BLOOD STALKERS (aka THE NIGHT DANIEL DIED, 1976)

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Directed/Written by Robert W. Morgan.
Check out the trailer here!!

A quartet of hip campers head to a cabin in Florida everglades. After settling in, they are terrorized by something mysterious in the woods the locals call Blood Stalkers. Is it a pack of Bigfoots or inbred hillbillies or both or neither? Hint: it’s one of those.

BLOOD STALKERS aka THE NIGHT DANIEL DIED is a movie that gets better and better the longer you watch. Released in the late seventies; it has all the earmarks of a grindhouser of that era. Bouncy hep gals. Guys too old to be walking around with their shirt off going around with their shirt off. City folk venturing into the country and not being accepted by country folk, like the producers saw DELIVERANCE and said, “Do that!” Actual religion being shown in movies. Wispy hair. Bell bottoms. Suggestions of a couple swap. This one’s got it all. But despite having all of these things, it also stands out as a genuinely scary and truly interesting story with layers and surprises.

One of the best things about BLOOD STALKERS is the ongoing mystery of what is exactly stalking them. The longer it goes, the more it seems evident that it is Bigfoot. There are screeches in the woods that take the campers and the viewer by surprise. There’s a specific scene where something walks into the water while one couple is swimming, that is something out of a nightmare. A scene right out of BOGGY CREEK where a hairy arm grabs someone through a window. And a scene in the cabin where the monster’s face emerges from the darkness that I found utterly disturbing. These scenes are not only representative of the elusive Bigfoot, but genuinely scary to boot.

Without revealing too much, there is a twist at the end that is more reminiscent of SHRIEK OF THE MUTILATED than any other Bigfooter. If you’ve seen that golden oldie Bigfoot flick, then you might have some idea about the final twist of BLOOD STALKERS. The mystery goes on until the end, even after the cabin attack. It’s a powerful statement about the resentment country folk feel towards city folk and that their own survival is more important than outsiders. The point is driven home when one of the campers goes to a Baptist church, which refuses to help him.

There is also a very cool way BLOOD STALKERS handles sound worth noting. There are scenes where people are talking, but the camera focuses on scenery or specific objects. It establishes the environment where the action takes in while providing important discourse on the story. On the flip side, there is a cool scene where two actors are talking, you know what they are saying to one another, but there is no sound to the dialog and instead a church revival sings loudly. This was one of the more artful scenes of BLOOD STALKERS, another indication that this movie is much better than the drive-in schlock the title and opening moments would suggest.
I’m going to give BLOOD STALKERS four mighty feets.

The film isn’t necessarily about a Bigfoot, but it still falls into that category. Strangely, this film was also known as THE NIGHT DANIEL DIED, which is odd simply because Daniel is a smaller character and not the star of the film. It’d be like calling Friday the 13th, The Night Kevin Bacon Died. Still, this is a fun one. Imagine if Rambo and three of his friends go camping and run into Bigfoot and some hillbillies. There is just something special about this one. It’s scary, super gory. moody, artsy, and makes you think. You don’t usually get two of those in Bigfootin movies, so be sure to seek out BLOOD STALKERS.