The Night Stalker
In the opening, Kolchak is sitting on the bed of a sleazy hotel room, listening to a replay of his dictation on his portable tape recorder. The notes are about a series of murders that have plagued the Las Vegas Strip, and a cover up of those events by the authorities. All of the victims had their bodies drained of blood. When a meeting is conducted with the sheriff's department, the DEA, the police and others, they discover the suspect's true identity is Janos Skorzeny, who is the prime suspect in multiple homicides involving massive loss of blood extending back years. When Skorzeny attempts to rob a hospital, the police are called to stop him. Skorzeny is shot multiple times without effect, and manages to escape by outrunning a police car and motorcycle.
Kolchak has a girlfriend named Gail Foster (Carol Lynley) who earns her living as a dancer, which Kolchak attempts to get her to give up. At Gail's urging, Kolchak looks into vampire lore. The evidence persuades Kolchak to suspect that Skorzeny is a vampire, much to the disbelief of his boss Anthony Vincenzo (Simon Oakland). Kolchak is able to convince the police that they are fighting a vampire, as the suspect possesses incredible strength and cannot be harmed by gunfire. Kolchak ultimately destroys the vampire, and unlike subsequent productions, he does so with the help of his friend in the FBI (a credible eyewitness).
Kolchak writes his version of the story for the newspaper, and proposes to his girlfriend, telling her that they will both move to New York City. However, in quick succession, the authorities print a false version of the newspaper story with his byline, and threaten to charge Kolchak with first degree murder unless he quietly leaves Las Vegas. Kolchak is told that his girlfriend Gail has already been forced to leave the city for "engaging in unsavory activities". Carl exhausts his savings placing personal advertisements across the country in a futile attempt to find her.
The final scene is of Kolchak in the sleazy hotel room, finishing his book. He explains that if anyone tries to verify the events in the book, they will find that everyone involved in the incident in even the slightest way has either left town, is not talking, or is dead, there is no file on the suspect, all of the evidence has been destroyed by the authorities, and all of the bodies were cremated.
murder