Night Stalker, The (1972) Movie Script
Chapter One:
This is the story behind one of
the greatest man-hunts in history
Maybe you read about it, or rather,
what they let you read about it...
...probably as some minor item,
buried somewhere in a back page.
However, what happened in that city,
between May 16th and May 28th of this year...
...was so incredible...
...that to this day, the facts have
been suppressed in a massive effort...
...to save certain political
careers from disaster...
...and law enforcement
officials from embarassment.
This will be the last time I will
ever discuss these events with anyone.
So when you have finished
this bizarre account...
...judge for yourself
it's believability.
And then try to tell yourself...
wherever you may be...
...it couldn't happen here.
Sunday, May 16th:
At approximately 2:30 am, Cheryl Hughes was standing at
the intersection of Casino, Center and Fremont streets...
...waiting for a girlfriend
to give her a lift home.
Cheryl Hughes was 23, 5 feet,
five and one half inches tall...
...118 pounds, blonde hair...
...light brown eyes...
...Swing-Shift change girl
at the Gold Dust Saloon.
Cheryl Hughes: Tired... and hungry...
...but just mad enough to walk the 8 blocks to her
small frame house off the corner of 9th and Bridger.
Cheryl Hughes: En route to her doom.
That's odd.
No evidence of dependent
lividity, either.
Peel back the chest flap, please...
This should do it.
That's incredible!
Begin the gross work on internal organs.
I'm going to phone the district attorney.
...and don't talk
about this... TO ANYONE.
I came into it two days later...
Called back 97 miles from the first
vacation I'd had in two and a half years...
...because the story is so big
that no one else can handle it.
Rumor has it that the day Anthony
Albert Vincenzo was born...
...his father left town.
The story may be
apochrophal... but I believe it.
The only point I wonder about...
Is why his mother didn't leave, too.
Good morning, slaves.
We are NOT amused.
Kolchak, you are on it.
- A two-day-old, third rate
murder? - YOU ARE ON IT!
- What about them?
- They have other assignments.
You're beautiful when you're angry.
OUT!
First stop: County General to
see one of my most reliable spies.
...at least he used to be reliable.
Hello Carl.
Aww, I thought you were
disbarred for malpractice.
...and I thought we were
rid of you for two weeks.
Yeah. So did I...
Well, about this uh...
Cheryl Hughes thing...
Why does it say "Officially
Undetermined" under Cause of Death?
Why don't you ask the Coroner?
Aw thanks. C'mon. You're my spy here...
Haven't I kept quiet about all those illegal
operations you've been performing in closets?
C'mon, tell me true now, John. Was
there anything unusual about the autopsy?
No. All I know is she
lost a lot of blood.
Some spy.
I'm just a poor, hard-working doctor that
occasionally takes pity on an aging reporter.
- Doctor Obrien. Any messages for me?
- Felt like a Pulitzer Prize story to me...
Second stop: The Gold Dust Saloon.
...and a chat with Gail Foster...
one of Cheryl Hughes' fellow workers,
...and a rather close friend of mine.
Poor Cheryl. I feel just
terrible about it, Carl.
Well if you don't want to talk
about it, you don't have to...
No. I want to help if I can.
You said that she never
had any boyfriends?
No. None that I'd ever heard of...
She dated... once in a while.
But never the same man twice.
- I don't think she liked men.
- Yeah?
Yeah. She even took karate lessons...
in case one got fresh with her.
You mean that she knew Karate?
Yeah. Brown belt.
Oh I see him. I've gotta go.
Bye bye.
In any town the size of Las Vegas, the murder
of one young woman hardly causes a ripple.
...but then the ripples started.
Thursday, May 20th, 7:02 am.
It's over there.
I didn't go down. I couldn't.
Okay, okay. Don
- take his statement.
What took you so long, Kolchak?
I got a flat tire.
Not a footprint in sight.
Is that physically possible?
If it happened, it's possible.
Well, it sure looks like it happened.
Now come on...
Bonnie Reynolds: 27, divorced,
...cocktail waitress at
the Harem Room Casino.
Look at her throat!
She must have lost
an awful lot of blood.
Cheryl Hughes lost a lot of blood, too.
You read that in the
newspapers, did you?
No. I didn't read
that in the newspapers.
This girl lost a lot of blood, Sheriff.
...but she didn't lose it here.
Anything?
We found a purse.
There's signs of a struggle up here.
...but nothing in between...
...only our footprints.
What'd he do? Throw her?
Who said Bonnie Reynolds was
thrown 22 feet into that culvert?
The Coroner? I haven't heard about it.
Who said this new killing is connected
with the Cheryl Hughes murder?
The Police? Not to me they haven't!
Who said that Cheryl Hughes
died of massive blood loss?
The Coroner again?
You know, he hasn't even
turned in his report yet.
And who, may I ask, said that a 'super-powerful
madman' is running loose in Las Vegas?
Are you hearing voices, Kolchak?
- I did not make up the facts in this story!
- Oh I know. You're bored...
...a big time reporter like you? Condemned
to the sticks with us journalistic rubes?
- I did not make up...
- Oh I know you'd like a big, fat byline...
...on a big, fat story so you can pay
your way back to a big fat city job!
- I DID NOT...
- Oh enough, Kolchak!
I expect you to report. Not
to come up with fairytales!
...and Kolchak...
Quit bugging the P.D. If something
turns up, they'll let us know.
Meanwhile, use your head and lay off.
Whatever they're up to, they don't want
any help from amateur bloodhounds like you.
Friday, May 21st, 8:06 am.
Apartment of Carol Hanichek:
Swing-shift cocktail waitress in
the Bird of Paradise Show Lounge.
She'd gotten home around 2:15 am...
...poured herself a glass of milk,
opened the back door of the kitchen,
...and died... like the others.
Suddenly, quietly. Without disturbing her
sleeping roommate... only a few feet away.
Something of a pattern
had started to form...
...and it was ugly.
It was then that people stopped talking.
Does that surprise you?
Look Carl: You're not the only
one that likes to play detective.
The Police, the Sheriff's boys
...they all think they're pretty good.
...and they don't need you.
You know you really make me feel wanted.
We've had three murders in town, Bernie. We
have one tremendously strong guy-maybe more,
who goes around killing young girls...
...and they all lost a lot of blood!
Hey you weren't supposed
to know about that.
...I wasn't supposed
to know about that...
But I know it.
What about your people
down at the bureau?
No. This is nothing for the
Bureau to mess with at this stage.
Yeah? Well you could make some
unofficial inquiries for me?
Like?
Well like... you could check around
the country and check all the hospitals,
...and see if any of them had
corpses recently, like ours, you know?
All with a big loss of blood.
You could check all the insane asylums
across the country. The Bug Houses...
See if they've released, recently,
a nut who thinks he's Count Dracula...
...even if he's done
nothing to prove it.
Do you believe in vampires, little boy?
That's funny. That's very funny.
That's very funny, Bernie. Ha Ha.
Well are ya gonna do it? Or are you gonna sit
there like a cheap gonif, guzzling my beer?
I'll think about it. Okay?
Meanwhile, I hope it doesn't disillusion you to know that
the local Law enforcement people go along with your views.
- Oh?
- Somewhat.
At this moment, they're waiting for a special report from the
Coroner, and two pathology experts who were flown up from LAPD.
- Oh yeah?
- Along with a small truckload of equipment.
Huh? Oh hi, Marylin. How are ya?
- Hey. I like your luncheon place.
- Yeah.
Say, if you want to hear that special report,
meet me at the Sheriff's office. It starts at 6:30.
- Hey thanks.
- Don't thank me. Just be there.
Where ya goin?
Mr. Kolchak. Telephone,
please. Mr. Kolchak.
Carl Kolchak. Telephone
please. Carl Kolchak.
Kolchak?
Hi Carl? I just thought you'd like to know:
I heard the Parkway Hospital was knocked over.
Oh yeah? Knocked over for what?
Cash? Drugs? Equipment? What?
Blood!?
That's right. Every container
in the place. Their entire stock.
What about blood type?
It seems blood type and rh
factor didn't much matter.
- John?
- Can't stop now. See ya.
Yeah, bu-
6:30 pm, Clark County Courthouse.
Present, in addition to myself and two
incompetents who call themselves reporters...
...were Warren Butcher
of the Sheriff's Office,
Thomas Paine of the
District Attorney's Office,
Captain Edward Masterson of
the Las Vegas Police Department,
...and old buddy, Bernie Jenks.
Holding forth with his inimitable
cool: Dr. Robert Makurji, Boy Coroner...
We found the death in each
case was extremely swift,
...coming in something
less than a minute.
After the initial wounds were inflicted,
The blood was drained very quickly
- some kind of suction device being used.
Now this would explain why no blood was found in
the victims, or in the areas they were discovered...
Uh Doctor? Kolchak, Daily News...
Do you have any idea what
could have made these wounds?
They're not unlike the
bite of a medium sized dog.
- What do you mean, "dog"?
- WHAT?
Dog? Dog! What are you telling
us? A dog did these murders?
