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The Night Stalker

The Night Stalker

Mystery · Horror · Thriller · 1972

Wisecracking reporter Carl Kolchak investigates a string of murders in Las Vegas and suspects the culprit is a vampire. His editor thinks he's crazy and the police think he's a nuisance, so Kolchak takes matters into his own hands.

Movie details

The Night Stalker

“A real horror story…”

1972 Mystery · Horror · Thriller 1h 14m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.9 / 10

Community rating

Wisecracking reporter Carl Kolchak investigates a string of murders in Las Vegas and suspects the culprit is a vampire. His editor thinks he's crazy and the police think he's a nuisance, so Kolchak takes matters into his own hands.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over The Night Stalker?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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The Night Strangler

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After being run out of Las Vegas, reporter Carl Kolchak heads for Seattle and another reporting job with the local paper. It's not long before he’s on the trail of another string of bizarre murders. It seems that every 21 years, for the past century, a killer murders a certain number of people, drains them of their blood, and then disappears into the night. Kolchak is on his trail, but can he stop him?

D.O.A.

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Frank Bigelow is about to die, and he knows it. The accountant has been poisoned and has only 24 hours before the lethal concoction kills him. Determined to find out who his murderer is, Frank, with the help of his assistant and girlfriend, Paula, begins to trace back over his last steps. As he frantically tries to unravel the mystery behind his own impending demise, his sleuthing leads him to a group of crooked businessmen and another murder.

The Scarlet Claw

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Lady in the Lake

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The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog

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Crime · 1927

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

John Llewellyn Moxey

Written by

Richard Matheson

Darren McGavin

Darren McGavin

Carl Kolchak

Carol Lynley

Carol Lynley

Gail Foster

Simon Oakland

Simon Oakland

Tony Vincenzo

Ralph Meeker

Ralph Meeker

Bernie Jenks

Claude Akins

Claude Akins

Sheriff Warren A. Butcher

Charles McGraw

Charles McGraw

Police Chief Ed Masterson

Kent Smith

Kent Smith

District Attorney Tom Paine

Court is in session

Put The Night Stalker on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Arthouse Gremlin

“Its refusal to behave is the point.”

The strange choices create the kind of friction that follows you out of the theatre and into the argument.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Oddness is not depth.”

A film can break every rule and still leave nothing behind but the memory of how hard it tried to be singular.