The Night Strangler (film)
Encyclopedia
The Night Strangler is a made for television movie which first aired on ABC
on January 16, 1973 as a sequel to The Night Stalker.
(having been run out of Las Vegas
at the end of the last film) is assigned to the story of a series of killings, in which the victims, all exotic dancers, are strangled, their necks crushed, then drained of a few ounces of blood. He discovers that there was a similar rash of killings twenty-one years prior. Then he learns of another twenty-one years before that.
It turns out that they have been occurring every twenty-one years for about a century.
It seems the killer needs the blood for a kind of elixir of life
which keeps him alive for twenty-one years at a time. Of course no one believes Kolchak, and the powers that be want to silence him.
Kolchak enters into a race against time to stop the killer before he is able to complete the creation of his elixir and disappear for another twenty-one years.
with The Night Stalker by MGM Home Entertainment
in 2004. It is currently out of print
.
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
on January 16, 1973 as a sequel to The Night Stalker.
Plot
Reporter Carl Kolchak, now in Seattle, WashingtonSeattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
(having been run out of Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
at the end of the last film) is assigned to the story of a series of killings, in which the victims, all exotic dancers, are strangled, their necks crushed, then drained of a few ounces of blood. He discovers that there was a similar rash of killings twenty-one years prior. Then he learns of another twenty-one years before that.
It turns out that they have been occurring every twenty-one years for about a century.
It seems the killer needs the blood for a kind of elixir of life
Elixir of life
The elixir of life, also known as the elixir of immortality and sometimes equated with the philosopher's stone, is a legendary potion, or drink, that grants the drinker eternal life and or eternal youth. Many practitioners of alchemy pursued it. The elixir of life was also said to be able to create...
which keeps him alive for twenty-one years at a time. Of course no one believes Kolchak, and the powers that be want to silence him.
Kolchak enters into a race against time to stop the killer before he is able to complete the creation of his elixir and disappear for another twenty-one years.
Cast
- Darren McGavinDarren McGavinDarren McGavin was an American actor best known for playing the title role in the television horror series Kolchak: The Night Stalker and his portrayal in the film A Christmas Story of the grumpy father given to bursts of profanity that he never realizes his son overhears...
as Carl Kolchak - Jo Ann PflugJo Ann PflugJo Ann Pflug is a former American motion picture and television actress, who retired in the 1990s.Pflug's first major role was as U.S. Army nurse Lt. Maria "Dish" Schneider in 1970's MASH. Other notable roles include the voice of Invisible Girl in the 1967 animated version of Fantastic Four, Lt...
as Louise Harper - Simon OaklandSimon OaklandSimon Oakland was an American actor of stage, screen, and television.-Early life and career:Oakland was born in Brooklyn, New York City. He began his performing arts career as a musician . He began his acting career in the late 1940s...
as Tony Vincenzo - Scott BradyScott BradyScott Brady was an American film and television actor.Born as Gerard Kenneth Tierney, he was the younger brother of fellow actor Lawrence Tierney. Brady served in the Navy during World War II, where he was a boxing champ...
as Capt. Schubert - Wally CoxWally CoxWallace Maynard Cox was an American comedian and actor, particularly associated with the early years of television in the United States. He appeared in the U.S. TV series Mr. Peepers , plus several other popular shows, and as a character actor in over 20 films...
as Mr. Berry - Margaret HamiltonMargaret HamiltonMargaret Hamilton was an American film actress known for her portrayal of the Wicked Witch of the West in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz...
as Prof. Crabwell - John CarradineJohn CarradineJohn Carradine was an American actor, best known for his roles in horror films and Westerns as well as Shakespearean theater. A member of Cecil B DeMille's stock company and later John Ford's company, he was one of the most prolific character actors in Hollywood history...
as Llewellyn Crossbinder - Al Lewis as Tramp
- Nina WayneNina WayneNina Rae Wayne is an American actress.She married John Drew Barrymore in 1985; they have a daughter.-Career:Wayne, the younger sister of fellow actress Carol Wayne, started working in television in 1965, first appearing in 12 episodes of the series Camp Runamuck and in an episode of Bewitched.The...
as Charisma Beauty - Virginia Peters as Wilma Krankheimer
- Kate MurtaghKate MurtaghKate Murtagh is an American actress who has acted in such films as The Night Strangler, Farewell, My Lovely, The Car, Doctor Detroit.- External links :...
as Janie Watkins - Ivor FrancisIvor FrancisIvor Francis was a Canadian actor and acting teacher. Francis began his acting career on the radio in his native Canada, but, during World War II, he served in the Royal Air Force...
as Dr. Webb - Diane ShaletDiane ShaletDiane Shalet was an American Broadway and television character actress. She was perhaps best known for her recurring role as Ms. Hawkins in the drama Matlock. Also, she made a guest appearance on The Monkees' TV show in the season two episode "The Fairy Tale," as The Fairy of The Locket . Ms...
as Joyce Gabriel - Anne RandallAnne RandallAnne Randall is an American model. She was Playboy magazine's Playmate of the Month for its May 1967 issue...
as Policewoman Sheila - Francoise Birnheim as Restaurant Woman
- Richard AndersonRichard AndersonRichard Norman Anderson is an American actor in film and television, known to TV audiences as Steve Austin's and Jaime Sommers' boss, Oscar Goldman, in both The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman TV series and their three subsequent TV movies: The Return of the Six-Million-Dollar Man...
as Dr. Richard Malcom
Release
The film was released on a double feature DVDDVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
with The Night Stalker by MGM Home Entertainment
MGM Home Entertainment
MGM Home Entertainment is the home video and DVD arm of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.-History:The home video division of MGM started in 1979 as MGM Home Video, releasing all the movies and TV shows by MGM. In 1980, MGM joined forces with CBS Video Enterprises, the home video division of the CBS television...
in 2004. It is currently out of print
Out of print
Out of print refers to an item, typically a book , but can include any print or visual media or sound recording, that is in the state of no longer being published....
.
See also
- The Night Stalker the predecessor to The Night Strangler
- Kolchak: The Night StalkerKolchak: The Night StalkerKolchak: The Night Stalker is an American television series that aired on ABC during the 1974-1975 season. It featured a fictional Chicago newspaper reporter — Carl Kolchak, played by Darren McGavin — who investigates mysterious crimes with unlikely causes, particularly ones law...
, a 1974 television series based on the movies, also starring Darren McGavin - Night StalkerNight Stalker (TV series)Night Stalker is a television series that ran for six weeks in the Fall of 2005 on ABC. The series starred Stuart Townsend as Carl Kolchak, an investigative reporter whose wife was murdered. Kolchak spends his time investigating other strange murders, believing they are linked in some way to his...
, a 2005 remake of the original Kolchak series