I didn't mean to indicate that the
wounds were actually inflicted by a dog-
Only that they are similar to those
which "might" be caused by a dog.
A rather interesting point is that we found another substance
mixed in with the traces of blood in the throat wounds.
...namely, saliva.
What do you mean, "saliva"?
I mean saliva, Sheriff Butcher.
HUMAN saliva...
If Makurji had suggested that the murders
were committed by a giant butterfly...
...he couldn't have made more sparks.
Now...
Whaddaya mean "human"?
Are you suggesting that
each of these women...
...was bitten in the throat by a man?
At present, the evidence
points that way...
...however, I couldn't, and wouldn't...
...hazzard a guess as to motivation.
I can only be sure that
they each died from shock,
...induced by massive loss of blood.
Uh, Dr. Makurji-
Is it possible that he killed these
women by biting them in the throat...
...for the expressed purpose
of drinking their blood?
Kolchak! Now you're here by
the mutual suffrage of us all...
eh, "sufferance".
What?
It's "sufferance" Sheriff.
Well whatever it is... just shut up!
I'll answer that.
There have been cases of people who,
through some mental derangement...
...have come to believe
they were vampires.
In Germany, in the 1920's,
there was one fella...
...who DID use his teeth to
rip out his victims' throats...
Now we are NOT gonna
jump to any conclusions...
...about who or what killed these women.
It is possible, you know, to type
a person's blood from his saliva.
If I were you gentleman, I'd look
for... a very anemic fellow,
...possibly with some
rare blood disease.
Well I don't care what kind
of a nut killed these women.
But I'll tell ya this: He's out there.
And I'll bet he's high on
pot... or the hard stuff.
And he's gonna kill
again unless he's stopped.
Masterson: What have your people
got on this Parkway blood theft?
Well the latest is the nurse said she saw
something "funny" out there last night.
...or early this morning.
It seems that a tall, skinny
guy, dressed as an orderly...
...was nosing around the
refrigerated storage area.
That's where they keep
the blood and the plasma.
She didn't think much of it then, but
later when she spoke about the guy to the...
...to the floor Super,
she was told that...
...there was no such tall,
skinny guy on duty there.
Description's as follows:
White male adult
6' 2"to 6' 4"
Thin. About 175 pounds
with pale complexion.
Dark hair.
So we start lookin' for a man...
Iocal resident or worse yet...
...some outsider who may not
even still be in the area.
We'll check the airport, the
bus terminal, railroad station,
...blockade the highways... and
if we're lucky, we'll get him.
...if he's stupid enough to still
be hangin' around after 3 crimes.
Now you got any other suggestions?
Just do it.
Alright. Let's break this
up. Thank you Dr. Mah-
uh... thank you Doctor.
Mr. Paine?
I shouldn't be too inclined to reject Mr.
Kolchak's theory out of hand, if I were you.
It is at best highly speculative...
but not altogether unwarranted.
Kolchak!
You can throw away that cassette.
Now this, uh "vampire stuff"...
is to STAY right in this room.
Until we have the assailant in custody,
we say nothing about these, uh...
...women being drained of blood.
There'll be no rumors,
no reports in the paper...
The official opinion at this time is
that the cause of death is "undetermined".
We don't want to cause a panic.
It's bad for police operations.
It's bad for the people.
And it's bad for business...
Thank you for your cooperation.
Kolchak? I want to have a talk with you.
Now boys, there's no reason
to bother the doctor anymore.
I have a prepared
statement in my office.
You can go back to the lab.
Kolchak, you're becoming a real pest.
I'll have to have a word or
two with Vincenzo about you.
Ya know, maybe one of the other boys at
the office should handle this from here on.
Keep your nose clean, son. Stay
out of other people's business.
It's healthier that way...
Carl?
Will you watch what you're
saying? You know these guys...
...you could find yourself out
of a job and 86'd all over town.
Does that go for you too, Jenks?
Oh boy. Who can talk to
you when you get like this.
Now listen: I'll nose around UNOFFICIALLY for you
on anything you bring me. Just between the two of us.
But do me a favor and stay away from me
for a few days. Just for friendship's sake.
Did I say it was a vampire?
Well what does your
suggested headline say?
The story makes it clear.
"Vampire Killer In Las Vegas"
- question mark. Do I misread?
The story makes it clear!
Well did I misread? Or did
you use the word "vampire"?
Some screwball who IMAGINES he's a vampire is
loose in Las vegas, and people ought to be told!
If there's a screwball running loose in Las
Vegas, his last name begins with a "K"...
I've already heard about the little
scene you had with the boys downtown.
No vampire stories. CLEAR?!
How about a special featurette
with a border of roses?
An interview with the two
girl victims, in heaven...
...with a celestial
choir in the background?
OUT!
Oh I'm sorry. I guess I fell asleep.
Uh... what were you saying?
Yeah... you do great things
for my masculine ego, ya know?
Well actually, I was saying that Vincenzo
has the news sense of a tree stump...
It's got to be one man. It's got to be.
Big. Strong. Psychotic.
Well you're certainly making me
very glad that I work nights...
Oh well I told you to quit
working nights... didn't I?
Kolchak.
I am forever in your debt, Bloom.
What was that?
The killer's done it again...
Oh no.
Only this time...
...he was seen.
I saw him standing over there.
I thought he was kissing her.
...and then he turned, and...
...she fell down...
over there by the car.
He must have followed her home.
Victim number four:
Mary Brandon
show girl
25, 5 feet 8 inches
tall, 125 luscious pounds
...less the weight of twelve
pints of blood, of course.
Well, it looks like Bela
Lugosi's struck again.
Knock it off. It's her daughter.
Oops.
I'm alright now.
Now the car he drove
away in: Was it new?
No.
It was a few years old. I
think it was a marroon coupe.
I'll call it in.
- So Barney, may I... uh?
- Yeah. But take it easy.
Sorry, ma'am. Kolchak. The Daily News.
...that was your daughter?
My best contact in Las Vegas has always been Helen O'Brien.
She's the switchboard operator at the County Courthouse.
Hello adorable.
- You're a
sadist! - Mm-hmmn
Oh I could take it back...
Over my dead, plump body.
Listen you magnificent morsel,
The DMV is checking on the suspect's car. Now,
you couldn't help me in that area-could you?
Of course not.
Bribed again.
Kolchak?
Whoah, Bernie.
How'd ya like to see the killer's face?
Sherman Duffy of the Chicago Globe
once described a reporter as follows:
Socially, he fits in somewhere
between a hooker and a bartender.
Spirtually, he stands beside Galileo,
because he knows the world is round.
...not that it does much good, of
course, when his editor knows it's flat.
- Kolchak!
- Shelly Forbes has got to be his 5th victim!
Look at the way her dog was killed.
You never give up, do you?
What do you mean?
I mean this is unacceptable.
- Unaccept-? - Kolchak! I'm
very close to firing you.
...even though the owner of this paper has a soft
spot in his head for has-been big city reporters.
I am tired of your pressure, Kolchak.
I'm tired of the owner's pressure.
I'm tired from the
pressure all around me to
...blow this story up on the one hand,
and keep it under wraps on the other.
I am tired of being
the middle man, Kolchak.
Do you understand that?
CAN you understand that?!
What do you want, Vincenzo?
...a testimonial from Count Dracula?
Out. Get out?
What is this "out,
get out" game we play?
This nut THINKS he's a vampire!
He has killed four, maybe five women.
He has drained every drop of
blood from every one of them.
Now that is NEWS, Vincenzo,
NEWS. And we a NEWS paper!
We are supposed to print
news, not suppress it!
You know darn well why we're
soft-peddling this thing!
NO! Tell me why!
Could it be because
we have been TOLD to?
Kolchak, you are an idiot.
WORSE. You're irresponsible.
All these murders mean
to you is a by-line.
Well what the hell difference
does it matter what it means to me?
The point is that we are suppressing
news. We are witholding information.
Everybody in town knows what's going on.
The Police. The D.A.
The Coroner's Office.
Every reporter on every paper in
Las Vegas knows what's going on.
...the only people who
don't know are the PEOPLE.
At last you got the point, Kolchak.
The people in Las Vegas don't know.
Because the people of Las Vegas'd
come unglued if they did know.
Even more than they're coming
unglued already. Capisce?
Tuesday, May 25th, 7:30PM.
Helen O'Brien had told me that the
DMV'd come up with 16 possibles...
All but one had been eliminated.
...the car owner's name: Martin Luben.
Address on Spring Mountain road.
Name and address both phoney.
Name of salesman who sold car:
Fred Hurley.
So, I sets him a price...
But he don't say nuthin'... he
just stands there... lookin' at me.
Alright. No how'd ya find
out about this, Kolchak?
- Well a little bird told me about it,
but... - You get- KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT.
- Yessir...
- Okay
Well, like I said, He just
stands there lookin' at me...
Then he tells me the price is too high.
300 Dollars too high.
...and then he keeps starin' at me, as if
darin' me to tell him the price is $1200.
- Is this the fella?
- Now stop doin' our job for us, Kolchak!
That's already been established.
Yeah, well ya see, I told
him... only he had a moustache.
