So is the tongue-in-cheek of Darren McGavin in this Sensational 1970's TV Thriller that spawned a sequel and a brief TV series. I remember watching the series as a kid, and remember being disappointed that it only lasted a short time. However, in seeing the TV movies years later, I can understand why McGavin decided to call it a day when the TV series became simply too camp to be taken seriously. It was if "Dark Shadows" had taken over the streets of the modern big city, with every kind of creature of the night possible. Like "Dark Shadows", this focuses on a fearsome vampire, and like that classic daytime soap opera, even the same composer (Robert Cobert).
A string of bloody murders are befuddling the Las Vegas police department, giving indication of something evil, possibly supernatural and maybe even undead. The killings themselves are truly gruesome, and once you see the culprit, you might wonder too if vampires still roam the earth. McGavin is delightfully subtle in the tongue in cheek way he delivers his dialog, surrounded by such familiar faces as Simon Oakland, Claude Akins and Carol Lynley. The Vegas officials don't want the rumors of possible vampirism spreading around and scaring the tourist trade away. But when a victim is unable to prevent her horrid death with the protection of a fierce doberman, the truth is going to get out. This never lets up, flying by in just 75 minutes. I can see why it was the most popular TV movie up to that time because it's simply no nonsense good fun that more than 40 years later still holds up.
A string of bloody murders are befuddling the Las Vegas police department, giving indication of something evil, possibly supernatural and maybe even undead. The killings themselves are truly gruesome, and once you see the culprit, you might wonder too if vampires still roam the earth. McGavin is delightfully subtle in the tongue in cheek way he delivers his dialog, surrounded by such familiar faces as Simon Oakland, Claude Akins and Carol Lynley. The Vegas officials don't want the rumors of possible vampirism spreading around and scaring the tourist trade away. But when a victim is unable to prevent her horrid death with the protection of a fierce doberman, the truth is going to get out. This never lets up, flying by in just 75 minutes. I can see why it was the most popular TV movie up to that time because it's simply no nonsense good fun that more than 40 years later still holds up.