THE NIGHT STALKER
THE NIGHT STALKER takes on the legacy of Richard Ramirez, who terrified Los Angeles with a spree of violence that lasted for over a year in the 1980s, before finally ending with his arrest and conviction on multiple counts of assault and murder. The story opens in 2013, just days before Ramirez succumbed to lymphoma and died in prison, still awaiting appeals on his death sentence. The film follows Kit (Bellamy Young), an attorney who has been assigned to procure a confession from Ramirez in another murder case, one for which an innocent man has been wrongfully convicted. The evidence of Ramirez’ guilt is quite compelling. Her goal is to meet with him, win his trust and convince him to confess to the crime before the innocent man is executed days later.
It’s a Hail Mary attempt, to be sure. Not only because of the short period of time, but because Ramirez is notorious for playing mind games and really doesn’t have much in the way of motivation to be forthcoming with this information, or to trust Kit. As she meets with him, he employs all manner of barriers to keep her on edge and to keep himself in control of the conversation - suggestion, innuendo, veiled threats and runaround answers all weigh down the conversation and make Kit’s job all the more difficult. She needs the information, but she has to get it on his terms. Which means playing his games.
As she tries to dive into the mind of a madman and make a connection with Ramirez, we cut back and forth between her efforts in the present and her life as a teenager in Los Angeles the summer the Night Stalker was terrorizing the city. Dealing with a working, unavailable mother, her mother’s new (and often unwanted) boyfriend, and her own budding independence, Kit developed a fascination with Ramirez early on that went on to inform much of her life and career. We see just how his killings and the boogeyman he presented to the city affected her during a very turbulent time in her life, which all culminates in a very powerful scene late in the film.
The film is an emotionally complex and often tense thriller that makes great use of its amazing cast. Phillips is incredible in the role of Ramirez, capturing his intensity and his unsettling confidence in a way that makes him intriguing, yet incredibly frightening. Though he is restrained during every one of their meetings, Phillips conveys a predatory edge that makes us fear for the safety of Kit (and ourselves, for that matter). Though confined to a chair, his words and manner are threatening, invasive, and above all, violating. It’s the kind of role you can’t turn away from, yet by watching, you feel as if you are letting an unhinged stranger into your life.
The film really leans in to the predatory nature of Ramirez’s crimes and uses that as the backbone for the tone of the story. Even when Ramirez himself is not onscreen, the entire film has an air of intrusiveness to it. An eye that you can’t turn away from. A constant violation. It is reflected not only in Ramirez, but in the other male characters throughout the story. It’s an interesting subversion of the male gaze. Instead of seeing women as the object, we turn the perspective and see the person looking, finding ourselves the target of his glance.
Megan Griffiths’ direction and script elegantly balance the various and more complex aspects of this story. Particularly in the way Kit sees Ramirez as being, at times, somewhat alluring, both in the present and in the past, without ever glamorizing him or the things that he did. He is always presented as a dangerous individual, capable of the most horrific acts, but it is that danger itself that Kit finds herself fascinated by. But never is Ramirez painted as a misunderstood outcast. Never is he given a bad rap. Never is he the villain with a heart of gold. This story does a great job at dancing around that trope, and instead, offering something far more sinister. He is a monster, through and through, and it is within that monstrous nature that we find our story.
Though the initial set up may feel more than a bit SILENCE OF THE LAMBS-y, rest assured that THE NIGHT STALKER brings its own story to the table. Its complex story, talented cast and intrusive perspective make it much more than its familiar premise. It breaks the mold and offers something different, intriguing and wildly unnerving.
ALONE
Park Hong-min’s ALONE opens as photographer Su-Min (Lee Ju-won) witnesses a brutal attack on a young woman from the roof of his building. The attackers quickly spot him observing, and despite his efforts, track him down rather quickly and bludgeon him to death with a hammer. He awakens, unscathed and naked, somewhere in the maze-like neighborhood surrounding his building. He slowly shuffles home, unaware that this is just the first of many times he will be discovered and killed by his attackers, only to awaken elsewhere, still alive and with no memory of what happened after the previous death. Su-Min is trapped in a never ending Purgatory. Along his journey, he repeatedly meets people from various points in his past and is forced to relive some of the darker moments that shaped who he is today.
Though built on an interesting concept, Park Hong-min’s film lacks the strength necessary to be little more than an exercise in observing psychological demons. Utilizing extremely long takes, winding staircases, never ending pathways and a more than confusing layout of the setting, the film has the potential to be a claustrophobic nightmare. Instead, it is merely a winding, endless walk that builds no tension at all.
As intriguing as the mystery surrounding Su-Min’s predicament is, it is nothing if it cannot be properly executed. Any potential tension or suspense that might have existed is deflated completely by the fact that there are no stakes here. No emotional registration. We are confused, yet given nothing to fear. Though the murders Su-min is evading are certainly an aggressive factor, they never feel particularly dangerous or like something to be avoided – they are simply part of the landscape, much like the many surrounding buildings and passageways.
As the story progresses, we being to see Su-Min confronting and dealing with moments in his past that he has previously denied. Sadly, none of these moments carry enough emotional weight to really make an impact on the audience. We are not invested enough in the characters to feel any sort of catharsis as these events are faced and overcome. Instead, we are subjected to extremely slow, long scenes that don’t amount to nearly as much as they hope to build up to.
Simply put, the film has no teeth; nothing to strike the audience or to keep us engaged. Though it feels as though Su-min is trapped, he doesn’t seem to be particularly threatened; not even by himself, as shadows of his past being to manifest themselves again and again. He isn’t even haunted by his own thoughts. Though billed as a psychological thriller (it fails miserably in this regard), it doesn’t even really function as an engaging drama, because it makes no attempt to bring the audience in to the story. Painfully long takes and dialogue that never ends keep us from enjoying the story or really becoming engaged with Su-Min’s strange predicament. In the end, we wind up feeling as lost as he does.
