Some faces you just can't forget.
That was the thought lurking in the back of our heads as we tried to figure out why the culprit at the heart of Netflix's Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer seemed so familiar to us. As true crime fans, we've consumed many hours of bone-chilling docu-series and fictional films about serial killers.
Still, as we tuned into the Netflix docu-series for the first time, which dropped on Jan. 13, Richard Ramirez's face was eerily familiar to us. Before long, it hit us that season nine of American Horror Story had incorporated Ramirez's haunting murders into their narrative.
So, it wasn't technically Ramirez who we were recognizing, it was the actor who portrayed the prolific murderer. And while American Horror Story: 1984 wasn't an accurate retelling of Ramirez's crimes, actor Zach Villa was just as terrifying as the real-life killer he was portraying.
This isn't the first time that serial killers have received the Hollywood treatment. In fact, many of your favorite stars have played some of history's most horrific criminals.
Case in point: Charlize Theron won an Oscar for Monster, where she played a woman who killed seven men by shooting them.
And don't forget the time Zac Efron gave a pretty convincing performance as Ted Bundy in Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile. Who could've predicted that Zac would go from Troy Bolton to Ted Bundy? We didn't.
For a closer look at the stars who've played serial killers, scroll through the images below!
Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer is streaming now on Netflix.