well- written screenplay by Scott Kosar...

Rating: 9/10 (8 January 2012)

Yes there are themes lifted from Hitchcock, and any avid follower will notice that Anna Massey (who was in Hitchock's 1965 film Frenzy) portrays Trevor Reznik's landlady in this psychological horror film.
That said, anyone who likes Christian Bale in his "off center" performances will like him as Trevor Reznik, an anorectic machinist with major percolating issues.
He lives in a bleak apartment building, buys bleach to keep his bleak apartment sanitary, and goes to work as a lathe operator. Miller operating the mill gets his arm cut off, and results in a major accident (Michael Ironside is good here as working class Miller).
Jennifer Jason-Leigh is the sometime girlfriend/hooker of Trevor who at first seems to want to help.
In the meantime, Reznik spends time "escaping" by talking to Marie, a waitress at the airport (this was filmed in downtown L.A. according to the directors comments). They wanted the environment to look gritty and third world. It certainly does. We cannot tell which is part fiction, in Reznik's mind, or is actually happening.
There is a hit and run, an "alter-ego" Trevor has discussions with named "Ivan", and issues of guilt, without clear explanation. Trevor likes to eat at the airport in case he gets the overwhelming urge to take off, once "they" find out his true identity.
Overall recommended. The genre has been done before but anyone who enjoys suspense and mystery will find this film intriguing. 9/10.
Addendum: If you liked this story you will also like "Carnival of Souls" a haunting earlier version of similar story.