- Directed by Dan Curtis
- Written by Richard Matheson, Jeffreuy Grant Rice
- Stars Darren McGavin, Jo Ann Pflug, Simon Oakland
- Run Time: 1 Hour, 14 Minutes
- Watch it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uz8Te5LpWt0
Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone
The first outing, “The Night Stalker,” was so popular that they brought Kolchak back for another case in another city. Once again a killer is on the loose and only Kolchak believes there are unusual factors at play. It’s another good one, and clear why they went on to a series after this.
Spoilery Synopsis
Kolchak, from the first film, tells us that he’s going to tell us the true story about what really happened, since the regular press lied and covered it all up. He tells us about a belly dancer walking home late at night down a dark alley in Seattle. She soon notices that she’s being followed. Someone grabs her from behind.
Tony Vincenzo, the editor of the local newspaper, hears Kolchak yelling about the vampire story, yet again. He rehires Kolchak for the new paper, which is owned by grouchy old Mr. Crossbinder (John Carradine). Tony assigns Carl to check out the dancer’s murder.
He goes to interview the other dancers who worked with the dead girl. Louise Harper doesn’t have much time to talk and laughs off the murders.
Sure enough, there’s another murder, and Kolchak finds out it was another strangulation. At the coroner’s inquest, Kolchak asks if the victims had lost blood, and the officials admit that yes, there was a small loss of blood, as if a needle had been used to withdraw some. The morgue attendant tells Kolchak that they way the victim’s necks were broken, that the murderer was inhumanely strong, and the bodies have residue of decayed human flesh on them as well. Tony is not pleased with this revelation.
Kolchak goes to the belly dancing bar to talk to Louise. The bar is right next door to the Underground Tour, a place where the city got built over an older city, and most of it’s still down there. Back in 1952, there was a very similar series of murders; six women were strangled in exactly the same way. If it’s the same guy, there are going to be more murders.
There is another murder, and this time, there’s a witness. There are vampire-like marks on the victim’s neck, and the killer was seen holding a big hypodermic needle. The killer is said to look like a dead man. The newspaper researcher comes back with more details from 1931… every 21 years, the murders start again. Yep, in 1910 and 1889 as well, each time with the same description of the ultra-strong dead man.
When Tony agrees to run a story of the facts, the police are not amused. That night, the Strangler kills again, and both Kolchak and the police chase after him. Kolchak takes a picture, but the police confiscate his camera.
Carl and Louise go on the Underground Tour and see the whole subterranean world under the city. The fire of 1889 was built over completely. They go off the route and get attacked by a homeless man. Otherwise, they don’t find anything down there.
Carl tells Louise all about the vampire story in Las Vegas. They go to see Professor Crabwell, an expert on mythology and monsters. She talks about ways that men have managed to live for very long times through an “elixir of life” that uses blood as an ingredient. It would require periodic replenishing, maybe every 21 years.
The next victim was in her dressing room at the club; the killer broke in and killed her right in front of her friend. Carl tells the police captain everything he knows. Captain Schubert knows all about the old-time murders and history of the killer. Sometimes the killer looks like a dead man, and sometimes, he’s described as “quite handsome.” Carl can’t explain that.
The police call Tony, who takes Carl off the case. That doesn’t stop Carl at all. Carl hears about Dr. Richard Malcolm, who talks to Mark Twain about immortality. Malcolm was a surgeon in the Civil War.
Carl gets more information about Malcolm Richards or Richard Malcolm, or his other aliases before disappearing. He’s even got pictures of the man taken many years apart. The murderer is an immortal man. He’s got so many details that even old man Crossbinder approves; still, the newspaper agrees to kill the story.
Carl and Louise go out at night trying to bait the killer– until they get separated. The killer stalks Louise, but they are both grabbed by the police first. The killer, now desperate, breaks into a restaurant and kills the woman working there. This is the sixth killing, so there won’t be any more and the killer will go underground for another 21 years.
Kolchak and Louise go back to where the killer simply vanished from the police and find a way into the Underground. Carl goes in “for my exclusive” and tells Louise to call the cops in half an hour.
Carl walks through the lost city looking for Malcolm. He wanders around and takes photos until he finds the body of the homeless man from earlier. He finds a room full of mummified bodies sitting at a dinner table.
Carl encounters Dr. Malcolm, who doesn’t look like a dead man anymore. He’s more than willing to tell Carl his story before murdering him. He found the elixir of life, but he learned that it wasn’t permanent. He aged rapidly, but the elixir made him young again after taking it again. He has one final dose that he has to take in a minute. Carl smashes the dose, and Malcolm attacks. Halfway through strangling Carl, Malcolm ages rapidly and dies.
The next day, at the paper, Carl finds his bags have been packed– he’s been fired again. The paper has published a coverup story. Tony tried to print Carl’s story, but Crossbinder killed the story. There is much screaming and yelling between the two men.
Carl records into his tape about the whole conspiracy, and we see that Tony’s in the car. He’s been fired too. They’re off to New York– and Louise is going as well. They argue all the way there…
Brian’s Commentary
The first movie was the most successful TV movie of all time, so a sequel was inevitable. This one had a vampire-like murderer, but it’s not a vampire this time. Other than not being a vampire, the rest of the story is very similar to the original. The eventual TV series took most of the same ideas but used a wider variety of creatures and killers.
I remember when I was little, I always wanted to visit Seattle to see the underground city there, which was always said to be real. I doubt it’s as elaborate as this movie would portray it, but it’s still a cool idea. No, I’ve never actually gone. I suspect it wouldn’t be so well-lit in reality.
If the killer had been living in that place for more than a hundred years, why didn’t he clean up all the cobwebs and corpses?
It’s not as good as the first one, but it was still pretty cool.
Kevin’s Commentary
This was just as entertaining as the first movie, and as entertaining as the series to come. I appreciated how consistent it all was. The basic formula of something weird happening and Kolchak being the only one who figures it out and believes was a lot of fun, and Darren McGavin is perfect in the role. I’d recommend seeing this movie and all the other media.
