Nightstalker

This movie was rented because I was interested to learn about the L.A. serial killer Robert Ramirez. Instead I suffered a terrible brain-busting headache. The movie was poorly made. It was more like a music video rather than a movie.

Every couple of minutes, the shots would flood with hundreds of images and

speed metal making the viewer confused and annoyed. I watched about ten

minutes of this movie before I stopped it. There was no way in hell a movie with a speed metal soundtrack is worthy of my time.

Nightstalker is a waste of time and money. For starters, it's not even about Richard Ramirez. The main character of the film is a female detective on the hunt for the nightstalker. The other killer films Dahmer, Ted Bundy, Gacy, etc., all have their fair share of fictionalized events but Nightstalker is the most inaccurate of them all. The film dosn't even get his capture right. Instead of getting beat down by an angry mob, which is what really happened, he is arrested by the fictional detective after a shootout. Also, maybe I'm blind but the actor who played Ramirez looked to be white, not hispanic. Dahmer and Ted Bundy, despite their own flaws, are far superior to this piece of trash.

First, its nice to see a horror film that ably represents the Puerto Rican community. What a shame its so terrible. Far more funny than frightening, the killer seems to be a deranged My Chemical Romance fan who has violent delusions that he is Satan. He only murders females, and he likes a bit'o necrophilia after the event. YUCK. The black cop in charge brings in an ethnic gal in on the investigation to combat claims the department isn't 'inclusive' enough, but this little lady doesn't take any crap and refuses to be sidelined. But what will she do when the long-haired goth wannabe targets her? DUN DUN DUNNNNN..

Advice to the director: shaking the camera up and down and putting a rubbish black metal song on in the background does not make a movie scary. Rather, the killer's manic fits and hallucinations that he sees the devil are portrayed so OTT you're be rolling on the floor laughing rather than cowering behind a cushion. You also get the usual clichés of the heroine's elderly partner and mentor in the force being killed, and even the compulsory scene of her having to hand over her gun and badge after messing up. The rampant unoriginality could be forgiven if the rest of the film were up to scratch, but alas it's so boring you'll be itching to turn off the disc and stare at TV static for 90 minutes.

Not recommended, but the disc makes a nice coaster!! *Sips hot beverage* 2/10

Nightstalker is one of those movies that could have been so much more. Fangoria called it "a first-rate house of horrors" and it was an official Sundance selection. I guess I missed something. The first ten minutes of the film is nothing but rapid, frenzied "crack montages" shot over speed metal. It's cool, but it's too much. Every time we spend screen time with the killer, it's in this fashion. You see these so much that you become dulled to them and it just becomes headache inducing. The style is almost too chaotic. At the same time, it's the only thing I will remember about the movie. One scene in particular that I did like was when the Nightstalker is walking up to a house and it's accompanied by a very cool effect. I'm not real sure how they accomplished this. Incidentally, the flick was produced by its co-star Danny Trejo. In the end, it's nothing special and will disappear into the void of the based-on-a-real-killer sub-genre.

This film is absolutely a true pain to watch. Literally!

The other comments have covered all the problems with this movie already, so I will just agree with them. But, it is the painful camera work and editing that truly made me look away from the tv. I understand they were setting the mood for the killer's issues and demons, but they should have let it go after the beginning. It hurt my eyes and I found myself getting more and more disinterested in the actual film premise, which is way off, because of the annoying camera.

And Danny Trejo? God, he was horrible in this. I realize he is not normally academy award material, but c'mon, this was so labored and corny.

Al in all, I would avoid this at all costs. 1 out of 10 rating.