Richard Ramirez was a loser.

That may seem like an obvious statement but I think it’s important to sometimes reiterate these things.  That’s especially true with someone like Richard Ramirez.  Ramirez murdered at least 15 people in California in 1984 and 1985 and, to this day, no one is sure why.  The press gave Ramirez a cool nickname, christening him “The Night Stalker.”  When he was captured, the press covered his claims of being a Satanist.  Because he was a dark-haired bad boy with intense eyes, a large number of true crime groupies attended his trial and later claimed to be in love with him.  (That will always be strange to me as Ramirez was also described as having rotten teeth and rancid breath.  That would be a definite turn-off for me.  Well, that and all of the raping and murdering.)  Even when he was sent to Death Row, Ramirez’s admirers continued to send him money and gifts in the mail.  For a select group of people, he was an icon.

That’s why I think it’s important to make a few things clear about Richard Ramirez.

He was a drug addict who reportedly struggled with impotence.

He was barely literate.

He specifically targeted women and the elderly because he knew he could overpower them.

He was captured because he was too much of a dumbass to realize that his picture was in every newspaper.  He ended up getting his ass kicked by several angry citizens and he probably would have been killed by them if the police hadn’t shown up.

He was a Satanist, which is one of most boring things that you can be.

He said “See you in Disneyland,” after he was sentenced to death.  He could have just gone to Disneyland on his own without killing people beforehand.

He had terrible personal hygiene.  The long dark hair?  There’s no way it wasn’t full of lice.

When he died, no one claimed his body so the prison just set him on fire and today, they probably use his ashes to help soak up spills.

In short, the dude was a loser and certainly not worthy of being played by Lou Diamond Phillips.

1989’s Manhunt: The Search For The Night Stalker deals with the search for the Night Stalker while not making the mistake of glamorizing him.  We see Ramirez’s crimes but the film doesn’t waste much time trying to figure out what makes Ramirez tick.  Instead, Ramirez remains a shadow of evil, descending on Los Angeles and reminding us all the lock our doors.  The emphasis is instead on the two detectives (Richard Jordan and A Martinez) who are investigating the crimes and the journalists who often sensationalized the murders but who also played an important role in getting the uncaptured Ramirez’s face in front of everyone in California.  The film itself delves into all of the true crime made-for-TV movie cliches but Jordan and Martinez both give good performances, the film does a good job of capturing the paranoia of a city under siege, and, most importantly, the film reminds us that Richard Ramirez was, above all else, a total and complete loser.