show as a kid never missed an episode 😂
This made for tv movie on ABC scared the crap out of me and my brother when we were ten and eight years old. It was AWESOME and we were hooked as fans. For a television movie, it told a great story.
I was 26--and admit this show unnerved me O.K it scared me like I was 10.
...Been shorten to...DVD...and Re-run/s...BullshiT''''
I saw this movie in it's entirety in the 70's as a young teen, and it was absolutely amazing!
☆☆☆☆☆
💯
Night Stalker tv series had some pretty scary ones for its time.What a great series.
saw this as a kid in the 70's and still think it's brilliant
it still holds up
Agreed, I love this series.
I loved this show as a kid. I was so sad when it was canceled.
Darren McGavin could do no wrong. Good guy or bad guy, he could act with the best of them. This flick is one of THE finest TV movies ever made. Action, realism, solid acting, one of my favorite movies as a kid, and still stands up to anything produced these days.
he was very good as the dope dealer in The Man With the Golden Arm with Frank Sinatra, he was just a great actor in everything he did, salute!
Agreed 👍🏾
@@fredcollari4400 Red Ryder BB Gun .
I remember watching this on TV with my family when I was ten... Pretty spooky for a kid in those days 😆 LOL 👍 ❤ 🎥
This was television at its finest!
as a kid i watched every episode of the night stalker; loved it. that era was one of a kind. thanks for the download,,,rr
The music was fantastically 1970s too! Great stuff!
I was a kid when I saw this movie. I watched the series too.
Good times in the 1970s. Wish I could go back there and relive it.
Wow, what a throwback! This show used to scare the crap outta' me when I was a kid 😮. Thanks for the upload 👍🏾 😊
Oh God I loved this series I was very young used to sneak into the living room and sit behind my Dad's chair and watch it.
McGavin was simply one of the best actors ever! Had the phrasing of a great jazz musician
Well put my syncopated friend. Kolchak is one of the most interesting characters in fiction! 🤓 Be safe. Thank you
Great line!👍 (Stealing it!☺️)
This is the best...I got it on DVD.
Darren McGavin at his best. The great Dan Curtis, creator of the original Dark Shadows, produced this.
Love those ABC Movies of the Week. Especially The Night Stalker with Darren McGavin.
I never knew that until recently. Makes sense I liked this & all his other made for TV movies. I grew up on DS
You can tell immediately if its Dan Curtis product. Always uses Robert Cobert music. His music was very distinctive
@@cynthiasnowden600 Right? Just never picked up on that when I was young.
It gave me chills when it aired. It’s even better than I remembered.
I remember I had a 4th grade school choir program that night. Told my parents I wanted to stay home and watch that movie, but no dice. My older brother told me how great it was when I got home....dumb choir concert... :)))