Jun 12, 2023
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