Moustache? Yeah, well...
did you sell him the car?
Well, I sarted to say no...
But somethin' inside tells me,
"uh-uh, don't mess with this guy"...
I mean, He's a creep. With
them red eyes and that voice?
He's enough to keep a
guy from workin' nights!
All my life I've waited for a
story like this. All my life!
And when it finally comes,
I can't get it printed.
Do you know that the holes
in Mary Brandon's neck...
...were airbrushed out before
they printed the photographs?
Carl... if you keep
going on like this...
...you're gonna get fired again.
Let's see: How many times has it been?
Uuhhh... twice in Washington,
3 times in New York,
twice in Chicago,
And once... or was it
twice? In Boston.
I'm becoming extinct in my own lifetime.
Homo Newshawkus: Natural habitat,
a pool of sourmash bourbon.
You know I really oughta
light a candle to Ben Hecht?
Here.
You oughta quit your job you know.
...and you'll support me?
Well, I...
Aw c'mon, honey. I'm serious.
That weirdo's hit 5 girls,
and they were all nightworkers.
Five?
Yeah, five.
Yeah, yeah. A girl named
Shelly Forbes is missing,
...and I'll bet my bottom
dollar she's victim number 5.
Hey, you iron a shirt pretty good there.
Carl.
I've been doing some thinking...
What do you know about vampires?
Well, only that they wear dinner suits
and talk with marbles in their mouth...
Oh will you please be serious!
Watch my natural habitat, darlin'...
Open it.
"Everything You Always Wanted To Know
About Vampires, But Were Afraid To Ask."
No, you're going to look at it.
Come on... Why?
Well what if the
killer's a real vampire?
- Oh honey please...
- Well he's done everything that's in this book...
You're GOING to read it!
Yes, yes... alright. I'll read it...
Oh c'mon now. You're
a big, tough reporter.
You can take it. You might even get
a good feature article out of it.
Since the beginning
of man's existence...
...there have been
creatures of the night.
Crazed monsters that track the bloody prints
through the pages of fact and fiction...
...of them all, the vampire seems to have
accumulated the largest body of documentation.
...by night, the vampire is virtually
indestructible, fearing only the sign of the cross...
...before daybreak, he must return to his coffin, otherwise
he will be destroyed by the purifying rays of the sun...
...it is then, while he lies
dormant, he can be destroyed...
...by hammering a wooden
stake through his heart...
According to the legend,
...the victim of the vampire will
ultimately rise again as the living dead.
...and must be destroyed
in a similar manner.
From any source available,
the vampire must have blood.
Help!
Someone Help!
He's in there!
I was doing double duty as night editor,
when the PD squawk box went crazy...
...about a wild brawl
at the Old Town Hospital.
Thursday, May 27th, 8:20am...
and things were rolling.
Our morning edition hit the streets,
recapping all the action at the hospital.
The tv people, as usual,
had missed out completely.
And the radio stations were
literally reading our copy on the air.
But now the whole lid was really blown
off. The maniac had been identified.
Sorry I'm late. I just
got these out of the soup.
Now...
Here's the rundown on the Scotland
Yard and the Interpol findings:
Subject: Janos Skorzeny
Born in Criesti, Romania, 1899.
Now wait just a minute.
You tryin' to tell me that
this guy's over 70 years old?
Come on, Bernie. Your boys
have come up with the wrong man.
Like hell we have!
These facts have been
triple checked and confirmed!
Now look: I've been up all night and I'm
pretty tired. Now do you want it, or don'tcha?
Alright Bernie, just take it easy.
Let's hear it.
Alright.
Skorzeny's father died in 1923.
He left somewhere between
75 and 100 million dollars.
At this time he began to travel,
...and he became known throughout Eastern
Europe as a big lover of nightlife.
And we don't have a lot more
on him from before World War II.
However, Scotland Yard reports that he showed
up in England just in time for the German Blitz.
I'm sure Mr. Kolchak will find
the following facts of interest:
Such formality from a man
who always guzzles my beer.
While in England, he passed
himself off as Dr. Paul Belasco.
A specialist in Hematology Research,
...his work involved freshly killed air raid
victims from various London Emergency Rooms.
As a matter of fact, at his
residence at Chaftle Court,
...he installed several kinds of sumps, tubs
and an extremely large commercial meat freezer.
By 1948, he turned up in
Canada... still as Dr. Belasco...
...and further checking, he made his
presence known in almost every place...
...along the US-Canadian Border where rioting and
violence and a number of dead bodies were found.
We believe he left Canada
for Vegas on April 19th,
...under the name of
Detective-Constable Allen Hensley.
Now because of his British citizenship,
he is an international fugitive.
So my people are very interested in him.
This is no longer just a local matter.
Gentlemen...
The one constant that has shown
up in all of our reports is...
That Skorzeny's travels have always been
accompanied by a number of unexplained killings.
Many of which have one thing in common:
...a massive loss of blood.
So-if Skorzeny is not the vampire
of Mr. Kolchak's theories...
...he is certainly the suspect of multiple
homicides extending back some 30 years.
Mr. Jenks, you seem to
be running this show...
...could I have a
moment to say something?
- Mr. Kolchak you have the floor...
- Kolchak!
...now you keep it short.
Now I was at the hospital yesterday,
...and a lot of things were happening
that you simply cannot explain away.
Sheriff, your own men shot at
him- - some at point blank range...
...how come it didn't
even slow him down?
How come a man over 70 years
old can outrun a police car?
How come the same man, when slugged
in the head, doesn't even bleed?
Now I saw those gashes in his head...
...and whatever it was that was
trickling down from those wounds...
...it was CLEAR!
This guys a motormouth.
Can't we shut him up?
No. Let him hang himself.
Then we'll finally be rid of him.
So far he has killed
4, probably 5 women.
Now the coroner said that
those bite marks on the throat
...were made by human teeth.
He practically confirmed the fact
that he actually drank their blood.
Now, now, now... now wait...
Whatever this Skorzeny may be,
He seemed to be functioning
as if he were a vampire.
Now you can go on operating
as if he were an ordinary man.
That's up to you.
But I know that the only way
you're going to get him...
...is if you proceed under the
assumption that he's a real, live vampire.
Wait a minute, Kolchak-
- have you lost your mind?
Can you imagine the total blind
panic this town would be in...
...if the public were told that we
were actually looking for a vampire?
...not to mention the irreparable damage it
would do to the image of law enforcement in Vegas.
Ah, that's what it's all
about, isn't it? That's it!
Boy, I really can't believe that you
guys are so afraid of appearing stupid,
...that you'll ignore the only
possible way of nailing him!
You listen, Kolchak,
and you listen good!
We'll handle this by ourselves, and
without undue public observation.
No undue public observation?
You've blown it already!
Look, look here. Look what's
appeared in my paper today.
People are gonna be calling
for a grand jury investigation!
You can't stop the rumors forever!
SIT DOWN!
I don't care what's been
printed in the newspapers.
This man is still classified
as an ORDINARY maniac...
...and he'll be settled by
standard police procedures.
Oh boy.
And you'd better start cooperating
with that fact, Kolchak,
...or you're gonna get your
pushy-tushy kicked right outta town!
You dig?
Yes. I dig.
But just remember the next time
you blow it-who's got the answers.
Sir.
Alright, Ed.
Let's get on with it. What've you got?
All of two departments combined, with 650 men onfull
- time duty...
All leaves are cancelled, and
everyone's working a 16 hour day.
Our chopper is going from dusk til dawn.
We've got unmarked cars patrolling
the casino center and the strip.
All roads are blocked,
and we're receiving
...complete cooperation from the
highway patrol and the jeep posse.
- Ya got it?
- Got it.
Repeat.
What'd I say?
Show every real estate agent in town
the picture of this guy's puss...
...and ask them if they sold a
house to anybody that looks like him!
Good boy. Ya got it. Now get going.
Now wait a minute. Wait til
I lose this last dollar...
Mickey... has the idea of
winning ever occurred to you?
Winning?
Oh boy oh boy oh boy...
You spoke!
You know, I have a very
strange, unhappy feeling...
...that the police are never
going to catch this murderer.
I also have another
very unhappy feeling...
Which is?
...that this case may be even
bigger than I thought it was.
Bigger?
Well... stranger.
I've seen a lot of weird
things in my life, love...
I have never, ever
seen anything like this.
MM-HMMN. You don't tell me that
you're FINALLY going to believe?
SHHHHH.
I don't even want to think about it.
Car 14: Check out the report of the
two ladies, downtown on Casino drive...
Code 1033! Code 1033!
All units! All units!
Janos Skorzeny spotted in 1969
green, unpanelled station wagon.
Intersection Ocane and Husselt.
I.D. CONFIRMED!
Postive visual contact made.
Units 7 and 8: Seal off
Atsburn and Husselt at Ocane.
Repeat: Units 7 and 8
Unit 3: Close off Martinsdale
at Las Vegas Boulevard.
Units 4, 6: Move north to face
Unit 3 at Martinsdale and 5th.
Unit 5: Move up to Bracken.
