Netflix’s new limited series Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer is not viewing for the faint-hearted. That probably goes without saying, as if you know even a little bit about the content that the series covers – the discovery and subsequent capture of notorious serial killer Richard Ramirez, dubbed by the media as the Night Stalker – you know that things are going to be pretty disturbing.
Now, I already knew quite a bit about the Night Stalker as I’m a fan of true crime podcasts and documentaries. However, what I found most interesting is that unlike those podcasts and documentaries, this one focuses very little on the villainous Ramirez himself, and instead chooses to shine a spotlight on the two heroic detectives that put all of the pieces of the puzzle together and tracked him down. It’s a story that doesn’t always get the same amount of focus as Ramirez himself, with most true crime documentaries based more upon on the murders and the reasons behind them. I liked the fact that Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer does something different.
Using a combination of interview footage, re-enactments, and archival footage and photographs, Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer is split into four episodes averaging around fifty-ish minutes each. The first three episodes focus on how Gil Carillo and Frank Salerno were slowly able to piece together enough clues from each of Ramirez’s crimes to uncover his identity, and the fourth episode focusses on his capture and some details of his trial. At first I thought it would have been good if the documentary had included details about what happened to Ramirez after he was caught, such as how he was somehow able to get married, but in hindsight I’m glad the filmmakers didn’t do that, as it would turn the focus of the documentary onto him, and away from the detectives. After all, it is called The Hunt for a Serial Killer, so it makes sense that it should focus primarily on that hunt.
Each episode does a very good job of fleshing out exactly what happened as Carillo and Salerno were working on the case. Both men are very open and honest about their roles in the investigation, and along with the archival footage and re-enactments, their story is easy to follow. It all makes for fascinating viewing – I was so hooked I binged it all in one sitting. There are so many times when the detectives nearly caught Ramirez, and those near-misses will have you swearing at the screen at the incompetence of some of the other people who worked on the case.
Another thing that really stands out in this series is just how much of an impact this case had on people’s personal lives, Carillo especially. Interviews from both him and his wife Pearl reveal that he was working pretty much non-stop every day and never saw his family. The murders became so intense that Pearl actually left with their children to go somewhere safer and refused to return until the elusive killer had been caught. Again, so much of the focus of this story is usually on the murders and the murderer, and not on how having to track down someone like this can have a destructive effect on the person or people having to do so.
The documentary is stylishly made, too. The re-enactments I mentioned are not your typical corny true crime re-enactments, where someone in a bad wig pretends to fall down after being hit with a rubber baseball bat; the re-enactments in Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer are more like something you would find in a short film – a yellow car drives alone through a lit-up city at night, a close-up of blood being washed off of a knife, a blurred figure pointing a gun in slow-motion. A filmmaker’s care and attention went into making this series, and it really elevates it above other, more schlocky efforts in the genre.
That said, sometimes the series does lean a liiiiiittle too much into trying to make itself seem spooky, with things like quick cuts to photographs of murder victims accompanied with a swelling score, or footage flipped upside down to symbolize the dark underbelly of LA. I didn’t mind this too much – it honestly just comes with the territory – but the story of the Night Stalker is scary enough without the filmmakers needing to add in any cheap effects.
Overall, I certainly think you should watch this series. Even if you already know about the case of Richard Ramirez, Night Stalker: Hunt for a Serial Killer will probably still teach you something new. On the other hand, if you don’t know who the Night Stalker was, this documentary will give you everything you need to know about the case in a respectful, accurate way. It’s certainly compelling viewing, even if it is scary as hell.
BEST BITS
- The series presents the Night Stalker case in a new and interesting way.
- The series contains a wealth of interesting interviews.
WORST BITS
- Some of the attempts to “spookify” the series were annoying.
FINAL RATING: 9/10
More like this: Should You Watch Suspiria (1977)?
