This is a nicely done TV thriller. It's campy but has a dark mood that I enjoyed. The "Night Stalker" himself got quite a bit of screen time; he wasn't hidden in the shadows too much.

There are a couple of short but good action sequences where the Night Stalker evades police cars, motorcycles, even gun fire. Kolchak manages to handle the Night Stalker a bit too easily when compared to the army of police and their failings, but that is all part of the movie's charm. Darrin McGavin as Kolchak was one of my favorite characters as a youth and I absolutely loved the TV series that followed soon after. Kolchak is different in this movie than he is in that TV series. He's mostly interested in getting the big story so he can get a job in New York again. He doesn't seem to be friends with his boss Tony Vincenzo in this. They seem very much at odds with one another. Kolchak greases a lot of palms and swings a few deals to get what he needs to score the scoop.

I'm surprised he doesn't wear the light blue suit here. He's got the trademark porkpie straw hat, though. He also has a love interest who seems much too young and beautiful for ol' hairy Carl.

Darren McGavin is fantastic as Kolchak, and this has a nice gritty '70s Las Vegas atmosphere.