5th Place, to 5th Place-ALL UNITS!
Hold it!
Get up!
Slowly.
Friday, May 28th, 3:17 AM...
Despite the helicopters, the
Highway patrol... the Jeep Posse,
Despite the blocking of
every major road and highway,
Despite the mass coverage of Las Vegas by every
available man in both Police and Sheriff's departments,
...Janos Skorzeny was still at large.
The courthouse conference room had been a
scene of chaos for more than 3 hours now.
Messages were still flooding
in from every outside unit.
Every available man who had taken place in
the capture attempt was being de-briefed.
At the hospital: Two officers had died,
and a third was harbouring on the edge...
Reports on them were still coming in as the greatest
manhunt in the history of Las Vegas continued in vane.
Oh. Thanks, Bernie. Yeah.
Well?
What're we gonna do?
NOW are you willing to
listen to my insane ideas?
Kolchak! Get outta here!
Now Warren, hold it, hold it...
Kolchak: You were there, weren't you?
Yeah?
Every man we've questions insists...
...not only that Skorzeny was
possessed of incredible strength,
...but that he was shot, MORE than
once, during the capture attempt.
Oh I'd say 30-40 times.
I'm sorry! I'm not buyin' that.
Captain: You have two choices...
...either he was shot,
...or your entire police
department is BLIND.
ED! Let's admit it. We had the man-had
him cornered, and we couldn't hold him!
Let Kolchak have his say...
Oh, uh... before I do...
...is it agreed that
in return for my help,
...you will grant me the exclusive
rights to the entire story?
Well, let's say it's agreeable if...
...we decide to follow your
suggestions regarding the suspect.
Fine. Fine.
Because if you don't follow my suggestions, you're
going to be chasing your suspect until Doomsday.
Kolchak. JUST get on with it.
Of course.
Each man in the field...
...is to be issued one of these.
...to be carried in his pocket.
This, gentlemen,
Where'd you get that?
Well, I have a friend who's
got a furniture repair store.
I woke him up and had him make it.
...each man in the field is
to be issued one of these.
And, uh... one of these.
Are you suggesting that we pound
one of these into Skorzeny's chest?
No, no. Into his heart!
There's a legal phrase
for that, Kolchak.
You might have run into it once
or twice in your broad experience.
It's called "premeditated murder".
It's the only way that
you're gonna stop him...
You heard your own men!
Can they all be wrong?
Oh... and you can stop your nighttime
chases from now on, too, gentlemen.
The only hope you have
is to spot Skorzeny,
...and then track him back to where
he lives and wait until sunrise...
...before finishing him off.
He's only vulnerable during the
day. At night he's much too strong.
Yes, gentlemen!
I hate to say this...
...but it looks as if we have a
real, live vampire on our hands.
- Ed.
- Yessir.
- Warren.
- Yeah.
Tom, I'd like to be in on this, too.
Okay, Kolchak. You've
got yourself a deal.
- Conditional
- What's that?
Butcher here will issue the
crosses, the mallets, the stakes,
...but one thing he won't do is depart
from established police procedures.
If feasible, Skorzeny is to be
taken alive and held for trial.
TRIAL?!
That's right. Trial.
TRIAL.
Alright. In return for what?
- You'll get the exclusive rights to the story.
- Good.
Ahhh... WHEN the blackout is lifted.
Uh-Huh. Yeah. Any other conditions?
- One more...
- Whassat?
If it turns out you're wrong,
you're to be out of town in 12 hours.
...take it or leave it.
Alright I'll take it!
...because I know I'm right.
And uh... you know I'm right.
RIGHT.
Ciao!
"I'll take Manhattan! The Bronx
and Staten Island, tooo..."
Watch out you great big, wonderful
Big Apple. Kolchak's comin' back!
Yeah!
Kolchak!
It's me, Crawford!
What're ya doin' drivin'
off with me in the back seat?
What're ya doin' in my back seat?
I wanted to talk to ya...
I saw your car parked here, so
I got in to wait for
ya, and I got sleepy!
You got sleepy...
Hey!
I think I've found the house.
I'd told Crawford to give me 30 minutes
before telling Jenks where I was.
That way, I could get to see
the house alone for a while,
...and also keep the police
from arriving before dawn.
...which I knew they'd
do if they got the chance.
No matter what I told them.
Shelly Forbes?
Shhhh! I heard a sound.
His own private blood bank.
Hold still! It won't stick.
Do you think they'll print it?
I know they will.
We've got an agreement.
You look kind of tired. Do you
want me to drive you to the office?
Not today, honey, now hush your babbling. I want
to finish this in time for the special edition.
Hey why don't you stop working nights?
Oh Carl-not that again?
...and marry me?
What?
Yeah, well... you're a good
cooker and a good kisser.
Why not?
Oh baby! You're gonna
love New York City!
Honey, after this story hits the
news services with my byline...
- Us? Married?
- Yes. Us!
Married!
Don't look now, baby,
...but Kolchak's comin' back!
In style.
There you are, Vincenzo.
...and if I do say so
myself, it's sensational.
I'm sure it is, Carl.
- You're gonna put it in the special edition?
- Right.
- With Pictures?
- Uh-Huh.
...and the news services?
Okay, fine.
What's got into you, Vincenzo?
You sick or somethin'?
Nothing. This is all fine, Carl. Fine.
Uh. Jenks has been tryin' to reach you.
Yeah? What'd he want?
He wants to see you over
at the D.A.'s office.
Why don't you run over there? NOW.
Yeah.
Oh Kolchak?
You're one hell of a reporter.
Thank you, sir.
...and a bright good
morning to all of you!
Bernie-what'd you, uhh...
Is your name Carl Kolchak?
...and do you reside in
the city of Las Vegas?
...well you know my name's Carl Kolchak.
What's goin' on?
Carl Kolchak, you're under
arrest on the charge of murder...
The state requires that you be informed
that you have the right to remain silent,
- anything you say...
- Oh ho ho... NO CHANCE!
You're not gonna pull that one on me.
Kolchak!
You ARE under arrest.
Alright, Paine. What kind
of a dirty deal is this?
You have a very short memory, Kolchak.
A few hours ago, Sheriff
Butcher himself saw you
...actually pound a wooden
stake through a man's heart.
...with this mallet.
...a man wanted for questioning,
QUESTIONING, mind you...
He hadn't been arrested.
He hadn't even been charged.
You broke up our stakeout. And after we
were kind enough to invite you to go along.
You just charged in there in front of us and killed
Janos Skorzeny before we had a chance to do anything.
You were even ranting and raving about this
Skorzeny being some kind of a "vampire" and
...you had to save the world.
And that, Mr. Kolchak, is murder one.
Now if you plead insanity, you might
get lucky. But I promise you this:
You'll be committed to an
Asylum for the rest of your life.
I pull your fat out of
the fire and you do this.
Carl... will ya just sit down
a minute and listen to them?
- Bernie! You were there!
- Carl!
...just listen.
Now this is your story, Kolchak:
It's already being printed.
"This morning, shortly before
sunrise, Las Vegas Sheriff's deputies,
under the command of Sheriff
Warren A. Butcher, 45,
surrounded the home of Janos Skorzeny,
a fugitive from a Federal Warrant,
...and in a pitched gun battle,
were forced to kill him."
NEVER. You'll never get away with it.
- What's to stop me...
- You're gonna stop yourself, Kolchak.
Because if you open your mouth,
we'll find you, bring you back,
...USE this warrant,
and put you away forever.
Pick 'em up, Kolchak.
Pick 'em up and get outta town. NOW.
We'll take care of your back rent.
I want to call Gail.
She's not there, Carl.
What've you done with her?
Nothing!
We just asked the young lady if
she'd be good enough to leave town.
She's an "undesirable element" Kolchak, and we
don't want undesirable elements in Las Vegas.
Carl-
There's nothing I can do.
Carl, you let me know
where you end up, huh?
Yeah sure, Bernie. I'll keep in touch.
So all the loose ends had been gathered
together and tied into a pretty knot.
...right around the
neck of... guess who?
After I left town, I began putting notices in the personal
columns of newspapers from San Francisco to St. Louis.
...until I ran out of money, that is...
So far, I've received no answers.
But I'll keep trying, even though I don't
think I'll ever find Gail Foster again.
Maybe it's just as well...
So that's it: The Book's finished.
...and now you'll have
to judge for yourself.
I must warn you, however...
If you try to verify this account,
you will find it quite impossible.
In Washington, DC, there was no longer a
file listing the suspect under his true name,
...or any of his alleged aliases.
In Las Vegas, all those involved
have either left town, aren't talking,
...or are dead.
I haven't had a decent night's
sleep since all this happened.
...and now you might
find it difficult too.
Because there is still one
fact that cannot be buried:
After the death of Janos Skorzeny,
...he, and all of his victims
were immediately cremated.
WHY?
Remember the legend?
"All those who die from
the bite of the vampire...
...will return as a vampire,
unless destroyed first."
So think about it, and try to tell
yourself, where ever you may be,
In the quiet of your home,
in the safety of your bed,
Try to tell yourself: "It
couldn't happen here."
