Are You in the House Alone?

Plot synopsis:
16-year-old Gail Osborne is a typical high school student with a passion for photography. Six months ago, she and her parents moved from New York to a smaller town due to her father Neil's claim the city was too dangerous following a burglary. Gail, a high spirited romantic, initially started dating classmate E.K. Miller, but he broke off their relationship because Gail was unwilling to sleep with him.
Now, Gail is dating Steve Pastorinis, despite her overprotective mother's objections. After a while, she receives an anonymous letter which says: I am watching you. Gail thinks the letter is creepy, but is convinced by her best friend Allison Bremer that it is a practical joke from some student. However, when another note is found saying, "I know where you are I'm watching you you tramp I'm coming after you", and phone calls from a strange man laughing in a creepy way. Gail decides to warn her principal, who informs her it could be the act of her current or former boyfriend, someone she's rejected or perhaps someone she's knows that's hanging around.
One day, Gail tries to tell her mother Anne about the stalking, but Anne is too busy to pay attention and blows Gail off. Therefore, Gail ditches school and heads to San Francisco to visit her father at work. There, she finds out her father has been fired. Back home, she confronts her mother with this, who demands her to keep silent so Neil will not feel ashamed. Gail realizes more serious matters are going on in her life and decides to no longer pay attention to the notes and phone calls. One day when she's late for class, there is another message sticking out of her locker. A black and white picture of herself that she took in photography class with the word "RAPE" all in red across her face.
One night, she is babysitting the children of Jessica Hirsch, who is dating Gail's teacher Chris Elden. She receives a phone call from her boyfriend Steve Pastorinis, and he asks if he can come over after work and spend time together. Gail, relieved, says yes, and he tells her he'll be there soon. The phone rings again, thinking it's Steve she answers, but it's the same stalker, laughing hysterically asking: Are you in the house alone? Afraid, Gail locks the door and windows all around the house.
Someone knocks on the front door. Excited to see Steve, Gail opens the door and sees it's Allison's boyfriend, Phil Lawver, who stopped by. Phil asks if Allison is around because she said she was going to come by, and Gail responds she isn't there. Phil then asks to use the phone to call Allison's house. Phil picks up the receiver and dials the number but then puts his finger on the receiving end to cancel the call, and then pretends to be on the phone with Allison's mother while pulling out a handkerchief wiping off the phone. Gail looks over and sees him wiping the phone and he looks back at her before dropping the phone on the ground.
He looks at her and says, "I really had you fooled didn't I?" Gail lets out a sigh of relief figuring he was pulling a prank on her. Phil continues saying, "Had you real scared". Gail, upset, replies "Phil, will you cut it out", showing fear. Phil then says in a raspy creepy voice "Are you in the house alone?". Phil then reveals that it wasn't a prank and that he's been stalking her, that he knows all about her, he knows what she likes, he's been watching her a long time, he's been real patient, that he's waited for her, and not to give him that "lily white virgin" stuff cause he knows she has nothing to lose. He then attacks her, forces her down on the ground and proceeds to rape her. He sits up sweaty, looks down at her beaten bloody body and runs out of the house.
Due to the trauma, Gail is hospitalized and at first refuses to say that Phil raped her, claiming it was all a blur, knowing she won't be believed, refusing to return to school. Another female officer comes in to ask if she can try to remember, and Gail continues to lie out of fear. The female officer leaves, but tells her that if she changes her mind, to call her at the station. She also mentions that if Gail doesn't give her a name, they have no case, and her attacker can do this to someone else. Fearing that some other girl might endure what she just went through, she tells the officer it was Phillip Lawver. Her father is outraged at Phil, but finds out they can not sue him because Phil's father is a close friend of the local judge. The fact Gail recently lost her virginity to Steve also plays a role.
Gail is eventually encouraged by her teacher Malevich not to be afraid any longer and she returns to school. There, she finds out another girl is receiving the same creepy notes. Determined to stop Phil, she attempts to catch him with her camera. Phil, however, is on to her and attempts to beat her up, but he is caught by Steve. In the end, Phil pleads guilty to assault but is not charged with rape. He has since disappeared, and one rumor has it he is in a boarding school in New Hampshire.

Tags: cult

Review:
Others though like the the made-for-TV slasher flick "Deadly Lessons" seem to be lost forever.The 70's TV movies were not necessarily good, but they were often pretty enjoyable in a cheesy way.
This movie actually kind of does tackle an issue (stalking and acquaintance rape), but it was really before it was an issue.
