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Actors: Darren McGavin, Simon Oakland, Richard Anderson, Margaret Hamilton, John Carradine, Jo Ann Pflug
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| Review Summary and Plot Commentary about The Night Strangler |
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THE NIGHT STRANGLER is a TV movie directed by Dan Curtis and aired in 1973. Written by Richard Matheson.
After having been fired from the Las Vegas Daily News, Carl Kolchak is hired by his friend Tony Vincenzo who is now chief editor in an important Seattle newspaper. Kolchak is assigned to cover the murder of a young artist who's been strangled in the middle of the night. Soon two other young women are murdered in the same way. The murderer is described as a dead man look-alike. Meanwhile, after some researches, Kolchak discovers that an identical serie of murders has happened every 21 years in the city. The circumstances were always the same as if the same murderer was haunting Seattle for more than 80 years. Could it be possible that the founder of the clinic adjacent to the crime scene has discovered an elixir of youth and needs fresh human blood every 21 years in order to complete the elixir's formula. Hard job for Kolchak !
--Daniel Staebler, Resident Scholar
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| Analysis of The Night Strangler |
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Composition of Movie
Actual chase scenes or violence - 20%
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 70%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 10%
How difficult to spot villain?
- Moderately Challenging
Time/Era of Movie:
- 1960's-1970's
Medical Thriller?
Yes
Medical Plotlets:
- wild experiments on people
- bio manip. to get new abilities
Murder Mystery?
Yes
What % of story relates directly
to the mystery, not the subplot?
- nearly 100%
Murders of set profession?
- artists
Misc. Plotlets
- local police have IQ of houseplant
Kind of mystery?
- amateur citizen investigator
Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Profession/status:
- journalist
Age:
- 40's-50's
Eccentric:
Yes
- eccentric
- wild
Hair color?
- brunette (Brown)
Hair style
- short/standard straight (man)
Body type
- average (man)
Events of movie makes character more...
- aggressive
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- average physique
Secondary Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Hair color
- brunette (Brown)
Hair style
- (man) short/standard straight
Body type
- fat (man)
How much in movie?
- 80%
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Male
Age:
- long-lived adults
Profession/status:
- doctor
Has special powers?
Yes
Magical/mental powers of main antagonist:
- can change shapes
Eccentric:
Yes
- obsessed
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- 40%
Hair color
- brunette (Brown)
Hair type
- (man) short/standard straight
Body type
- average (man)
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
Intelligence
- Very much smarter than other characters
Physique
- healthy but a geeky weakling
Sense of humor
- Cynical sense of humor
How sensitive is this character?
- mean, arrogant
Setting
United States
Yes
The US:
- West
Misc setting
- prison
- scientific labs
- cave
Style
Accounts of torture and death?
- moderately messy visuals of dead
Movie makes you feel...
- excited
How many deaths in film?
- 4-8
Kind of violence:
- hand to hand
- guns
Unusual forms of death
- asphyxiation
- dropped from large heights
If this isn't a movie...
- Episode of TV show
Lot of special effects?
Yes
Kinds of F/X
- nasty human transformations
If Soundtrack VERY NOTICEABLE...
- Jazz/r&b
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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