Le Traqueur de la nuit: Chasse à l'homme en Californie

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.

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.

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.

The slo-mo blood soaked hammer is a sign of things to come. A lot of the graphics, footage and photos were manufactured, staged or unnecessary. Seems like they were really trying to be auteurs with the presentation when the subjects, the detectives, are better when just left to tell their story. The bar scenes reused for all policemen seemed like they were forcing some aesthetic that didn't need to be done.

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.