Manhunt: Search for the Night Stalker (DVD)

Finally, this dusty 1989 TV movie makes it to DVD — it’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for, right? …It’s not? Well, you’re smarter than you look. Unfortunately for me, I had no choice but to watch it, and now I have to write about it too.

There have been lots of good TV movies about serial killers — the well-known ones depicting the crimes and cases of Ted Bundy and Charles Manson come to mind, as does the recent treatise on the Green River Killer and not-too-bad movie of the week about the BTK killings in Wichita. On the subject matter alone, these movies don’t usually fail to entertain in some way. Manhunt: Search for the Night Stalker does not, however, entertain in any way.

Routine in every aspect, this movie is so by-the-numbers it should have come with a complimentary paintbrush. The movie starts off by introducing us to the police protagonists — more like super-cops, they get into a brawl at Pink’s hotdog stand and kick ass like martial arts stars (and have about the same acting ability).

Not only is the acting appalling but the soundtrack, the cinematography and the attention to detail is muddy at best. What made the real Night Stalker, Richard Ramirez, so scary at the time was his absolute stealth… in this movie he’s slamming car doors, clicking a flashlight on and off, and breathing louder than a terminal case on a ventilator.

From the trite dialogue, to the contrived plot, to the horrible continuity errors, to the bloodless murder scenes… Manhunt: Search for the Night Stalker is a movie best left unwatched and forgotten.

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Reviewed by Staci Layne Wilson