He Knows You're Alone (1980)

He Knows You're Alone (1980)
Dir: Armand Mastroianni
Cast: Don Scardino, Caitlin O' Heaney, Elizabeth Kemp, Tom Rolfing, Tom Hanks
Rated R, Approx: 94 minutes
A Warner Bros. DVD Release

Matt's Rating: **1/2 out of 5

Reviewed by Matt Serafini 11/06/04

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         One of the more memorable titles pertaining to the slasher craze of the 1980s; ironically, it's probably among the most forgettable as well. Definitely one of the most direct attempts at recreating all the suspense and scares of John Carpenter's Halloween with little success. The fact that it's not particularly scary or memorable should come as a shock to no one, but depending on how forgiving you are, He Knows You're Alone isn't a complete washout either.

          The premise of the film is this: A jilted groom flips his lid and begins to stalk and murder brides-to-be. When Amy Jensen's fianc�e packs up and leaves town for a bachelor party, she decides to host a small gathering of her closest female friends unaware that the deranged killer has now set his sights on her and will kill anybody unlucky enough to get in his way.

          Right from the beginning, I found it pretty obvious what the filmmakers had in mind when they put this one together. The intention seems to have been on emulating the overall gist of John Carpenter's film, although rather than setting up an intrusive atmosphere to invoke scares, the writer and director apparently succumbed to the idea that if you care about the characters enough, you'll be scared for them. Unfortunately, that doesn't work to well here and what the viewer gets are many, many tedious scenes of characters talking about the most trivial of topics, probably in an effort to breath some realism into the characters. It's all fairly uninvolving despite the fact that Caitlin O' Heaney is a likable enough lead actress, even she doesn't do much to save the film from its sterile feeling.

          The filmmakers want this to be Halloween in the worst way. Remember that moment in that one where Laurie spies Michael Myers from her window glaring up at her in the yard? Well there's a scene like that here. If you recall the scene where Jamie Lee Curtis flees from the house after the masked killer attacks, you'll spot a similarly staged climax almost utterly devoid of the tension of that film. He Knows You're Alone even features an obsessed ex-cop (Don Scardino) tracking the killer because his own wife was killed by the psycho years back, and while he's not a carbon copy of Donald Pleasence's Sam Loomis character, it's pretty damn close. When you tally all of these similarities (there are more, but for spacing purposes, I've left them out), it's pretty hard to ignore the connection.

          I'm not sure exactly why the filmmakers decided to have their killer go unmasked. I could be way off the mark here, but I found it to be somewhat of an arrogant display. One of this film's biggest problems is in the way in which it's presented. It really feels as though these guys were working at a film that they thought could top Halloween if only it were more grounded in realism. It's an excuse that I believe explains the rambling bits of "character depth" and useless subplots, and also the unmasked wacko. Does the fact that our killer doesn't feel the need to hide his face make him scarier, or at least, more realistic? If anything the film's killer elicits more laughs than anything, his wide-eyed glares almost impossible to take seriously.

          For all of the criticizing that I'm doing, it's only fair to mention the things that I liked about the film. It's particularly well shot by DP Gerald Feil and director Mastroianni manages some stylish moments (consider the spying eyehole sequence). The murder set pieces, not in the least bit bloody, offer some fairly effective setups. The opening scene is especially clever (more so when you consider this was made in 1980!), beginning with a young couple making out in a parked car and proceeding in a fashion quite unexpected. It's a shame that the rest of the film can't live up to the quality of the opening, in this respect; I'm reminded of another flawed (if slightly better) film, When a Stranger Calls.

          Some genre fans tend to be more forgiving of slasher films than others. This isn't one of the best of the early bunch, but it's not terrible either. If you're a sucker for those Halloween rip-offs (I am), than this one is right up your alley (even the music is similar). Regardless, I found there to be some redeemable aspects of this one, even if it thinks its much better than it actually is, it's just that I have a tough time recommending it when there are several films of its ilk on store shelves that are exponentially superior in every way.

          Warner Bros. have released this one to DVD with a very crisp 1:85.1 anamorphic widescreen transfer. The print looks fabulous despite its age and as a welcome bonus, offers a decent commentary track from director Mastroianni and screenwriter Scott Parker.