It also has some pretty effective suspense leading up to the rape (scary notes, creepy phone calls, "Halloween"-style POV camera shots ).
And instead of turning into a predictable courtroom drama after the rape, it ends on a rather ironic and somewhat cynical note.
Interestingly, the movie was based on a fairly well-known young adult novel of the same name by Richard Peck (whose other book "If You Don't Look, It won't Hurt" would later provide the inspiration for the theatrical art film "Gas, Food, Lodging).
This TV movie is surprisingly good about a girl being stalked at school.
I used to watch a lot of these movies as a kid and this one stands out as one of the best.
The best thing going for this rather routine TV movie melodrama is spirited performances by the young stars, including a very youthful Dennis Quaid in a part that would have gone to Bruce Dern 15 years before.
The movie is almost two separate movies in one, the first part leading up to the assault on the teenage female lead babysitter is a quasi-horror film not unlike the original When A Stranger Calls, which was released later.
There are various suspects who may be making the terrorizing phone calls and messages, and we are in the dark until the assault.
The adult leads are really unspectacular and mediocre at best, and Tony Bill displays good reasons as to why he left acting to be a producer/director.
The title is a bit misleading on this TV movie, in that we expected a horror film.
What we actually get is a reasonably decent high school bullying/stalking drama, with the long-haired Kathleen Beller as the victim.
The plot also deals with a rape that goes unpunished, truly edgy material for a 1970s family TV flick.
Beller plays a high school senior who starts getting nasty phone calls and notes from a stalker.
Blythe Danner plays her high-strung mom and Dennis Quaid is one of her fellow students.
Looks like it was filmed in a real high school, which helps.
Truth is, a little bit of Beller goes a long way.
A young high school student begins getting creepy phone calls which eventually leads to her being stalked in 'Are You in the House Alone?".
Gail Osborne is a sweet teenage girl who begins going out with classmate Steve.
Gail takes a babysitting job in town and that's when the stalker gets close and sadly Gail is raped by this person.
We know who did it, and the rest of the film shows Gail trying to prove this person did this to her.'Are You in the House Alone' is actually an important film for it's time as it tackles tough topics such a rape and women's rights.
It isn't so much a horror film (like the title might make it seem) as it is a suspense/mystery movie.
Once we find out the identity of the person, it's hard to watch Gail have to prove it to her closest friend and even the courts/police.
Some of the stalking scenes were REALLY well done, and add creepiness to the movie.The acting was very well done from Kathleen Beller, Scott Colomby, Robin Mattson and a young Dennis Quaid.
It drags on quite a bit, and focuses a lot of the time on Gail's family issues and her father who's been recently laid off of his job.
Good performances by her parents Blythe Danner and Tony Bill.
The opening where we see the aftermath of a high school girl beaten and raped, which really set the tone for what this movie is about and then it flashbacks to the previous events leading up to what happened.Like I said this movie is not a slasher but features several elements like the young girl getting strange phone calls, threatening notes and tense stalk scenes.
However the suspense here has a very realistic feel and you do feel the raw emotions that this character is going through especially when she sees her rapist getting ready to stalk his next victim and of course we do get a list of suspects and this movie doe's display that angle well and keep you guessing throughout.
While what happens is horrifying, there's not much in the way of true horror, but what we have is a pretty solid thriller with lots of build up and a great pay off thanks to its good pacing.The strongest thing about this movie is the acting which is top notch Kathleen Beller who plays the main character was very good and believable, her innocence and beauty makes you really root for her especially when she turns detective and eventually turns the tables on her attacker.
Plus we get a standout performance from a fresh faced Dennis Quaid and Scott Colomby as the boyfriend also really stood out, displaying great chemistry with Gail, in fact all of the cast had great chemistry with each other, even the parents were great.All in all "Are You in the House Alone" may seem a bit dated by today's standards, but still genially creepy and frightening realistic..
A typical TV thriller where a teenage girl named Gail is harassed by a stalker with threatening notes and phone calls.
This main plot point is distracted with the sappy subplot of Gail's dating life with her boyfriend, Steve.
Her complicated relationship with her parents (played by Blythe Danner and Tony Bill) is more interesting and I especially liked the performance of Blythe Danner in the mother role (including the part where she says she does not want her daughter to settle down at an early age, but to find herself first).
The plot's pacing, though, is very slow and takes a long time to gain any suspenseful traction.
I think my issue with this film is that I was expecting a very different movie, but I also think it makes sense to expect a different one.
It's called "Are You in the House Alone?" and is apparently about a babysitter being stalked by an unknown assailant, but that's really about 10 minutes of the running time.