This is the story behind one of
the greatest man-hunts in history
Maybe you read about it, or rather,
what they let you read about it...
...probably as some minor item,
buried somewhere in a back page.
However, what happened in that city,
between May 16th and May 28th of this year...
...was so incredible...
...that to this day, the facts have
been suppressed in a massive effort...
...to save certain political
careers from disaster...
...and law enforcement
officials from embarassment.
This will be the last time I will
ever discuss these events with anyone.
So when you have finished
this bizarre account...
...judge for yourself
it's believability.
And then try to tell yourself...
wherever you may be...
...it couldn't happen here.
Sunday, May 16th:
At approximately 2:30 am, Cheryl Hughes was standing at
the intersection of Casino, Center and Fremont streets...
...waiting for a girlfriend
to give her a lift home.
Cheryl Hughes was 23, 5 feet,
five and one half inches tall...
...118 pounds, blonde hair...
...light brown eyes...
...Swing-Shift change girl
at the Gold Dust Saloon.
Cheryl Hughes: Tired... and hungry...
...but just mad enough to walk the 8 blocks to her
small frame house off the corner of 9th and Bridger.
Cheryl Hughes: En route to her doom.
That's odd.
No evidence of dependent
lividity, either.
Peel back the chest flap, please...
This should do it.
That's incredible!
Begin the gross work on internal organs.
I'm going to phone the district attorney.
...and don't talk
about this... TO ANYONE.
I came into it two days later...
Called back 97 miles from the first
vacation I'd had in two and a half years...
...because the story is so big
that no one else can handle it.
Rumor has it that the day Anthony
Albert Vincenzo was born...
...his father left town.
The story may be
apochrophal... but I believe it.
The only point I wonder about...
Is why his mother didn't leave, too.
Good morning, slaves.
We are NOT amused.
Kolchak, you are on it.
- A two-day-old, third rate
murder? - YOU ARE ON IT!
- What about them?
- They have other assignments.
You're beautiful when you're angry.
OUT!
First stop: County General to
see one of my most reliable spies.
...at least he used to be reliable.
Hello Carl.
Aww, I thought you were
disbarred for malpractice.
...and I thought we were
rid of you for two weeks.
Yeah. So did I...
Well, about this uh...
Cheryl Hughes thing...
Why does it say "Officially
Undetermined" under Cause of Death?
Why don't you ask the Coroner?
Aw thanks. C'mon. You're my spy here...
Haven't I kept quiet about all those illegal
operations you've been performing in closets?
C'mon, tell me true now, John. Was
there anything unusual about the autopsy?
No. All I know is she
lost a lot of blood.
Some spy.
I'm just a poor, hard-working doctor that
occasionally takes pity on an aging reporter.
- Doctor Obrien. Any messages for me?
- Felt like a Pulitzer Prize story to me...
Second stop: The Gold Dust Saloon.
...and a chat with Gail Foster...
one of Cheryl Hughes' fellow workers,
...and a rather close friend of mine.
Poor Cheryl. I feel just
terrible about it, Carl.
Well if you don't want to talk
about it, you don't have to...
No. I want to help if I can.
You said that she never
had any boyfriends?
No. None that I'd ever heard of...
She dated... once in a while.
But never the same man twice.
- I don't think she liked men.
- Yeah?
Yeah. She even took karate lessons...
in case one got fresh with her.
You mean that she knew Karate?
Yeah. Brown belt.
Oh I see him. I've gotta go.
Bye bye.
In any town the size of Las Vegas, the murder
of one young woman hardly causes a ripple.
...but then the ripples started.
Thursday, May 20th, 7:02 am.
It's over there.
I didn't go down. I couldn't.
Okay, okay. Don
- take his statement.
What took you so long, Kolchak?
I got a flat tire.
Not a footprint in sight.
Is that physically possible?
If it happened, it's possible.
Well, it sure looks like it happened.
Now come on...
Bonnie Reynolds: 27, divorced,
...cocktail waitress at
the Harem Room Casino.
Look at her throat!
She must have lost
an awful lot of blood.
Cheryl Hughes lost a lot of blood, too.
You read that in the
newspapers, did you?
No. I didn't read
that in the newspapers.
This girl lost a lot of blood, Sheriff.
...but she didn't lose it here.
Anything?
We found a purse.
There's signs of a struggle up here.
...but nothing in between...
...only our footprints.
What'd he do? Throw her?
Who said Bonnie Reynolds was
thrown 22 feet into that culvert?
The Coroner? I haven't heard about it.
Who said this new killing is connected
with the Cheryl Hughes murder?
The Police? Not to me they haven't!
Who said that Cheryl Hughes
died of massive blood loss?
The Coroner again?
You know, he hasn't even
turned in his report yet.
And who, may I ask, said that a 'super-powerful
madman' is running loose in Las Vegas?
Are you hearing voices, Kolchak?
- I did not make up the facts in this story!
- Oh I know. You're bored...
...a big time reporter like you? Condemned
to the sticks with us journalistic rubes?
- I did not make up...
- Oh I know you'd like a big, fat byline...
...on a big, fat story so you can pay
your way back to a big fat city job!
- I DID NOT...
- Oh enough, Kolchak!
I expect you to report. Not
to come up with fairytales!
...and Kolchak...
Quit bugging the P.D. If something
turns up, they'll let us know.
Meanwhile, use your head and lay off.
Whatever they're up to, they don't want
any help from amateur bloodhounds like you.
Friday, May 21st, 8:06 am.
Apartment of Carol Hanichek:
Swing-shift cocktail waitress in
the Bird of Paradise Show Lounge.
She'd gotten home around 2:15 am...
...poured herself a glass of milk,
opened the back door of the kitchen,
...and died... like the others.
Suddenly, quietly. Without disturbing her
sleeping roommate... only a few feet away.
Something of a pattern
had started to form...
...and it was ugly.
It was then that people stopped talking.
Does that surprise you?
Look Carl: You're not the only
one that likes to play detective.
The Police, the Sheriff's boys
...they all think they're pretty good.
...and they don't need you.
You know you really make me feel wanted.
We've had three murders in town, Bernie. We
have one tremendously strong guy-maybe more,
who goes around killing young girls...
...and they all lost a lot of blood!
Hey you weren't supposed
to know about that.
...I wasn't supposed
to know about that...
But I know it.
What about your people
down at the bureau?
No. This is nothing for the
Bureau to mess with at this stage.
Yeah? Well you could make some
unofficial inquiries for me?
Like?
Well like... you could check around
the country and check all the hospitals,
...and see if any of them had
corpses recently, like ours, you know?
All with a big loss of blood.
You could check all the insane asylums
across the country. The Bug Houses...
See if they've released, recently,
a nut who thinks he's Count Dracula...
...even if he's done
nothing to prove it.
Do you believe in vampires, little boy?
That's funny. That's very funny.
That's very funny, Bernie. Ha Ha.
Well are ya gonna do it? Or are you gonna sit
there like a cheap gonif, guzzling my beer?
I'll think about it. Okay?
Meanwhile, I hope it doesn't disillusion you to know that
the local Law enforcement people go along with your views.
- Oh?
- Somewhat.
At this moment, they're waiting for a special report from the
Coroner, and two pathology experts who were flown up from LAPD.
- Oh yeah?
- Along with a small truckload of equipment.
Huh? Oh hi, Marylin. How are ya?
- Hey. I like your luncheon place.
- Yeah.
Say, if you want to hear that special report,
meet me at the Sheriff's office. It starts at 6:30.
- Hey thanks.
- Don't thank me. Just be there.
Where ya goin?
Mr. Kolchak. Telephone,
please. Mr. Kolchak.
Carl Kolchak. Telephone
please. Carl Kolchak.
Kolchak?
Hi Carl? I just thought you'd like to know:
I heard the Parkway Hospital was knocked over.
Oh yeah? Knocked over for what?
Cash? Drugs? Equipment? What?
Blood!?
That's right. Every container
in the place. Their entire stock.
What about blood type?
It seems blood type and rh
factor didn't much matter.
- John?
- Can't stop now. See ya.
Yeah, bu-
6:30 pm, Clark County Courthouse.
Present, in addition to myself and two
incompetents who call themselves reporters...
...were Warren Butcher
of the Sheriff's Office,
Thomas Paine of the
District Attorney's Office,
Captain Edward Masterson of
the Las Vegas Police Department,
...and old buddy, Bernie Jenks.
Holding forth with his inimitable
cool: Dr. Robert Makurji, Boy Coroner...
We found the death in each
case was extremely swift,
...coming in something
less than a minute.
After the initial wounds were inflicted,
The blood was drained very quickly
- some kind of suction device being used.
Now this would explain why no blood was found in
the victims, or in the areas they were discovered...
Uh Doctor? Kolchak, Daily News...
Do you have any idea what
could have made these wounds?
They're not unlike the
bite of a medium sized dog.
- What do you mean, "dog"?
- WHAT?
Dog? Dog! What are you telling
us? A dog did these murders?
I didn't mean to indicate that the
wounds were actually inflicted by a dog-
Only that they are similar to those
which "might" be caused by a dog.
