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- Netflix
- Jan 13, 2021
- Netflix
- Jan 13, 2021
Summary The four-part documentary series about serial killer Richard Ramirez, who killed people in Los Angeles and San Francisco between June 1984 to August 1985, features archival footage, photos, and interviews with survivors, victim's families, and the detectives who help capture him.
- Netflix
- Jan 13, 2021
- Netflix
- Jan 13, 2021
Season Premiere: Jan 13, 2021
70
7.4
Where to Watch
Summary The four-part documentary series about serial killer Richard Ramirez, who killed people in Los Angeles and San Francisco between June 1984 to August 1985, features archival footage, photos, and interviews with survivors, victim's families, and the detectives who help capture him.
Where to Watch
Season Episodes
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Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 15 Critic Reviews
70
67% Positive
10 Reviews
10 Reviews
33% Mixed
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 15 Critic Reviews
70
67% Positive
10 Reviews
10 Reviews
33% Mixed
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Almost certain to keep you in its grips from the opening sequences to the final images. We are very early in the 2021 viewing season, but it’s difficult to imagine any project in this genre having a more profound impact. This is great television.
Night Stalker makes for a compelling if grisly binge-watch on the level of the streamer's Evil Genius and Killer Inside: The Mind of Aaron Hernandez.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 16 User Ratings
7.4
75% Positive
12 Ratings
12 Ratings
19% Mixed
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
6% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 16 User Ratings
7.4
75% Positive
12 Ratings
12 Ratings
19% Mixed
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
6% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
The “nature of evil” questions that Ramirez inspires often wander into navel-gazing banality, but the human cost of reining in such evil—and the moral accounting—elevates “Night Stalker” from mere police procedural into something far more sophisticated and complicated.
The documentary lives in the construction of the case and the criminal profile — details like an Aviva shoe print or discarded bullet casings or bizarre dental records — and there's a methodical progression that Russell adheres to that I admired.
Recentering an awful story from the perpetrator to the victims and heroes is undeniably valuable, but the production here misses a bit more often than true crime fans would hope. Often feeling tabloid-esque in its craft and failing to dig into some of the bigger issues here like how law enforcement communicates (or doesn't).
Where the series goes horribly, offensively awry is in the lurid packaging of the very solid interviews with the police, journalists, surviving victims, and families. Real crime-scene photos are used throughout the series, a choice that is profoundly upsetting but necessary to illustrate the animalistic horror.
As an analysis of social madness, “Night Stalker,” directed by Tiller Russell, makes some interesting points; those, though, tend to be studded within a project that gives itself away to mania more frequently. Clogged with high-gloss but somewhat ludicrous footage, “Night Stalker” knows it’s about the deaths of innocents only inasmuch as that makes for a riveting story, but it lacks the seriousness of purpose to tell its story well. ... “Night Stalker” seeks to re-create a climate of nasty fear for no ultimate higher purpose than four hours of thrills and chills.
The only shocking thing I found in this documentary is the fact that serial killer Richard Ramirez had a fan-base. Yeah because nothing says sexy in a guy then a nocturnal, murdering, pedophile with poor hygiene and horrendous teeth.
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SEASON 1
While Night Stalker is incredibly effective at setting a creepy atmosphere that will keep you entertained for 4 hours it ultimately leaves all the truly interesting questions about this singularly disturbing story unanswered. How did Richard Ramirez end up not only as a murderer but also a pedophile and complete sadist? Why was law enforcement so incompetent and why did politicians and media seek to undercut their work at every turn? Did nonsense about Satanism in popular culture and the media's sensational reporting motivate him to kill? By the conclusion of this series not only has a stance not been taken on these issues, little thought at all has been given to them.
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SEASON 1