Most of this film is a high school drama about this girl's teen angst and her current boyfriend ...
and she receives the odd anonymous note leading into the 10 minutes of not very effective horror.
The film tells us of the main event early on and then flashbacks to give us the lead up and aftermath.
Watching it I wasn't sure this was a good idea but it works astonishingly well with much tension and suspense.
Kathleen Beller is excellent as the wider eyed victim and a young Dennis Quad does well in one of his very first films..
(1978) ** (out of 4) Made for TV drama is actually disguised as a horror movie.
The film starts off as teenager Gail (Kathleen Beller) is being taken to the hospital after being beaten and raped.
We then flashback and see the events leading up to the rape, which include her dating a new guy, being made fun of by her old boyfriend and having several other men set themselves up as red herrings.
The first hour builds itself up as a horror movie in the same vein as BLACK Christmas but things take a turn in the final act when the rape happens and I must admit that the movie got rather disgusting to me.
This was made for TV so everything is very tame but at the same time I thought the rape stuff was very poorly handled and in the end it come off more distasteful than anything else.
Beller does a pretty good job in her role, although she does go over the top from time to time.
This film actually goes to the way of rape instead of murder but the idea of a young babysitting getting calls from a stranger over and over is the same.A young Dennis Quaid is really good in this one - he plays the bad guy Phil Lawver.
Kathleen Beller plays the young, scared babysitter Gail Osborne quite well.
The rest of the cast is really good.Some of the first part is boring - a drawn out family drama.
Not Horror, But Alright For What It Is. A teenage girl is plagued by harassing phone calls.
It is more a "crime drama" or some such thing.That being said, it is not a bad movie if you go in under proper expectations.
A young Dennis Quaid gives a powerful performance, Blythe Danner does her part, and the rest of the cast is quite good.
The story is fairly tight in its script.For horror fans, what may be worth pointing out is that this film actually predates "When a Stranger Calls" by a year.
Although the calls in this film are not coming from inside the house, there is a similar feeling and possibly a connection (though it could just be coincidence)..
Are you sure you want to watch this movie?.
With such a title, film poster and plot synopsis like these, I was expecting a horror/thriller but there isn't a single casualty.
I'll be the first to admit there are a few suspenseful moments and, more importantly, the film features many eerie trademarks that later would be copied & pasted in countless of other (and real) slasher movies like menacing phone calls, stalkers' notes and POV camera shots.
The real story is about the - incredibly cute - teenage girl Gail Osborne of whom we learn at the very beginning of the film that she was raped in her own living room.
She finds disturbing little notes in her school's locker and at home she receives nasty phone calls with uncomfortable silences, creepy laughter and eventually the titular question.
For some bizarre reason, there's also a totally irrelevant and dull sub-plot about Gail's father having lost his job and both her parents concealing this for their almost adult daughter.
The final act, taking place after the rape, is reasonably interesting but, again, it's drama instead of thrills.
Kathleen Beller is an indescribably beautiful lead girl in peril, but if you want to see a truly tense film dealing with similar themes I advise you to check out either "Black Christmas" (1974) or "When a Stranger Calls" (1979).
Distributor: GOODTIMES home video Plot: A pretty high school student is marked for unrelenting terror in this suspense filled made for TV movie.
After more and more phone calls, she is raped.
throughout most of the movie, she tries to find proof that the person did rape her.Audio/Video: This 1987 VHS edition from Goodtimes stinks.
There are constant lines at the bottom and top of the screen.Extras: No extras from Goodtimes home video.Final thoughts: This suspense filled made for TV movie was made in 1978, so don't expect many deaths (there are none).
This can be a little boring, but if you are patient, the ending is pretty good..
There is a lot to like in this film, despite its humble trappings of a preachy PC tale about rape and the perp always faring better than the victim.
The movie did create a fair bit of suspense in the mystery surrounding who was sending the notes.
Like all preachy films the plot lasts 15 minutes past the climax so you might want to quit watching at that point.
A must for Beller fans and highly recommended for fans of 70s High School melodrama or 70s kitsch in general..
this film is a good film about Gail Osborne a girl who is raped at a house she is babysitting multiple flashbacks tell how she was stalked at school AND at her house AND while babysitting this inspired Halloween oh and when a stranger calls by the why hysteria lives should not assume this came first some people wished there was a body count but this is lucky this isn't a mindless gore flick Gail Osborne is a likable character and though there isn't a body count she belongs in the line of all those final girls this good movie that came before and possibly inspired movies of equal quality .
further more this is not boring hysteria lives which is usually a very right site very good film.
