He Knows You're Alone (1980)

Wow, this is a REALLY bad movie!

Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

If you were not aware of it, this was Tom Hanks very first film where he received a film ending credit. I guess a lot of future stars made their debut in a low budget stinker of a wannabe horror film. In this film the director, Armand Mastroianni, just would not relent in his attempt to build up suspense and then continually let us down with a simple "oh, you have got to be kidding! Again?" The young and attractive actress Caitlin O'Heaney who plays the bride to be Amy Jensen believes she has a stalker following her and her friends and recent acquaintances are being murdered one by one by her unknown stalker which we get a few glimpses of, but who is he?I honestly felt as if I was sitting on my royal throne constipated, waiting for something to happen, and as my suspense is displaced with discomfort waiting for a long overdue bowel movement suddenly I hear a little plop and realize the plop results in nothing more than the size of a peanut which has caused so much discomfort. In the case of "He Knows You're Alone" the agony continues throughout the 94 minutes (much longer than my discomfort waiting for a BM) and then the end of the film FINALLY comes and I ask myself "you have got to be kidding?!!!"Don't waste your time seeing Tom Hanks in his film debut, he was much more impressive four (4) years later in director Ron Howard's 1984's film Splash.

A nameless killer stalks brides-to-be. That's "He Knows You're Alone" in a nutshell, so enough about the plot because there's really not much to say.The problem with "He Knows You're Alone" isn't the fact that it's obviously an attempt to cash in on the success of "Halloween" (hell, half the movies made before 1984 attempted the same thing), but the film commits two unforgivable slasher film mistakes: it's bloodless, and it's boring. Two things a slasher film should never be.If you're making a slasher film and you can't manage to keep your movie taut and suspenseful for 90 minutes what with all the stalking and slashing you have the opportunity to put on screen, you're either trying too hard to be classy or you just shouldn't be making a slasher.This isn't to say "He Knows You're Alone" doesn't have some good things going for it--the lighting is atmospheric in some night scenes, there are some tense moments where the killer is just out of frame waiting to strike, and the film is more professionally shot than most of its brothers--but all of its merits are bogged down by the interminably slow pacing. The film needed more blood, more kills, and more suspense overall to compete with even "Halloween", a slow burn itself which still manages to be ten times as entertaining.If you're a fan of 80s slashers, of course you'll still have to see it. If you're a casual horror fan, the most horrifying thing about the movie will probably the amount of time you wasted watching it.

A trash slasher from the genre's glory days with neither a recognizable purpose nor a firm grasp of what makes a good screamer tick. With something like 75% of its duration dedicated to pointless errands, unnecessary supporting characters and a drab, one-way relationship drama, this is quite easily the least suspenseful thriller I've ever been unlucky enough to sit through. Even the kills are yawners, perpetrated by a hopelessly wacky, unexplained knifeman without a motive or even a loose pattern. He'll creep out from behind a curtain for a big scare, then stand around in confusion as his prey rushes past to a waiting doorway. At one point he desperately tries to nail down a quarry by furiously stabbing the windshield of their car. It's a total mess; before long it's useless even as fodder for a good riffing or unintentional comedy. A very young Tom Hanks stumbles in for a throwaway role late in the action, but moments later he stumbles right back out, never to be seen again. Complete waste of time.

That opening was great! It was the old Hook cliché,but they made it into a twist! I'll admit, I don't even think I want to go to a movie theater for a while after seeing that! It's creepy how easily the person behind you can off you! I must say the title alone almost turned me away, thinking it was a rip-off of the original When a Stranger Calls. I hear "Halloween clone" a lot when hearing about the movie. It's probably that chilling music. It's distinctly reminiscent of Micheal's theme. The acting is spot on and believable. The murder scenes are by no means expected and the killer seems to pop up out of the blue, as he should! All and all, I'd encourage people to give this movie a chance! I feel this movie didn't get the proper recognition it deserved back in 1980s.