Ohhh, I can hear it now. Fans of the Carl Kolchak films and TV series are slapping themselves on the forehead for not waiting to buy the new MGM DVD double feature of “The Night Stalker” and “The Night Strangler.” This particular double feature was previously available only on a disc from Anchor Bay Entertainment. Anchor Bay is primarily known for its superlative discs, though this one wasn’t their most stellar. It had both films, but no extra features at all. It has since gone out of print and the only way to buy one was to go through Ebay or dealers, with fans often plunking down mucho dinero. Often 30 bucks or above. But now, MGM is offering a DVD with both films AND extra features for under 15 dollars. Can you say, “Doh!” (Or should that be…”Dough?”) Since “The Night Stalker” and “The Night Strangler” were originally made for television back in 1972 and 1973, respectively… I’m gonna guess lot of you have never even heard of them. And that my friend, is sad indeed.

Both films starred Darren McGavin, who ranks highly on my list of all-time underrated actors, as Carl Kolchak. Kolchak is an investigative reporter, whose dream is to land that one big story. The one that will win him a Pulitzer. He dresses like a carpet bagger, complete with his signature rumpled light blue seer-sucker suit and straw hat, and generally annoys everyone he comes into contact with. In “The Night Stalker”, while investigating a series of bizarre murders in Las Vegas, Kolchak discovers that the victims have been completely drained of blood. He comes to the conclusion that the perpetrator is a vampire, which lands him in hot water with the police, and sets out to solve the murders on his own.

When “The Night Stalker” aired on 1972, it became one of the highest rated made-for-TV movies to date, and the popularity warranted a sequel. In 1973, we saw that the character of Carl Kolchak was not one hit wonder, as “The Night Strangler” turned out to be just as good quality-wise, but more importantly it was as popular with TV audiences. This second film had the recently fired Kolchak, moving to Seattle where (you guessed it) another series of baffling murders were taking place. Again, the victims are drained of blood and Kolchak sets out to uncover another vampire. However, the murderer turns out to be something else altogether.

I can’t tell you how much I loved these films as a kid. They were produced by Dan Curtis, the genius behind “Dark Shadows”, so I know they would be good. I immediately placed Carl Kolchak amongst my favorite characters in the horror genre, and made sure to watch subsequent re-runs any chance I got. In 1974, the powers-that-be decided to turn the movies into a weekly TV series, but unfortunately it only lasted a mere 20 episodes and Carl Kolchak took a bow.

I never understood why the series didn’t last longer. I don’t know if it was because it seemed implausible that the same character would find himself going up against all manner of supernatural phenomena, including zombies, aliens and werewolves, if people just didn’t get it, or if they just lost interest. I’ll admit the series was rarely as good as the first two films, but it was still better than most other shows available at the time. Even when a particular episode was not so great, you could always count on Darren McGavin to make the best of it with his terrifically funny performances as Kolchak.

In recent years, I was interested to find that I wasn’t the only kid who was influenced by the character. Chris Carter often cited Kolchak as being one of the main inspirations for his hit series, “The X-Files,” and director Guillermo Del Toro has often mentioned his love of the series. Though I had seen Darren McGavin in any number of TV series, (and believe me, his resume is long) but Kolchak was the character I identified him with the most. It was quite gratifying a few years back, when he starred in a couple of episodes of “The X-Files” as ex-FBI agent Arthur Dales. Watching him, you just knew he was really Carl Kolchak in disguise.

I’m thrilled that MGM is actually releasing the two original TV movies on DVD (and not just because I don’t have to buy it on Ebay now). But I was even more excited about the fact that they actually went to the trouble to add a couple of extra features. Both are what appear to be from a recent interview with Dan Curtis. The one on the first side of the disc (it’s double-sided) runs just under 15 minutes and obviously focuses on “The Night Stalker.” The other is only about 5 minutes, but here he talks more about “The Night Strangler.” Not very lengthy features, but well worth the price of admission.

The Night Stalker:
Directed by: John Llewllyn Moxey
Starring: Darren McGavin, Carol Lynley, Simon Oakland, Ralph Meeker, Claude Akins, Charles McGraw
Extras: Dan Curtis Interview
The Night Strangler:
Directed by: Dan Curtis
Starring: Darren McGavin, Wally Cox, Jo Ann Pflug, Simon Oakland, Richard Anderson, Margaret Hamilton, John Carradine, Al Lewis
Extras: “Directing The Night Strangler” Featurette
Specifications: Full Screen, English Mono
Studio: MGM
Release Date: 8/24/2004
Region 1
MPAA Rating: NR
Website

We'll give The Night Stalker / The Night Strangler an A.