Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer

There seems to be low rated reviews on here as it didn't contain enough information about Ramirez himself. What needs to be realised is that that is not what this documentary is. It is not a biography of Ramirez himself but a narration of how the detectives caught him. If you want a documentary on Ramirez there are plenty out there. There are books and movies as well. As someone who has seen a lot of them I wasn't interested in another retelling of his life. I personally found it refreshing to see how the detectives went about piecing it all together and eventually catching him. Well worth a watch.

I was but a kid in California when the Night Stalker was victimizing this state. Richard Ramirez aka the Walk-In Killer aka the Night Stalker terrorized southern California from 1984 to 1985. We were shook. We would double and triple check locks and sleep lightly. We would hear of women placing glass bottles on their floors near windows as an alarm system. It was scary. This documentary reminded me of that time and those fears.

I read the book "The Night Stalker" by Philip Carlo not too long ago and this documentary has all of the information presented in his book and more. This four-parter is mostly in the words of the two main investigators: Frank Salerno and Gil Carillo. They essentially give a play-by-play of their investigation from the first murders to Ramirez's capture. There are a lot of crime photos and various news footage that really enunciate the angst of that time.

A great doc on the LA Night Stalker. I appreciate the decision to keep the focus on the detectives and victims rather than the killer. The story had good flow and an even mix of archival footage and interviews. The cinematography was vivid and paired well with the music to hold attention throughout.

Brought me right back to that miserably hot summer with all the doors and windows locked tight in my parents' house in Rowland Heights. Lt. Richard Walls of the Sheriff's Information Bureau, seen about half way through the last episode, was my late brother-in-law. He did a large number of news appearances and interviews, both local and national, during that investigation.

It's interesting to hear the stories of the guys who found this psycho. We take for granted that someone in authority is going to protect us while we sleep in the comfort of our beds. But these guys put themselves and their families at risk for us, so it is totally inappropriate to make unfair comments here about these men.

Hard to watch. Be warned, the series contains very graphic photographs of the victims.