14 October 2024
He Knows You're Alone (1980)
94 min.
Directed by Armand Mastroianni.
With Caitlin O'Heaney, Don Scardino, Elizabeth Kemp, Patsy Pease, Tom Rolfing, Lewis Arlt, Tom Hanks, Dana Barron.
This routine slasher makes for an acceptable Halloween clone.

A serial killer terrorizes young women in a small town, his eye particularly on lovely bride-to-be Amy (O'Heaney). Seems our psycho has a long pentup frustration at being jilted by his own fiance. Will unsuspecting Amy live to see matrimonial bliss...or the sharp end of a butcher knife?

Highlighted by O'Heaney's simple charm and a few decent sequences - including a decapitated head-in-a-fishbowl scene, as well as the first murder inside a darkened movie theatre (where the audience is watching a horror film).

Contains an early appearance by Tom Hanks as a budding psychology student.

Not the strongest of the stalk n' slash bunch, but it's helped by good use of location filming (in Staten Island, NY) and features a fairly effective chase climax; Alone should prove watchable enough for diehard genre fans.

Also worthwhile here to see some variation of work by director Mastroianni (who helmed 1981's fairly cool thriller The Killing Hour).

© copyright 1998-present | The Terror Trap; www.terrortrap.com | all rights reserved