THE NIGHT STALKER (1986)

 

PHENOMENALITY: *marvelous*
MYTHICITY: *poor*
FRYEAN MYTHOS: *drama*
CAMPBELLIAN FUNCTION: *metaphysical, sociological*                                                                                                                              Had the makers of this routine sleaze-flick wanted to choose a title that didn't bite the style of the NIGHT STALKER TV-franchise, they might have called their movie "Maverick Cop vs. Maniac Cop." But although MANIAC COP's Robert Z'dar plays the evil "stalker" of the title, that series didn't start until 1988, and indeed STALKER's main distinction is that it led to the hulking performer being cast as the undead lawman.                                                                                   

    The star of the show, in any case, is Charles Napier in a rare turn as the hero of the story, J.J. Stryker, in almost every way a maverick cop in the "Dirty Harry" tradition: arrogant, anti-social (he's on the outs with the department for drunken binges), and dedicated to bringing back perps dead on arrival. Stryker departs from some maverick cops in that he does have a steady girlfriend, ex-hooker Rene (Michelle Reese), but they quarrel a lot because he's insecure about her past profession. Yet the script isn't interested in their dramatic potential, only in using Rene to give Stryker a personal motive to go after the villain, a serial killer who targets prostitutes. Because Rene keeps in contact with her pro friends, she becomes another target-- though the story is so episodic that Stryker doesn't cross the killer's trail for half the film. That first half is filled with various episodes in Stryker's crimefighting exploits, which serve to kill time but aren't very memorable. Stryker and his partner Charlie butt heads once with Julius, a pimp who brutally forces his whores to endanger themselves to make more money for him.                                     

The titular stalker (Z'dar) is one of the few unusual elements here. Chuck Sommers seems at first a garden-variety psycho, killing hookers so that he can paint their faces for ritualistic purposes. But Sommers' rituals have genuine magical effects. Viewers don't know if the murders really give Sommers immortality, but at the very least he becomes immune to gunfire. Pimp Julius finds this out the hard way as he and his henchmen try to take down the Stalker and he slaughters them all, ignoring their bullets (another presentiment of the MANIAC COP series). Sommers also kills Charlie and abducts Rene, so Stryker ignores departmental procedure to take down the fiend. The climax, which isn't as violent as I remembered, has Stryker and other cops bombard Sommers with small-arms gunfire, which he laughs off. Then for no clear reason the killer is apparently defeated when Stryker launches an explosive flare (?) and causes Sommers to fall into a smelting-vat. Before the credits roll, there's a quick suggestion that the Stalker may have survived, but patently there were no further adventures of the monstrous killer or his opponent. Apart from STALKER's role in giving Robert Z'dar his most celebrated role, the flick is mainly notable for the curiosity values of a maverick cop combatting a supernatural being and of seeing Charles Napier in a lead role. The director and the two credited writers mostly produced amiable junk with not much historical value, except that co-writer Don Edmonds gained some fame by directing the first two Nazi-sploitation "Ilsa the She Wolf" movies.