Before the influential Kolchak: The Night Stalker series aired on ABC in the mid-’70s, Darren McGavin brought the titular investigative reporter to life for the first time in the 1972 TV movie The Night Stalker, which is getting a 4K restoration Blu-ray release from Kino Lorber this October, along with its 1973 sequel, The Night Strangler.
Announced on Facebook and Twitter, The Night Stalker and The Night Strangler Blu-rays will be released on October 2nd in the US. Each release will come with a new 4K restoration, a new audio commentary with film historian Tim Lucas, and other new special features.
Below, we have the announcements from Kino Lorber, as well as a look at the new cover art by Sean Phillips. Let us know if you'll be adding these releases to your home media collection, and in case you missed it, read Scott Drebit's It Came From the Tube column for an insightful look back at The Night Stalker!
From Kino Lorber Studio Classics' Facebook Page: "Coming October 2nd on DVD and Blu-ray! Just in Time for Halloween!
The Night Stalker (1972) with optional English subtitles
• Brand New 4K Restoration!
• NEW Audio Commentary by Film Historian Tim Lucas
• NEW Interview with Director John Llewellyn Moxey
• NEW Interview with Composer Bob Cobert
• "The Night Stalker: Dan Curtis Interview" featurette
• Limited Edition Booklet essay by Film critic and author Simon Abrams (Blu-ray only)
• Newly Commissioned Art by Sean Phillips
• Limited Edition O-Card Slipcase (Blu-ray only)Color 74 Minutes 1.33:1 Not Rated
An investigative journalist takes a stab at the supernatural - This unforgettable first entry in the Night Stalker series introduced the world to the quirky reporter with a penchant for the paranormal and became one of the top-rated TV movies of all time. Investigating a series of Las Vegas murders, Carl Kolchak (Darren McGavin, The Night Strangler) discovers that each victim has been bitten in the neck and drained of blood. Though Kolchak's outlandish theory about the murders gets him nowhere with the police, his initiative to apprehend the killer himself gets him into hot water... with a modern-day vampire. The great John Llewellyn Moxey (Nightmare in Badham County) directed this Dan Curtis (Burnt Offerings) production featuring Carol Lynley (The Poseidon Adventure), Simon Oakland (The Hunting Party), Ralph Meeker (Big House, U.S.A.), Claude Akins (A Man Called Sledge), Charles McGraw (The Narrow Margin), Kent Smith (The Spiral Staircase), Elisha Cook Jr. (I Wake Up Screaming) and Larry Linville (TV’s M*A*S*H). Teleplay by legendary sci-fi/horror writer Richard Matheson (The Incredible Shrinking Man)."
From Kino Lorber's Facebook Page: "Coming October 2nd on DVD and Blu-ray! Just in Time for Halloween!
The Night Strangler (1973) with optional English subtitles
• Brand New 4K Restoration!
• NEW Audio Commentary by Film Historian Tim Lucas
• NEW Interview with Composer Bob Cobert
• "Directing 'The Night Strangler'" Featurette
• Limited Edition Booklet essay by film critic and author Simon Abrams (Blu-ray only)
• Newly Commissioned Art by Sean Phillips
• Limited Edition O-Card Slipcase (Blu-ray only)Color 90 Minutes 1.33:1 Not Rated
Supernatural phenomena, baffling murders and offbeat humor mark this second Night Stalker offering with a great cast and suspense so palpable, it'll feel like a presence right there in the room with you. Surfacing in Seattle, Kolchak (Darren McGavin, The Night Stalker) uncovers another maddening mystery: Ever 21 years - for the past century - a serial killer commits a spree of murders, drains his victims' blood and then quietly disappears. But Kolchak is on to this monster and is about to discover a shocking underground lair... an army of rotting corpses... and the ageless madman behind it all. The great Dan Curtis (Burnt Offerings) produced and directed this highly-rated TV movie written by legendary sci-fi/horror writer Richard Matheson (I Am Legend). The stellar cast includes Jo Ann Pflug (Scream of the Wolf), Simon Oakland (Bullitt), Scott Brady (He Walked by Night), Wally Cox (TV’s Mister Peepers), Margaret Hamilton (The Wizard of Oz), John Carradine (House of the Long Shadows) and Al Lewis (TV’s The Munsters)."
Raised on a steady diet of R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps books and Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Derek has been fascinated with fear since he first saw ForeverWare being used on an episode of Eerie, Indiana.
When he’s not writing about horror as the Senior News Reporter for Daily Dead, Derek can be found daydreaming about the Santa Carla Boardwalk from The Lost Boys or reading Stephen King and Brian Keene novels.
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