9. The Night Stalker (1972) - TV
Matheson wrote the teleplay for this made for TV movie. It was based on an unpublished novel by Jeff Rice entitled The Kolchak Papers. The story is about Carl Kolchak (played by Darren McGavin) a reporter in Las Vegas that is investigating a number of unusual murders. Soon it becomes clear that these horrific acts are being committed by vampires. The Night Stalker was aired on ABC and became the highest rated TV movie at the time. It did well enough for a sequel which was also written by Matheson entitled The Night Strangler. It was then adapted into a short lived TV series, Kolchak, The Night Stalker, which did not do as well as the films. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAy8v0FMoAM In 2005 ABC produced a remake series Night Stalker, starring Stuart Townsend as Kolchak, which was also short lived. Many TV historians consider The Night Stalker to be the greatest made for TV horror movie of all time.