The Night Strangler (film)

The Night Strangler
Jo Ann Pflug and Darren McGavin in The Night Strangler
GenreCrime
Horror
Written byRichard Matheson
Directed byDan Curtis
StarringDarren McGavin
Wally Cox
Jo Ann Pflug
Simon Oakland
Richard Anderson
Margaret Hamilton
John Carradine
Al Lewis
Music byBob Cobert
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Production
ProducerDan Curtis
Production location20th Century Fox Studios
CinematographyRobert B. Hauser
EditorFolmar Blangsted
Running time74 minutes (TV premiere)
90 minutes (DVD)
Production companyABC Circle Films
Original release
NetworkABC
ReleaseJanuary 16, 1973 (1973-01-16)
Related

The Night Strangler is an American made-for-television horror film that first aired on ABC on January 16, 1973, as a sequel to The Night Stalker. In the film, Carl Kolchak (Darren McGavin), an investigative reporter assigned to series of killings comes to suspect the murderer is an immortal with superhuman strength.

The Night Strangler, though not as popular as its predecessor, garnered both strong ratings and positive reviews, eventually prompting ABC to order a TV series Kolchak: The Night Stalker. Neither writer Richard Matheson nor producer/director Dan Curtis was involved in the TV series. In the United States, the TV movie ran (without commercials) approximately 74 minutes. ABC planned to release the film overseas as a theatrical release and had additional footage shot, rounding out the movie to 90 minutes.