A rather interesting point is that we found another substance
mixed in with the traces of blood in the throat wounds.
...namely, saliva.
What do you mean, "saliva"?
I mean saliva, Sheriff Butcher.
HUMAN saliva...
If Makurji had suggested that the murders
were committed by a giant butterfly...
...he couldn't have made more sparks.
Now...
Whaddaya mean "human"?
Are you suggesting that
each of these women...
...was bitten in the throat by a man?
At present, the evidence
points that way...
...however, I couldn't, and wouldn't...
...hazzard a guess as to motivation.
I can only be sure that
they each died from shock,
...induced by massive loss of blood.
Uh, Dr. Makurji-
Is it possible that he killed these
women by biting them in the throat...
...for the expressed purpose
of drinking their blood?
Kolchak! Now you're here by
the mutual suffrage of us all...
eh, "sufferance".
What?
It's "sufferance" Sheriff.
Well whatever it is... just shut up!
I'll answer that.
There have been cases of people who,
through some mental derangement...
...have come to believe
they were vampires.
In Germany, in the 1920's,
there was one fella...
...who DID use his teeth to
rip out his victims' throats...
Now we are NOT gonna
jump to any conclusions...
...about who or what killed these women.
It is possible, you know, to type
a person's blood from his saliva.
If I were you gentleman, I'd look
for... a very anemic fellow,
...possibly with some
rare blood disease.
Well I don't care what kind
of a nut killed these women.
But I'll tell ya this: He's out there.
And I'll bet he's high on
pot... or the hard stuff.
And he's gonna kill
again unless he's stopped.
Masterson: What have your people
got on this Parkway blood theft?
Well the latest is the nurse said she saw
something "funny" out there last night.
...or early this morning.
It seems that a tall, skinny
guy, dressed as an orderly...
...was nosing around the
refrigerated storage area.
That's where they keep
the blood and the plasma.
She didn't think much of it then, but
later when she spoke about the guy to the...
...to the floor Super,
she was told that...
...there was no such tall,
skinny guy on duty there.
Description's as follows:
White male adult
6' 2"to 6' 4"
Thin. About 175 pounds
with pale complexion.
Dark hair.
So we start lookin' for a man...
Iocal resident or worse yet...
...some outsider who may not
even still be in the area.
We'll check the airport, the
bus terminal, railroad station,
...blockade the highways... and
if we're lucky, we'll get him.
...if he's stupid enough to still
be hangin' around after 3 crimes.
Now you got any other suggestions?
Just do it.
Alright. Let's break this
up. Thank you Dr. Mah-
uh... thank you Doctor.
Mr. Paine?
I shouldn't be too inclined to reject Mr.
Kolchak's theory out of hand, if I were you.
It is at best highly speculative...
but not altogether unwarranted.
Kolchak!
You can throw away that cassette.
Now this, uh "vampire stuff"...
is to STAY right in this room.
Until we have the assailant in custody,
we say nothing about these, uh...
...women being drained of blood.
There'll be no rumors,
no reports in the paper...
The official opinion at this time is
that the cause of death is "undetermined".
We don't want to cause a panic.
It's bad for police operations.
It's bad for the people.
And it's bad for business...
Thank you for your cooperation.
Kolchak? I want to have a talk with you.
Now boys, there's no reason
to bother the doctor anymore.
I have a prepared
statement in my office.
You can go back to the lab.
Kolchak, you're becoming a real pest.
I'll have to have a word or
two with Vincenzo about you.
Ya know, maybe one of the other boys at
the office should handle this from here on.
Keep your nose clean, son. Stay
out of other people's business.
It's healthier that way...
Carl?
Will you watch what you're
saying? You know these guys...
...you could find yourself out
of a job and 86'd all over town.
Does that go for you too, Jenks?
Oh boy. Who can talk to
you when you get like this.
Now listen: I'll nose around UNOFFICIALLY for you
on anything you bring me. Just between the two of us.
But do me a favor and stay away from me
for a few days. Just for friendship's sake.
Did I say it was a vampire?
Well what does your
suggested headline say?
The story makes it clear.
"Vampire Killer In Las Vegas"
- question mark. Do I misread?
The story makes it clear!
Well did I misread? Or did
you use the word "vampire"?
Some screwball who IMAGINES he's a vampire is
loose in Las vegas, and people ought to be told!
If there's a screwball running loose in Las
Vegas, his last name begins with a "K"...
I've already heard about the little
scene you had with the boys downtown.
No vampire stories. CLEAR?!
How about a special featurette
with a border of roses?
An interview with the two
girl victims, in heaven...
...with a celestial
choir in the background?
OUT!
Oh I'm sorry. I guess I fell asleep.
Uh... what were you saying?
Yeah... you do great things
for my masculine ego, ya know?
Well actually, I was saying that Vincenzo
has the news sense of a tree stump...
It's got to be one man. It's got to be.
Big. Strong. Psychotic.
Well you're certainly making me
very glad that I work nights...
Oh well I told you to quit
working nights... didn't I?
Kolchak.
I am forever in your debt, Bloom.
What was that?
The killer's done it again...
Oh no.
Only this time...
...he was seen.
I saw him standing over there.
I thought he was kissing her.
...and then he turned, and...
...she fell down...
over there by the car.
He must have followed her home.
Victim number four:
Mary Brandon
show girl
25, 5 feet 8 inches
tall, 125 luscious pounds
...less the weight of twelve
pints of blood, of course.
Well, it looks like Bela
Lugosi's struck again.
Knock it off. It's her daughter.
Oops.
I'm alright now.
Now the car he drove
away in: Was it new?
No.
It was a few years old. I
think it was a marroon coupe.
I'll call it in.
- So Barney, may I... uh?
- Yeah. But take it easy.
Sorry, ma'am. Kolchak. The Daily News.
...that was your daughter?
My best contact in Las Vegas has always been Helen O'Brien.
She's the switchboard operator at the County Courthouse.
Hello adorable.
- You're a
sadist! - Mm-hmmn
Oh I could take it back...
Over my dead, plump body.
Listen you magnificent morsel,
The DMV is checking on the suspect's car. Now,
you couldn't help me in that area-could you?
Of course not.
Bribed again.
Kolchak?
Whoah, Bernie.
How'd ya like to see the killer's face?
Sherman Duffy of the Chicago Globe
once described a reporter as follows:
Socially, he fits in somewhere
between a hooker and a bartender.
Spirtually, he stands beside Galileo,
because he knows the world is round.
...not that it does much good, of
course, when his editor knows it's flat.
- Kolchak!
- Shelly Forbes has got to be his 5th victim!
Look at the way her dog was killed.
You never give up, do you?
What do you mean?
I mean this is unacceptable.
- Unaccept-? - Kolchak! I'm
very close to firing you.
...even though the owner of this paper has a soft
spot in his head for has-been big city reporters.
I am tired of your pressure, Kolchak.
I'm tired of the owner's pressure.
I'm tired from the
pressure all around me to
...blow this story up on the one hand,
and keep it under wraps on the other.
I am tired of being
the middle man, Kolchak.
Do you understand that?
CAN you understand that?!
What do you want, Vincenzo?
...a testimonial from Count Dracula?
Out. Get out?
What is this "out,
get out" game we play?
This nut THINKS he's a vampire!
He has killed four, maybe five women.
He has drained every drop of
blood from every one of them.
Now that is NEWS, Vincenzo,
NEWS. And we a NEWS paper!
We are supposed to print
news, not suppress it!
You know darn well why we're
soft-peddling this thing!
NO! Tell me why!
Could it be because
we have been TOLD to?
Kolchak, you are an idiot.
WORSE. You're irresponsible.
All these murders mean
to you is a by-line.
Well what the hell difference
does it matter what it means to me?
The point is that we are suppressing
news. We are witholding information.
Everybody in town knows what's going on.
The Police. The D.A.
The Coroner's Office.
Every reporter on every paper in
Las Vegas knows what's going on.
...the only people who
don't know are the PEOPLE.
At last you got the point, Kolchak.
The people in Las Vegas don't know.
Because the people of Las Vegas'd
come unglued if they did know.
Even more than they're coming
unglued already. Capisce?
Tuesday, May 25th, 7:30PM.
Helen O'Brien had told me that the
DMV'd come up with 16 possibles...
All but one had been eliminated.
...the car owner's name: Martin Luben.
Address on Spring Mountain road.
Name and address both phoney.
Name of salesman who sold car:
Fred Hurley.
So, I sets him a price...
But he don't say nuthin'... he
just stands there... lookin' at me.
Alright. No how'd ya find
out about this, Kolchak?
- Well a little bird told me about it,
but... - You get- KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT.
- Yessir...
- Okay
Well, like I said, He just
stands there lookin' at me...
Then he tells me the price is too high.
300 Dollars too high.
...and then he keeps starin' at me, as if
darin' me to tell him the price is $1200.
- Is this the fella?
- Now stop doin' our job for us, Kolchak!
That's already been established.
Yeah, well ya see, I told
him... only he had a moustache.
