50 Years of "The Night Stalker"

Above, Darren McGavin and Barry Atwater in The Night Stalker.

It is hard to believe, but yesterday marked 50 years that ABC-TV aired the made-for-television movie, The Night Stalker, starring Darren McGavin as Carl Kolchak. It was the top-rated made-for-television movie of its time.

To put the time period in perspective, it was aired the month before President Richard Nixon made his historic trip to China.

The Night Stalker was produced by Dan Curtis of Dark Shadows fame. It later became a short-lived television series. 

The plot to The Night Stocker involved several mysterious deaths in Las Vegas by a suspected serial killer, which turned out to be a vampire. The vampire was played by Barry Atwater as Janos Skorzeny. Carol Lynley played Kolchak's girlfriend.

I remember watching it that night. I was in my senior year of high school at the time and the buzz on campus the next day was that most everyone also watched and loved it.