The Night Stalker (1987/Empire Pictures DVD)
Picture:
C- Sound: C Extras: D Film: D
Not to be
confused with the classic Darren McGavin/John Moxey/Richard Matheson/Jeff
Rice/Dan Curtis Horror classic of the same name, Max Kleven’s The Night Stalker (1987) is an
ever-lame attempt to rip-off and duplicate the success of Michael Mann’s Manhunter (reviewed elsewhere on this
site) telling the story of a seemingly unstoppable serial killer. In this case, it is an exaggerated version of
the terror Richard Ramirez caused in Los Angeles on his killing spree.
It was
never good, has aged very badly, its sources of rip-off obvious and has rightly
been out of print for a while. Charles
Napier (who is later one of the guards killed in Silence Of The Lambs when Lecter escapes) is the cop who must stop
him, but he must juggle the seedy side of the city and the killings are getting
more and more bizarre. The John Goff/Don
Edmonds script is weak and actors can only do so much with it and the ploy that
he is somewhat superhuman is laughable.
A curio at best, don’t have your hopes up.
The 1.33
X 1 image is as soft as an old analog transfer can be and was lensed by the
capable Don Burgess, whose work deserves better. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono is flat and very
aged, down a few generations like the image.
A few stills are the only would-be extras.
- Nicholas Sheffo
