- Directed by John Llewellyn Moxey
- Written by Richard Matheson, Jeffrey Grant Rice, Max Hodge
- Stars Darren McGavin, Carol Lynley, Simon Oakland
- Run Time: 1 Hour, 14 Minutes
- Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1G6PRNIDYw
Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone
Before there was the TV series, there was this movie. Which was very much like a longer episode of the show to come, including his voice overs that give it a noir vibe. It’s very good, with Darren McGavin nailing the role as a journalist trailing a story of supernatural events that no one else really believes except him.
Spoilery Synopsis
We hear on a cassette recording that there’s been a huge coverup of this story. We cut to Las Vegas, where a woman walks home among the classic casinos. She goes down a dark alley and a man grabs her, bites her on the neck, and kills her. Credits roll.
The coroner swears his associates to secrecy as there’s something very unusual about the girl’s body. Carl Kolchak, a reporter, argues with his boss and gets assigned the story. He goes to Vegas to talk to Gail Foster, an old girlfriend and one of the dead girl’s friends.
Not long after, there’s another murder. Sheriff Butcher already knows and dislikes Kolchak, but they check out another deal waitress. Kolchak leaps to some conclusions about the story, and he gets chewed out by Tony, his boss.
There’s another victim, and Kolchak notices a pattern. All the police stop talking about the case. Friend Bernie promises to look into some things for Kolchak, who thinks the killer believes he’s a vampire. He gets a call from the doctor at the hospital; all the blood has been stolen from the blood bank.
There’s a coroner’s inquest, and the coroner says the wounds look like those of animal bites; there’s also human saliva in the wounds. He also suspects that some serial killer out there believes he’s a vampire. Or maybe it’s just a guy who’s “high on pot.” They did get a vague description of the guy who broke into the blood bank. The district attorney demands that the reporters in the room keep quiet about the vampire angle.
“Vampire Killer in Las Vegas” is the headline that Kolchak turns in. There’s another victim, the fourth, but this time, there’s a witness, and his police composite winds up in the newspaper. We get a look at the killer this time, bloodshot eyes and all. Kolchak and Tony argue about whether they should report the news or not.
Gail warns Carl that if he keeps it up he’s going to get fired again, and then she lists all the times he’s been fired. She’s got a book about vampires, and she makes him read it, just in case it’s a real vampire. He reads us the “rules” of vampires and how to kill them.
The killer robs a blood bank again, and this time, the orderlies put up a fight. One of them is killed, and the killer does appear to have superhuman strength. The police arrive and shoot the man repeatedly, but he gets away. Kolchak is there as well with his camera.
The suspect is identified as Janos Skorzeny, and the man is at least seventy years old. He’s got quite a history, going way back in history. Kolchak wants the police to proceed as if he were a real-life vampire. The cops all tell Kolchak to shut up.
The police spot Skorzeny and follow him, and Kolchak hears about it on his radio. The cops shoot him some more, and they do not miss. Skorzeny runs off anyway. Yeah, Kolchak sees that Skorzeny’s a vampire.
The police leadership finally decides to listen to Kolchak’s advice. That is, at least, until he gives it. He’s got crosses, stakes, and mallets. They all know he’s right, they just don’t want to admit it.
One of Kolchak’s informants finds Skorzeny’s house, and Kolchak heads over there first, before the police find out. He knows better than to go there at night, but he’s in a time crunch and has to do it. He sneaks inside and finds bottles of blood in the fridge. He finds a coffin as well, and he photographs everything. Then he finds a living woman chained to a bed who has been being slowly drained of blood.
The vampire returns home and catches Kolchak. Carl, however, has a cross, and it works really well against the fanged vampire. At least until he clumsily falls down the stairs. Just as the vampire gets the best of Carl, Bernie comes in and distracts him. Finally, Carl pulls down the curtain, and the sunlight comes in. The two men gang up on the defenseless vamp and drive a stake into his heart. The sheriff comes in just as Kolchak drives the stake in.
The next morning, Kolchak and Gail talk about getting married. His big news story will allow them to get married and move to New York, where he’ll work for a big-time newspaper again. He goes into the office and turns in the story. Tony accepts the story and says, “You’re one hell of a reporter.”
Then the sheriff arrests Kolchak for murdering Skorzeny. They know he was right, but they want it all covered up, making it look like Skrozeny was just a “normal” serial killer. Kolchak has no choice but to leave town; the cops have even packed his bags. Gail has also already left town.
We cut back to Carl, sometime later, who has narrated a book about the story on his cassette player. He mentions that Skorzeny, along with all his victims, were immediately cremated. We know why…
Brian’s Commentary
The vampire here is just a guy with fangs and bloodshot eyes. He never speaks though, which adds a lot to the mystery.
Half of the story is Kolchak fighting against the authorities who just want to hush up the truth and protect their own image. This was the original influence behind the creation of “The X Files” and dozens of other supernatural TV series. This was a standalone movie, and it did really well, leading to a second movie and an eventual TV series, along with a failed reboot in 2005.
I remember watching the series when it came out, and it’s a huge reason as to why I got addicted to horror stories.
Kevin’s Commentary
This was great. Darren McGavin is perfect in the role and this is well written. It takes the supernatural and sets it realistically in the real world. It’s the precursor of another movie and series to come that was all really entertaining.