Grizzlyman
08-19-2007, 08:12 AM
For those whom are familiar with this 1980 slasher film, we can immediately deduce that it is a Halloween clone, for those that are not familiar with this film, it basically centers around a young bride to be who is stalked by a tall sinister looking serial killer. I had seen the film many years before, and had watched it again recently and for some strange reason found its way on the top ten of my guilty pleasures list.
He Knows You're Alone, while an imitiation of John Carpenter's Halloween, (not only with content, but also lifting his music!) is one of the more lighter slasher films, meaning less concentrated on gore, and more focused on suspense and tension, with the exception of a decapitation. While the film does have a few bright moments through Armand Mastroianni's directorial debut and can be geniunely creepy at times, it always brings us back to the fond memories of a director inspired by John Carpenter's classic horror story of a tall figure lurking outside and watching you at the window. The films starts off quite well from the now famous "movie theater" murder (which was later revamped in Scream 2) but the film I found to lack some background history as to why this psychotic killer is stalking only brides. Still, the film manages to at least become eerie in one sense, especially the location of Staten Island, New York.
On a positive note, Caitlin O'Heaney screams well as the heroine, and of course the film is most oftened viewed for Tom Hanks acting debut as a psychology student. A few noteworthy actors also appear in the film such as tough-guy actor Paul Gleason (best known for The Breakfast Club, Die Hard and Trading Places), James Rebhorn who has since made a career playing sleazebags in films such as Independence Day, Dana Barron who went on to play Audrey Griswold in National Lampoon's Vacation, and F13 Part 2 star Russell Todd in a brief ill-fated role.
I do find that a long time stellar studio such as Metro Goldwyn Mayer (MGM) who distributed this film in 1980 made a significantly bad decision on becoming associated with slasher films of the 1980's, they also distributed 1986's Killer Party and apparently harbor resentment based on the fact that they were one film studio that did not necessarily find slasher films profitable during the 1980's as Paramount did with Friday the 13th.
He Knows You're Alone, while an imitiation of John Carpenter's Halloween, (not only with content, but also lifting his music!) is one of the more lighter slasher films, meaning less concentrated on gore, and more focused on suspense and tension, with the exception of a decapitation. While the film does have a few bright moments through Armand Mastroianni's directorial debut and can be geniunely creepy at times, it always brings us back to the fond memories of a director inspired by John Carpenter's classic horror story of a tall figure lurking outside and watching you at the window. The films starts off quite well from the now famous "movie theater" murder (which was later revamped in Scream 2) but the film I found to lack some background history as to why this psychotic killer is stalking only brides. Still, the film manages to at least become eerie in one sense, especially the location of Staten Island, New York.
On a positive note, Caitlin O'Heaney screams well as the heroine, and of course the film is most oftened viewed for Tom Hanks acting debut as a psychology student. A few noteworthy actors also appear in the film such as tough-guy actor Paul Gleason (best known for The Breakfast Club, Die Hard and Trading Places), James Rebhorn who has since made a career playing sleazebags in films such as Independence Day, Dana Barron who went on to play Audrey Griswold in National Lampoon's Vacation, and F13 Part 2 star Russell Todd in a brief ill-fated role.
I do find that a long time stellar studio such as Metro Goldwyn Mayer (MGM) who distributed this film in 1980 made a significantly bad decision on becoming associated with slasher films of the 1980's, they also distributed 1986's Killer Party and apparently harbor resentment based on the fact that they were one film studio that did not necessarily find slasher films profitable during the 1980's as Paramount did with Friday the 13th.