Moustache? Yeah, well...
did you sell him the car?
Well, I sarted to say no...
But somethin' inside tells me,
"uh-uh, don't mess with this guy"...
I mean, He's a creep. With
them red eyes and that voice?
He's enough to keep a
guy from workin' nights!
All my life I've waited for a
story like this. All my life!
And when it finally comes,
I can't get it printed.
Do you know that the holes
in Mary Brandon's neck...
...were airbrushed out before
they printed the photographs?
Carl... if you keep
going on like this...
...you're gonna get fired again.
Let's see: How many times has it been?
Uuhhh... twice in Washington,
3 times in New York,
twice in Chicago,
And once... or was it
twice? In Boston.
I'm becoming extinct in my own lifetime.
Homo Newshawkus: Natural habitat,
a pool of sourmash bourbon.
You know I really oughta
light a candle to Ben Hecht?
Here.
You oughta quit your job you know.
...and you'll support me?
Well, I...
Aw c'mon, honey. I'm serious.
That weirdo's hit 5 girls,
and they were all nightworkers.
Five?
Yeah, five.
Yeah, yeah. A girl named
Shelly Forbes is missing,
...and I'll bet my bottom
dollar she's victim number 5.
Hey, you iron a shirt pretty good there.
Carl.
I've been doing some thinking...
What do you know about vampires?
Well, only that they wear dinner suits
and talk with marbles in their mouth...
Oh will you please be serious!
Watch my natural habitat, darlin'...
Open it.
"Everything You Always Wanted To Know
About Vampires, But Were Afraid To Ask."
No, you're going to look at it.
Come on... Why?
Well what if the
killer's a real vampire?
- Oh honey please...
- Well he's done everything that's in this book...
You're GOING to read it!
Yes, yes... alright. I'll read it...
Oh c'mon now. You're
a big, tough reporter.
You can take it. You might even get
a good feature article out of it.
Since the beginning
of man's existence...
...there have been
creatures of the night.
Crazed monsters that track the bloody prints
through the pages of fact and fiction...
...of them all, the vampire seems to have
accumulated the largest body of documentation.
...by night, the vampire is virtually
indestructible, fearing only the sign of the cross...
...before daybreak, he must return to his coffin, otherwise
he will be destroyed by the purifying rays of the sun...
...it is then, while he lies
dormant, he can be destroyed...
...by hammering a wooden
stake through his heart...
According to the legend,
...the victim of the vampire will
ultimately rise again as the living dead.
...and must be destroyed
in a similar manner.
From any source available,
the vampire must have blood.
Help!
Someone Help!
He's in there!
I was doing double duty as night editor,
when the PD squawk box went crazy...
...about a wild brawl
at the Old Town Hospital.
Thursday, May 27th, 8:20am...
and things were rolling.
Our morning edition hit the streets,
recapping all the action at the hospital.
The tv people, as usual,
had missed out completely.
And the radio stations were
literally reading our copy on the air.
But now the whole lid was really blown
off. The maniac had been identified.
Sorry I'm late. I just
got these out of the soup.
Now...
Here's the rundown on the Scotland
Yard and the Interpol findings:
Subject: Janos Skorzeny
Born in Criesti, Romania, 1899.
Now wait just a minute.
You tryin' to tell me that
this guy's over 70 years old?
Come on, Bernie. Your boys
have come up with the wrong man.
Like hell we have!
These facts have been
triple checked and confirmed!
Now look: I've been up all night and I'm
pretty tired. Now do you want it, or don'tcha?
Alright Bernie, just take it easy.
Let's hear it.
Alright.
Skorzeny's father died in 1923.
He left somewhere between
75 and 100 million dollars.
At this time he began to travel,
...and he became known throughout Eastern
Europe as a big lover of nightlife.
And we don't have a lot more
on him from before World War II.
However, Scotland Yard reports that he showed
up in England just in time for the German Blitz.
I'm sure Mr. Kolchak will find
the following facts of interest:
Such formality from a man
who always guzzles my beer.
While in England, he passed
himself off as Dr. Paul Belasco.
A specialist in Hematology Research,
...his work involved freshly killed air raid
victims from various London Emergency Rooms.
As a matter of fact, at his
residence at Chaftle Court,
...he installed several kinds of sumps, tubs
and an extremely large commercial meat freezer.
By 1948, he turned up in
Canada... still as Dr. Belasco...
...and further checking, he made his
presence known in almost every place...
...along the US-Canadian Border where rioting and
violence and a number of dead bodies were found.
We believe he left Canada
for Vegas on April 19th,
...under the name of
Detective-Constable Allen Hensley.
Now because of his British citizenship,
he is an international fugitive.
So my people are very interested in him.
This is no longer just a local matter.
Gentlemen...
The one constant that has shown
up in all of our reports is...
That Skorzeny's travels have always been
accompanied by a number of unexplained killings.
Many of which have one thing in common:
...a massive loss of blood.
So-if Skorzeny is not the vampire
of Mr. Kolchak's theories...
...he is certainly the suspect of multiple
homicides extending back some 30 years.
Mr. Jenks, you seem to
be running this show...
...could I have a
moment to say something?
- Mr. Kolchak you have the floor...
- Kolchak!
...now you keep it short.
Now I was at the hospital yesterday,
...and a lot of things were happening
that you simply cannot explain away.
Sheriff, your own men shot at
him- - some at point blank range...
...how come it didn't
even slow him down?
How come a man over 70 years
old can outrun a police car?
How come the same man, when slugged
in the head, doesn't even bleed?
Now I saw those gashes in his head...
...and whatever it was that was
trickling down from those wounds...
...it was CLEAR!
This guys a motormouth.
Can't we shut him up?
No. Let him hang himself.
Then we'll finally be rid of him.
So far he has killed
4, probably 5 women.
Now the coroner said that
those bite marks on the throat
...were made by human teeth.
He practically confirmed the fact
that he actually drank their blood.
Now, now, now... now wait...
Whatever this Skorzeny may be,
He seemed to be functioning
as if he were a vampire.
Now you can go on operating
as if he were an ordinary man.
That's up to you.
But I know that the only way
you're going to get him...
...is if you proceed under the
assumption that he's a real, live vampire.
Wait a minute, Kolchak-
- have you lost your mind?
Can you imagine the total blind
panic this town would be in...
...if the public were told that we
were actually looking for a vampire?
...not to mention the irreparable damage it
would do to the image of law enforcement in Vegas.
Ah, that's what it's all
about, isn't it? That's it!
Boy, I really can't believe that you
guys are so afraid of appearing stupid,
...that you'll ignore the only
possible way of nailing him!
You listen, Kolchak,
and you listen good!
We'll handle this by ourselves, and
without undue public observation.
No undue public observation?
You've blown it already!
Look, look here. Look what's
appeared in my paper today.
People are gonna be calling
for a grand jury investigation!
You can't stop the rumors forever!
SIT DOWN!
I don't care what's been
printed in the newspapers.
This man is still classified
as an ORDINARY maniac...
...and he'll be settled by
standard police procedures.
Oh boy.
And you'd better start cooperating
with that fact, Kolchak,
...or you're gonna get your
pushy-tushy kicked right outta town!
You dig?
Yes. I dig.
But just remember the next time
you blow it-who's got the answers.
Sir.
Alright, Ed.
Let's get on with it. What've you got?
All of two departments combined, with 650 men onfull
- time duty...
All leaves are cancelled, and
everyone's working a 16 hour day.
Our chopper is going from dusk til dawn.
We've got unmarked cars patrolling
the casino center and the strip.
All roads are blocked,
and we're receiving
...complete cooperation from the
highway patrol and the jeep posse.
- Ya got it?
- Got it.
Repeat.
What'd I say?
Show every real estate agent in town
the picture of this guy's puss...
...and ask them if they sold a
house to anybody that looks like him!
Good boy. Ya got it. Now get going.
Now wait a minute. Wait til
I lose this last dollar...
Mickey... has the idea of
winning ever occurred to you?
Winning?
Oh boy oh boy oh boy...
You spoke!
You know, I have a very
strange, unhappy feeling...
...that the police are never
going to catch this murderer.
I also have another
very unhappy feeling...
Which is?
...that this case may be even
bigger than I thought it was.
Bigger?
Well... stranger.
I've seen a lot of weird
things in my life, love...
I have never, ever
seen anything like this.
MM-HMMN. You don't tell me that
you're FINALLY going to believe?
SHHHHH.
I don't even want to think about it.
Car 14: Check out the report of the
two ladies, downtown on Casino drive...
Code 1033! Code 1033!
All units! All units!
Janos Skorzeny spotted in 1969
green, unpanelled station wagon.
Intersection Ocane and Husselt.
I.D. CONFIRMED!
Postive visual contact made.
Units 7 and 8: Seal off
Atsburn and Husselt at Ocane.
Repeat: Units 7 and 8
Unit 3: Close off Martinsdale
at Las Vegas Boulevard.
Units 4, 6: Move north to face
Unit 3 at Martinsdale and 5th.
Unit 5: Move up to Bracken.
5th Place, to 5th Place-ALL UNITS!
