Perseguidor noturno

Lou Diamond Phillips gives a Brilliant and mesmerizing performance as Ramirez "The Night Stalker". It's a wonderfully sustained characterization, and deserves probably more attention that it will get. In truth it's an award winning performance and should be remembered at the time Emmy's are distributed. Unfortunately the female role is nowhere near as interesting. Whether this is a fault of the writer, director or the actress, she just seems so much less interesting than Phillips.

But Phillip's performance is so good, h never stoops to the obvious and makes no effort to ingratiate himself or the part he's playing. I have never been a particular fan of his, but no I will pay more attention.

Lou Diamond Phillips stellar performance as the serial killer Richard Ramirez was simply wasted playing opposite actress Bellamy Young who plays a fictional lawyer named Kit (Katherine) whose own life was supposedly haunted by the real Richard Ramirez's 1980's killing spree as the infamous Night Stalker as she lived in the California area.

Yes, the majority of incidents described as happening in Richard Ramirez's teens and the film's killings outlined in this fictional biopic actually occurred and are attributed to Richard Ramirez's murderous spree. However, this film focuses on Ramirez's time in captivity and his interactions with the female lawyer Kit, who meets with Ramirez over four (4) consecutive days in an attempt to record a confession for a double murder that another man will be executed for committing if Ramirez will not admit to being the actual perpetrator.

The fictional drama occurs as Kit is reliving her own teen years while the Night Stalker is all over the news during his late evening robbery, rape and vicious murder spree. Kit has her own demons to live with and the interview scenes between Kit and the shackled Richard Ramirez (Lou Diamond Phillips) are worth watching the film if for nothing else.

I hope the now 56 year old Lou Diamond Phillips is provided an opportunity to star in a few dramatic major motion pictures based on this outstanding role as the Night Stalker, because he has certainly paid his dues carrying more than one film on his own broad shoulders and raising the bar on his fellow actors/actresses to follow his lead. "Lead" being the key word.

I rate The Night Stalker a high 7 out of 10 on Lou Diamond Phillip's outstanding performance.

I'm going to agree with most of the written reviews here, and go against the overall score this movie got. I am usually very critical of TV movies, but this one was as good, or better, than most feature films.

I thought the acting was first-rate, and the direction was excellent, too. The movie had an aura of danger and suspense about it that most thrillers do not. Of course, that was aided by the foreboding music that lay beneath many of the scenes. But that's OK.

It also helped that the hero, if you want to call her that, was nearly as damaged as the bad guy. She had her own demons, and acted out in ways harmful to herself as a result of them. You don't often see that in these movies; usually the good guy is, well, good, and not nearly defined in depth as the one here was.

This was a good psychological thriller, with both main characters exhibiting deep flaws that are examined nicely.

I know the basic story of the Night Stalker was accurate; I don't know if the plot of the movie was, though. But still, it is very good.

My only complaint is regarding the credits, and has nothing to do with the movie itself. Here on IMDB Annalisa Cochrane as "Mary" gets top billing. That makes no sense; she is only in the movie for one brief scene. She isn't even close to being a main character. So why put her at the top of the cast credit?

Writing & Directing sounds fun, but you control too much. You are blind to your own weaknesses without checks. This is why it takes a team to make a film.

Story is definitely dark, & the tone is appropriately dark.

However, much of the film is so dark it's not watchable. Pivotal scenes. I changed the settings on my very good TV to brighten up as much as possible. Didn't help enough. No idea what was happening in a few scenes.

Well told true story with a couple twists & turns. But there's too much dialogue in light scenes, & too much action in dark scenes.

One ominous note underscores nonstop from start to end.

Lou Diamond Phillips delivers as usual. Good performances, just a bit overshadowed by bad production decisions.

It's like someone wrote a fanfiction based on Silence of the Lambs using Richard Ramirez as the bad guy. Clarise has demons in her past which affect her adult life; same with Kit in this movie. Kit's demons are somehow tied up with Ramirez's brutal murder spree. Like the fictional Hannibal Lechter, this fictional Ramirez senses that. I doubt the real Ramirez would have cared enough. That said, Lou Diamond Phillips was incredible in the role and the movie was mildly entertaining when it didn't make me roll my eyes. I wasn't surprised the movie was associated with Lifetime, though. Rating - 6/10.