Sweet and beautiful high school student Gail Osborne (a solid and personable performance by the fetching Kathleen Beller) finds herself being terrorized by a persistent stalker.
Director Walter Grauman, working from a compact and compelling script by Judith Parker, relates the absorbing story at a steady pace, builds a good deal of suspense, and grounds the premise in a believable everyday working class reality.
Moreover, Grauman and Parker not only do a nice job of credibly showing how being the unwilling recipient of a stalker's attention can make one edgy and unsettled, but also tackle the relevant topics of rape and stalking in a tasteful and provocative manner.
The sound acting by a fine cast helps a lot: Blythe Danner as Gail's preoccupied mother Anne, Dennis Quaid as smug and cocky rich jerk Phil Lawver, Tony Bill as Gail's earnest, but ineffectual father Neil, Robin Mattson as Gail's perky gal pal Allison Bremer, Tricia O'Neil as sensible lawyer Jessica Hirsch, Alan Fudge as creepy photography teacher Chris Elden, and Scott Colomby as amiable nice guy Steve Pastorinis.
Thought it was going to be a creepy 70's horror but this was not a horror film at all.
However, I could only bear 20 minutes before giving up because of the terrible acting, the lack of anything happening and the really, really slow pacing.Every scene dragged.All the characters were dull.
In "Are You in the House Alone?!," teenager Gail (Kathleen Beller) begins receiving threatening phone calls and notes.
Who is stalking her and why?I can't begin to tell you how tedious and slow "Are You in the House Alone?!" gets towards the end.
Early appearances by Blythe Danner ("Meet the Parents") and Dennis Quaid ("Frequency") makes this a little easier to sit through..
It has all the trappings of a bad movie about high school students, their loves, intrigues, and murders, but it's a little better than that.
Poor Kathleen Beller, a pretty student at Oldfield High, starts getting mysterious notes saying things like, "I'm watching you." If that weren't unnerving enough, the phone calls begin.
It all finally ends in her being raped, rather decorously.
It essentially a drawn-out story of Beller and the conundrums she faces regarding sex, family disputes, the threatening phone calls, her talent at photography, and whatnot.A lot depends on Beller.
He was to improve mightily over the next few years.I don't know that the film deserves too much acting talent.
The device was much less offensive in "Rear Window." Final cliché: After the rape, Beller wakes up in the hospital, bruised and deflowered, surrounded by loving family, doctors, and police.
I'll skip the legal improbabilities that follow.I'm being kind of harsh on the movie not because it's so terrible but because with a little imagination and talent it could have been better than it is.
Much is made of Dad's being laid off and hiding it from Beller to "protect her." Mom, with her part-time job showing houses, is holding everything together.
But the movie has little sympathy for the parents.
Instead, as Beller finally tells them, they should stop treating her like a baby.Nice photography in joyous color.
***SPOILERS*** The both buxom-34 C bra size-as well as cute as a Barbi Doll Kathleen Beller is high school student Gail Osborne who at the beginning of the movie is rushed to the hospital after being raped while she was babysitting for a neighbor's child.
The film then goes on to show in a number of flashbacks the hell Gail was going through in and out of school with and admirer-or better yet creep-from afar stalking and phoning her as well as leaving crazy and threatening messages that drove her almost to the point of a nervous breakdown.This all began when Gail started dating Steve Pastorinis, Scott Colomby, that seemed to have set off the person who feeling rejected started putting the squeeze on Gail with a number of obscene phone calls as well as letters or notes stuck on her high school locker.Trying to get support from her friends and parents they in fact told her to just forget about it and go on with her life.
Things got even more worse for Gail when she found out that her dad big time architect Neil Osborne, Tony Bill, got laid off from his job forcing her mom Anne, Blythe Danner, to were the pants , by getting a job as a real estate broker, in the family which is why her parents took her being harassed so lightly.****SPOILERS**** It's later that Gail together with her boyfriend Steve took matters into their own hands by setting up a trap for the person who's stalking as well as raped, he still didn't learn his lesson, her to get caught red handed when this time around, when caught with his pants down, tried to murder her.
The ending was anything but satisfying for Gail in that her rapist using an insanity defense almost got away all Scott free to commit rape again but only being expelled or forced to leave school due to his parents money and political clout in town.
But the good point in all this is wherever he goes to school and collage if anyone is raped he'll be the #1 suspect and, if in fact he did it, not be able to get away with it as easily as he did with Gail Osborne.