Hold it!
Get up!
Slowly.
Friday, May 28th, 3:17 AM...
Despite the helicopters, the
Highway patrol... the Jeep Posse,
Despite the blocking of
every major road and highway,
Despite the mass coverage of Las Vegas by every
available man in both Police and Sheriff's departments,
...Janos Skorzeny was still at large.
The courthouse conference room had been a
scene of chaos for more than 3 hours now.
Messages were still flooding
in from every outside unit.
Every available man who had taken place in
the capture attempt was being de-briefed.
At the hospital: Two officers had died,
and a third was harbouring on the edge...
Reports on them were still coming in as the greatest
manhunt in the history of Las Vegas continued in vane.
Oh. Thanks, Bernie. Yeah.
Well?
What're we gonna do?
NOW are you willing to
listen to my insane ideas?
Kolchak! Get outta here!
Now Warren, hold it, hold it...
Kolchak: You were there, weren't you?
Yeah?
Every man we've questions insists...
...not only that Skorzeny was
possessed of incredible strength,
...but that he was shot, MORE than
once, during the capture attempt.
Oh I'd say 30-40 times.
I'm sorry! I'm not buyin' that.
Captain: You have two choices...
...either he was shot,
...or your entire police
department is BLIND.
ED! Let's admit it. We had the man-had
him cornered, and we couldn't hold him!
Let Kolchak have his say...
Oh, uh... before I do...
...is it agreed that
in return for my help,
...you will grant me the exclusive
rights to the entire story?
Well, let's say it's agreeable if...
...we decide to follow your
suggestions regarding the suspect.
Fine. Fine.
Because if you don't follow my suggestions, you're
going to be chasing your suspect until Doomsday.
Kolchak. JUST get on with it.
Of course.
Each man in the field...
...is to be issued one of these.
...to be carried in his pocket.
This, gentlemen,
Where'd you get that?
Well, I have a friend who's
got a furniture repair store.
I woke him up and had him make it.
...each man in the field is
to be issued one of these.
And, uh... one of these.
Are you suggesting that we pound
one of these into Skorzeny's chest?
No, no. Into his heart!
There's a legal phrase
for that, Kolchak.
You might have run into it once
or twice in your broad experience.
It's called "premeditated murder".
It's the only way that
you're gonna stop him...
You heard your own men!
Can they all be wrong?
Oh... and you can stop your nighttime
chases from now on, too, gentlemen.
The only hope you have
is to spot Skorzeny,
...and then track him back to where
he lives and wait until sunrise...
...before finishing him off.
He's only vulnerable during the
day. At night he's much too strong.
Yes, gentlemen!
I hate to say this...
...but it looks as if we have a
real, live vampire on our hands.
- Ed.
- Yessir.
- Warren.
- Yeah.
Tom, I'd like to be in on this, too.
Okay, Kolchak. You've
got yourself a deal.
- Conditional
- What's that?
Butcher here will issue the
crosses, the mallets, the stakes,
...but one thing he won't do is depart
from established police procedures.
If feasible, Skorzeny is to be
taken alive and held for trial.
TRIAL?!
That's right. Trial.
TRIAL.
Alright. In return for what?
- You'll get the exclusive rights to the story.
- Good.
Ahhh... WHEN the blackout is lifted.
Uh-Huh. Yeah. Any other conditions?
- One more...
- Whassat?
If it turns out you're wrong,
you're to be out of town in 12 hours.
...take it or leave it.
Alright I'll take it!
...because I know I'm right.
And uh... you know I'm right.
RIGHT.
Ciao!
"I'll take Manhattan! The Bronx
and Staten Island, tooo..."
Watch out you great big, wonderful
Big Apple. Kolchak's comin' back!
Yeah!
Kolchak!
It's me, Crawford!
What're ya doin' drivin'
off with me in the back seat?
What're ya doin' in my back seat?
I wanted to talk to ya...
I saw your car parked here, so
I got in to wait for
ya, and I got sleepy!
You got sleepy...
Hey!
I think I've found the house.
I'd told Crawford to give me 30 minutes
before telling Jenks where I was.
That way, I could get to see
the house alone for a while,
...and also keep the police
from arriving before dawn.
...which I knew they'd
do if they got the chance.
No matter what I told them.
Shelly Forbes?
Shhhh! I heard a sound.
His own private blood bank.
Hold still! It won't stick.
Do you think they'll print it?
I know they will.
We've got an agreement.
You look kind of tired. Do you
want me to drive you to the office?
Not today, honey, now hush your babbling. I want
to finish this in time for the special edition.
Hey why don't you stop working nights?
Oh Carl-not that again?
...and marry me?
What?
Yeah, well... you're a good
cooker and a good kisser.
Why not?
Oh baby! You're gonna
love New York City!
Honey, after this story hits the
news services with my byline...
- Us? Married?
- Yes. Us!
Married!
Don't look now, baby,
...but Kolchak's comin' back!
In style.
There you are, Vincenzo.
...and if I do say so
myself, it's sensational.
I'm sure it is, Carl.
- You're gonna put it in the special edition?
- Right.
- With Pictures?
- Uh-Huh.
...and the news services?
Okay, fine.
What's got into you, Vincenzo?
You sick or somethin'?
Nothing. This is all fine, Carl. Fine.
Uh. Jenks has been tryin' to reach you.
Yeah? What'd he want?
He wants to see you over
at the D.A.'s office.
Why don't you run over there? NOW.
Yeah.
Oh Kolchak?
You're one hell of a reporter.
Thank you, sir.
...and a bright good
morning to all of you!
Bernie-what'd you, uhh...
Is your name Carl Kolchak?
...and do you reside in
the city of Las Vegas?
...well you know my name's Carl Kolchak.
What's goin' on?
Carl Kolchak, you're under
arrest on the charge of murder...
The state requires that you be informed
that you have the right to remain silent,
- anything you say...
- Oh ho ho... NO CHANCE!
You're not gonna pull that one on me.
Kolchak!
You ARE under arrest.
Alright, Paine. What kind
of a dirty deal is this?
You have a very short memory, Kolchak.
A few hours ago, Sheriff
Butcher himself saw you
...actually pound a wooden
stake through a man's heart.
...with this mallet.
...a man wanted for questioning,
QUESTIONING, mind you...
He hadn't been arrested.
He hadn't even been charged.
You broke up our stakeout. And after we
were kind enough to invite you to go along.
You just charged in there in front of us and killed
Janos Skorzeny before we had a chance to do anything.
You were even ranting and raving about this
Skorzeny being some kind of a "vampire" and
...you had to save the world.
And that, Mr. Kolchak, is murder one.
Now if you plead insanity, you might
get lucky. But I promise you this:
You'll be committed to an
Asylum for the rest of your life.
I pull your fat out of
the fire and you do this.
Carl... will ya just sit down
a minute and listen to them?
- Bernie! You were there!
- Carl!
...just listen.
Now this is your story, Kolchak:
It's already being printed.
"This morning, shortly before
sunrise, Las Vegas Sheriff's deputies,
under the command of Sheriff
Warren A. Butcher, 45,
surrounded the home of Janos Skorzeny,
a fugitive from a Federal Warrant,
...and in a pitched gun battle,
were forced to kill him."
NEVER. You'll never get away with it.
- What's to stop me...
- You're gonna stop yourself, Kolchak.
Because if you open your mouth,
we'll find you, bring you back,
...USE this warrant,
and put you away forever.
Pick 'em up, Kolchak.
Pick 'em up and get outta town. NOW.
We'll take care of your back rent.
I want to call Gail.
She's not there, Carl.
What've you done with her?
Nothing!
We just asked the young lady if
she'd be good enough to leave town.
She's an "undesirable element" Kolchak, and we
don't want undesirable elements in Las Vegas.
Carl-
There's nothing I can do.
Carl, you let me know
where you end up, huh?
Yeah sure, Bernie. I'll keep in touch.
So all the loose ends had been gathered
together and tied into a pretty knot.
...right around the
neck of... guess who?
After I left town, I began putting notices in the personal
columns of newspapers from San Francisco to St. Louis.
...until I ran out of money, that is...
So far, I've received no answers.
But I'll keep trying, even though I don't
think I'll ever find Gail Foster again.
Maybe it's just as well...
So that's it: The Book's finished.
...and now you'll have
to judge for yourself.
I must warn you, however...
If you try to verify this account,
you will find it quite impossible.
In Washington, DC, there was no longer a
file listing the suspect under his true name,
...or any of his alleged aliases.
In Las Vegas, all those involved
have either left town, aren't talking,
...or are dead.
I haven't had a decent night's
sleep since all this happened.
...and now you might
find it difficult too.
Because there is still one
fact that cannot be buried:
After the death of Janos Skorzeny,
...he, and all of his victims
were immediately cremated.
WHY?
Remember the legend?
"All those who die from
the bite of the vampire...
...will return as a vampire,
unless destroyed first."
So think about it, and try to tell
yourself, where ever you may be,
In the quiet of your home,
in the safety of your bed,
Try to tell yourself: "It
couldn't happen here."