Charlie's Angels (TV Series) Night of the Strangler (1976) User Reviews

Good whodunit episode - Agatha Christie would be proud

[gridoon2024 · 7/10 · 8 October 2012]

This is one for the mystery fans. "Night Of The Strangler" uses elements from classic Agatha Christie stories such as "The Alphabet Murders", but puts an extra spin on them. The resolution is clever and unexpected. The rag doll used as a weapon may seem like a bizarre gimmick at first, but it actually fits in well with the deliberate misdirection of "the sex criminal" angle. The one jarring scene in this episode is an assault on Sabrina by a single man that she only manages to escape due to Kelly's intervention, but she redeems herself at the end, by setting one guy on fire and delivering a powerful punch to another! *** out of 4.

Cluttered script fails to flesh out the large cast of characters...but the girls look great

[moonspinner55 · 7/10 · 21 February 2009]

An ambitious episode of the detective series which might have been better as a two-hour special, or a TV-movie; there simply isn't time on the clock to do justice to all these ideas. The Angels investigate a fashion agency after a beautiful model (a "dead ringer" for Kelly) is found strangled with a rag doll (seems she was just coming out of the shower, so why was she wearing a smashed diamond watch on her wrist?). Among the suspects: a fey photographer who comes off like a bitchy gay (but who is revealed to be a kinky straight!), a Dutch designer who bristles at any sexual innuendo, a leather-jacket wearing toughie who does nothing but hang around, the director of the company (who was having an affair with the dead model) and his estranged wife, herself a fashion star. Jill and Kelly pose as models, Sabrina cons her way into a job as a stylist, but more girls are attacked--as well as one male in a sour, unfair plot thump. Some tasty exchanges (and Jaclyn Smith in a stunning white bikini, covered for no reason by a light wrap) make this an enjoyable installment, even if the writers can't quite cover all their tracks (how can the killer possibly hope to pass off one murder as a suicide? and why does Kelly attempt to stop the fleeing strangler by standing in front of his speeding van, waving her arms?). Kate Jackson has a funny encounter with the photog (who nearly defiles her!), while Farrah Fawcett-Majors does an outstanding job in her little bits and pieces with Alex Henteloff as Heinz. Henteloff does something amazing with this seemingly throwaway role: he creates a three-dimensional character out of just four or five scenes (without many lines) and we instantly connect with his lonely heart (he does masterful work, aided by La Fawcett). Bosley does the usual paperwork back at the office, while the girls settle on a theory--and, as usual, their assessments are right on the money.

Bert! Bert!!

[robrosenberger · 6/10 · 13 September 2010]

Guest star Richard Mulligan was warming up for SOAP the following season. Sadly, he's a little vanilla here, but it's sweet vanilla nonetheless. By this episode, one starts to develop an admiration for costumers Joanne Haas and Ray Phelps. They did impressive breast work. How they showed so much without showing it all, was quite a trick, and probably required an extra take here and there. One of Jill's white blouses is fairly see-through, and the redness of her nipples.......i'm sorry, what were we talking about? Oh, and the campiness gets a ratcheting. In the climax battle, in a fully lit room, Bert is tricked into firing at a mannequin. Plausible, until he proceeds to unload his entire clip into it. Meanwhile, Jill takes out the other baddie with an inflatable toy.

"If he had been Robert Redford, I might have said 'defile away'."

[bensonmum2 · 6/10 · 19 February 2010]

The Angels go undercover in the world of fashion to ferret out a murderer known as the "Rag Doll Strangler". It may sound like pretty standard stuff for a Charlie's Angels episode, but for some reason, it doesn't work as well for me as most. It's okay – just nowhere near my favorite episode of the first season. This may be a lame explanation for my opinions on Night of the Strangler, but it's just not as much "fun" as many of the other episodes. It's one of the darker, more serious episodes you'll run across. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but I watch Charlie's Angels for the fluff. Another thing that bothers me about Night of the Strangler is the killer's choice of weapons – a rag doll. How stupid is that? Using a rag doll looks like it would make a very awkward means of murder. And how hard must it have been to hide something so obvious and obtrusive as a rag doll? It's not as if a rag doll would be a common thing for a grown man to have in his possession. I'd have thought the police could have wrapped this one up in record time. Finally, I don't care for the casting of Richard Mulligan. He's an okay sort of actor, but I can't see him in the role of suspect to murder – at least unless it's all being played for laughs. Having said all that, I'm still rating this episode a 6/10. It's well made, features some real suspenseful moments, and, as always, the Angels are on hand to make it at least worth checking out.

As I re-watched Night of the Strangler last night, something occurred to me. I'm a huge fan of the Italian Gialli films so popular in the late 60s and early 70s. Night of the Strangler plays much like a Giallo. Many of the distinctive elements you'll find in those films are present in this episode – a twisted plot, suspects galore, red herrings at every corner, sexual perversions, a mysterious black-gloved killer, beautiful women, and unusual deaths. I wouldn't be overly surprised to learn that writers of Night of the Strangler had seen a few Gialli themselves.