Discover Top Posts Tagged with #lewis arlt

He Knows You're Alone (1980)

"Most people do, actually. I mean like to be scared, it's something primal, something basic. Horror movies and the roller coasters and the house of horror ride -"

"I wanna go on that next!"

"You can face death without any real fear of dying. It's safe. You can leave the movie or get off the ride with a vicarious thrill and the feeling that you just conquered death, one hell of a first class rush."

#he knows you're alone #slasher film #1980 #american cinema #armand mastroianni #scott parker #caitlin o'heaney #don scardino #elizabeth kemp #tom rolfing #lewis arlt #patsy pease #james rebhorn #tom hanks #dana barron #joseph leon #paul gleason #john bottoms #brian byers #robin lamont #part of the explosion of slasher clones that flooded the market in the wake of Halloween's phenomenal success; this one in particular owes #a considerable debt to Carpenter's film‚ cribbing not just general plot shape but specific shots and a suspiciously similar soundtrack #idk this is an odd one. it's very slow and very concerned with character building over the usual sex and splatter‚ which is actually an #element i enjoy in my slashers. this one might go just a little too far in that direction tho‚ with a middle section that's more concerned #with our protagonist's doubts about her impending marriage and her lingering feelings for her ex boyfriend and with the murdering semi #forgotten. actually a bigger issue is probably our bad guy‚ a slasher villain with almost zero screen presence (and this despite being #clearly seen onscreen from the beginning of the movie). but there are things this film does very well indeed‚ including the opening scene #fake out (much imitated by later horror films including Scream 2) and some very tense stalkings and almost slashes. a patchy film that is #very nearly much better than it is but hey ho. also Lewis Arlt's cop? distractingly‚ shockingly hot. idk but my vision was impaired by my #heart eyes whenever he was onscreen. ymmv but it shouldn't‚ he should have been a super star‚ he's like Franco Nero and Al Pacino had a bb

Soap Opera Serials - December 1977 - Search for Tomorrow - The Kidnapping-Murder of Dr. Wade Collins

#soap opera serials #soap opera serials december 1977 #search for tomorrow #search for tomorrow storyline #kathy devine #conrad fowkes #john cunningham #millie taggart #Joel Higgins #lewis arlt #1977 #1970s soap opera #soap opera

Soap Opera Serials - February 1978 - Search For Tomorrow - Whose Baby Is She Carrying? Kathy Must Hide Her Fears From Scott!

#soap opera serials #soap opera serials february 1978 #search for tomorrow #search for tomorrow storyline #peter simon #courtney sherman #lewis arlt #chris lowe #1978 #1970s soap opera #soap opera

Daily TV Serials - March 1977 - Soapers On The Road

Soap Opera Serials - September 1977 - Search for Tomorrow

#soap opera serials #soap opera serials september 1977 #search for tomorrow #chris lowe #peter simon #courtney sherman #lewis arlt #1977 #1970s soap opera #search for tomorrow storyline #soap opera

He Knows You're Alone

One of the many films made in the wake of John Carpenter’s HALLOWEEN (1978), Armand Mastroianni’s HE KNOWS YOU’RE ALONE (1980, TCM) may not be a horror masterpiece, but it deserves to be remembered as more than Tom Hanks’ film debut or the one with the girl’s head in the fishtank. Oddly, one thing critics complained about the most, the slow pace, allows for some interesting small-town atmosphere and discussions of women’s roles circa 1980. And contrary to complaints about the genre, only two of the film’s seven victims are done in while engaged in (gasp!) illicit sexual activity.

The film opens with a retread of the urban legend “the hook” that turns out to be a movie watched by a prospective bride and her best friend. The bride’s murder in a crowded theater as people scream at the on-screen horror brings in police detective Lewis Arlt, who identifies this as the latest in serial killer Tom Rolfing’s attacks on brides-to-be, which had started with Artlt’s fiancée. The killer then moves to Staten Island to stalk a young woman (Caitlin O’Heaney) two weeks away from marrying one man (James Carroll) after dumping another (Don Scardino). His attacks on those associated with O’Heaney attract Arlt’s attention, but he decides to keep quiet in hopes O’Heaney will lead him to the killer.

So, yes, there are plot holes. Knowing Rolfing has killed someone associated with O’Heaney rather than going straight for her, not his usual MO, Arlt’s not warning anybody seems rather irresponsible. When he finally starts pursuing the final girl in earnest, Rolfing hides somewhere he can’t possibly know she’ll turn up, sacrificing character logic to create a jump scare. And the film drags in places, particularly in Arlt’s scenes, which seem to be all about angst that leads nowhere (as a detective he’s about as effective as a fart in a mitten).

But there are also early scenes with O’Heaney and her friends that establish the atmosphere of a small town only linked to the outside world through highways and a bus line. The women also discuss what sex and marriage mean to them, with one (Patsy Pease) planning to seduce her psychology professor (James Rehorn) to get an “A,” another (Dana Barron) pining for a hot jogger (Hanks) and O’Heaney considering her fiancé’s request she drop out of college and eschew any kind of career. For those few moments, the film has a sense of reality lacking in a lot of the era’s slashers, and that’s no small thing. Add a very capable cast, with particularly good turns from Hanks and Scardino, and you have a film that’s at least diverting, which is also no small thing for the subgenre.