10 Made-For-Television Movies That Are Actually Worth Your Time

2. The Night Stalker (1972)

This is another of those movies that has to be included on every list of great TV movies. After all, Stephen King once called it one of the scariest TV movies ever produced. The movie isn't scary by today's standards, but it still stands up as a great mystery. The film also contains some of the greatest acting in the history of television, courtesy of Darren McGavin. The movie revolves around Carl Kolchak (Darren McGavin), a reporter in the classic "hard-boiled detective" tradition. Kolchak's trailing a murderer that turns out to be a vampire. Kolchak eventually uncovers the story, and the vampire (Barry Atwater, turning in the only bad performance in the film) isn't happy about it. Kolchak fights the vampire, but he gets more trouble from the police department, who want to keep the story under wraps, than the monster. The Night Stalker couldn't help but be good; that becomes obvious when you watch the opening credits. The teleplay was written by Richard Matheson (of I Am Legend fame), who does an amazing job adapting Jeff Rice's source novel. The roles are filled with amazing character actors, who almost all do a good job (especially McGavin, who nails the tough-guy reporter archetype perfectly). The result is a wonderful mystery with supernatural tones. It even has a nice subplot about police corruption to give some added flavor.