Richard Ramirez is one of the most well-known serial killers in history. His violent crime spree — including murders, sexual assaults, child abductions, and home invasions — threw California into a state of panic in the mid-eighties. He was eventually tried and convicted of 13 murders, five attempted murders, 11 sexual assaults, and 14 burglaries, not including his victims who were minors. Pentagrams he drew at his murder scenes added a Satanic edge to his persona, as did his striking looks and faux–deep philosophizing about evil. His trial captivated the nation and he played up a depraved persona to cameras as he even attracted groupies.

Unsurprisingly, Ramirez is now the subject of a new Netflix docuseries: Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer. Director Tiller Russell said he didn’t want his docuseries to “glamorize” the murderer — and, indeed, it doesn’t follow the well-trod ground of humanizing or explaining the killer.

Ramirez remains a spectral presence in the series, appearing mostly through voiceovers. But the documentary doesn’t provide much insight into anything else beyond the crimes, like Los Angeles in the ’80s, policing failures, or even the ongoing cultural fascination with serial killers. Instead, it’s a glorified cop procedural that sensationalizes Ramirez’s spree in lurid detail.

The series largely centers around interviews with two detectives at the helm of the investigation: Gil Carrillo and Frank Salerno. Carrillo notes in passing that Ramirez was actually a student of serial killers — both Charles Manson and the Hillside Strangler — and was seemingly courting celebrity through his crimes. He followed his own case closely on the news and was thrilled to know that Frank Salerno was one of the detectives on his case. He appeared to have tailored his crimes for infamy. But there’s no analysis of, say, the media’s commodification of criminality, or even what the sanctimonious moralism around the commercialization of crime means.

The episodes themselves don’t start with warnings of graphic imagery, but in the description of the series on the Netflix site, the series is rated TV-MA due to “nudity, sexual violence, language, smoking,” and it’s not recommended for viewers under 17. Many viewers, however, have voiced concern and discomfort for the imagery of the series. There are in fact several gruesome crime scene photos that are shown throughout the series.

Despite its disturbing subject matter, viewers were shocked at the grisly crime scene photos and bloody re-enactments that included a close-up shot of a knife sticking out of a body, and blood falling in slow motion. Other viewers thought the series glorified Ramirez without honoring the victims. And on the other hand, despite the gore, some viewers couldn’t look away. Nonetheless, the series is receiving attention and is attracting serial killer fanatics.