Nightstalker (2002)
By: Devon Bertsch on October 7, 2006.
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| Sony (USA). Region 1, NTSC. 1.78:1 (16:9 enhanced). English DD 5.1, English DD 2.0, French DD 2.0 English, Spanish, French Subtitles. 97 minutes |
| The Movie |
| Cover Art |
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| Credits |
Director: Chris Fisher Starring: Roselyn Sanchez, Bret Roberts, Derek Hamilton, Evan Dexter Parke, Danny Trejo Screenplay: Chris Fisher
Country: USA |
Richard Ramirez is the one serial killer that
freaked me out. Others may have been crazier, others
may have killed more people, others may even have
done more disturbing things, but Ramirez gets under
my skin like rabid scabies. It would stand to reason
then that a good movie based on Ramirez would put Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer to shame. While Nightstalker is
not entirely incompetent, the only thing it puts
to shame is me for having rented it.
Nightstalker is kind of about
Ramirez, but most of it focuses on a fictional,
female cop (Roselyn Sanchez, the Latino answer
to Sandra Bullock) tracking him. She attempts
to figure out Ramirez's identity while also
proving herself to the rest of the homicide department
she recently transferred to. She's presented
like she's supposed to be a good cop, but
when there's a lead on Ramirez's immediate
whereabouts, she decides to be "compassionate"
to the recently knifed victim and not interrogate
her immediately. Because the movie focuses on
banal crap often found in police movies, it is
unfortunately dragged into the realm of routine,
leaving Nightstalker a bit slow
and overlong.
The film features many almost competent performances
by thespians trying to bring the 2D (if that)
characters to life. It's always good to
see that cool MexiCAN, Danny Trejo, but even he
can't elevate the commonplace feel of Nightstalker.
Not that everything is boring in the film. The
stuff around Ramirez is actually pretty well done.
Representing him with quick cuts; jerky movements;
and sped up, frantic, jolting imagery, when there's
actually nightstalking going on, the movie's
got style. The scenes play somewhat like an extended
Marilyn Manson video, and I really like the representation
of Ramirez's disjointed personality, best
visualized in a section with Ramirez walking up
to a house and flashing about different areas
of the screen. Tagging along with Ramirez is a
creepy demon that's visible in mirrors,
which also provides some nice imagery, especially
in the scene where it abandons Ramirez. Ultimately,
the film probably owes a lot of its fractured
representation to the superior Schramm,
and the only bit that involved Ramirez that was
well done AND original was a front porch assault
after some would-be victims try to leave their
house. The last worthwhile element (aside from
Trejo and Ramirez's visuals) is the linking
of stalker-like behaviour to other people around
Sanchez, with various people displaying the sped
up ferocity of Ramirez's insanity. End result
after all of these things? Ten minutes of good
footage.
Despite the good visual representation of Ramirez,
I don't think this movie should've
used him. There've been complaints that
basing an entirely fictional cop drama around
Ramirez exploits his real life victims, and I'd
agree with that. There's no real reason
that this killer needed to be Ramirez; any cranked
up home invader would work. There's virtually
no connection to fact, so the whole use of Ramirez
seems like nothing more than a cheap attempt to
play off an established fear. |
| Video |
| The DVD presents the film at approximately 1.78:1
in a 16x9-enhanced print. The transfer is okay,
but not great. Images can be too dark, sometimes
even to the point of not being able to tell what
is actually happening. A few minor specks appear,
but otherwise the print is pretty clean. |
| Audio |
| The audio is presented in English in Dolby Digital
5.1, 2.0, and in French in Dolby Digital 2.0. The
5.1 audio track is certainly used to enhance the
scenes involving Ramirez, with swirling demonic
phrases and heavy metal pounding. But the scenes
not involving Ramirez and his demons are often little
different than the 2.0 mix. |
| Extra Features |
| The DVD includes the trailer, some uninteresting
deleted scenes with very rough sound mix, and
a commentary. The commentary track features director/writer
Chris Fisher, the cinematographer, and the editor.
It's not a bad track, and does provide some
factual details about Ramirez. Fisher explains
that Ramirez was like a REAL boogeyman for him
during his youth, a very creepy threat. Other
interesting things include illustrations of Jaws as an influence, and more insight into the demon's
activities. There's some joking, but none
of it is particularly funny. While describing
Ramirez's Satanism, though, the commentators
seem a bit confused about what Satanism actually
is. Perhaps they are speaking of Ramirez's
perception of Satanism, but the ideas they present
are a far cry from the glorified atheism truly
found in The Church of Satan. Additional trailers
are available for Identity, Spider,
and Double Vision. |
| The Verdict |
| Worth watching for some of the imagery, but you'd
be best off skipping over any section involving
the police without Ramirez. Focusing on the cops
makes the narrative boring and is disrespectful
to those whose lives Ramirez disrupted, so it was
a really bad move. |
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