He Knows You're Alone

Plot synopsis:
A young bride is murdered on her wedding day by the man she rejected for her current fiancé Len Gamble, a police detective. Several years later, a bride-to-be is stabbed to death in a movie theater with a dagger on Long Island while her friend sits beside her. The killer, Ray Carlton, flees into the night.
The next morning, the killer arrives by bus at Staten Island, where he sees from a distance university student Amy Jensen (Caitlin O'Heaney). Amy is preparing for her wedding, and she sees off her husband-to-be Phil and his two friends who leave town for a bachelor party the weekend before the wedding. After attending a ballet class with her friends Nancy and Joyce, the three run into their psychology professor Carl (James Rebhorn), with whom Joyce is having an affair. Amy leaves to go to a dress fitting, stopping to get ice cream on the way, where she notices a man following her. She is startled by Marvin (Don Scardino), her ex-boyfriend, outside the ice cream shop on a break from his job at the local morgue. She then goes to the dress shop for her fitting, and as she leaves, the dressmaker is stabbed to death with scissors by the man who was following her. Later that night, Nancy and Joyce surprise Amy at her home with a small bachelorette party. Her parents are gone for the weekend, leaving Amy in charge of her kid sister. Joyce leaves the party for Carl's house, where the two begin to have sex until the power inexplicably goes out. Carl goes to check on the electrical box, and when he returns he is stabbed to death by the killer with a chef's knife after finding Joyce's lifeless body in the bed.
The following morning, Marvin arrives at Amy's house and insinuates that he wants to rekindle their relationship, and Amy expresses second thoughts over her marriage to Phil. While in the kitchen, Amy sees the mysterious man standing in her yard and becomes frightened. She invites Marvin to come to a local amusement park with her, Nancy, and her sister, but he declines as he has a shift at the morgue that night. Meanwhile, police find the dressmaker's body at the shop, and detectives Frank Daley (Paul Gleason) and Len Gamble arrive to investigate. Later, Amy and Nancy meet Elliot (Tom Hanks), a psychology student, while jogging through a forest trail. They later attend the amusement park with him, where he questions Amy's claims of a man following her. While riding a dark ride with her sister, Amy sees Ray Carlton inside the ride, and confides in Nancy at her house that night. Amy briefly leaves to take her sister to a birthday party, leaving Nancy alone at the house. Nancy takes a shower and then puts on a record and lies down in the living room where she smokes a joint, and moments later has her throat cut by Ray with his chef's knife.
Amy returns, discovers Nancy's severed head in the fish tank, and is attacked by Ray. She flees outside to her car and struggles to drive with Ray on the roof. She crashes the car in a wooded area and runs to the nearby morgue, where she finds Marvin and phones the police. Ray enters the morgue, and Detective Gamble arrives as well. Ray confronts Amy and chases her through a tunnel system in the morgue's basement. When confronted by Detective Gamble, the killer stabs him in the heart after he gets shot in his right shoulder by the detective. Neverless, Ray continues to pursue Amy. Amy manages to trap the wounded killer inside a storage closet and escapes from the basement where Marvin finds her. The two flee outside to safety where police are arriving and entering the morgue. Later, Marvin and Amy are to be married, as it is implied that she cut off her marriage to Phil. As Amy sits in front of a mirror in her wedding dress, an unseen person enters the room. She stands, approaches the camera, and says "Phil, what are you doing here?" before she screams and the screen fades to red.

Tags: cult, murder, flashback

Review:
The characters were actually quite likable here, which is something of a rarity in the slasher genre, and they were very well acted (including Tom Hanks in his very first movie appearance).
And it's pretty refreshing to see a killer's bare face since most slasher maniacs always wear a mask.So if you're a fan of Halloween or other similar themed horror movies, then I would definitely recommend this one.
He Knows You're Alone is a fairly forgettable example from 1980, but it has sporadic moments of suspense and is of curiosity interest as the movie debut of Tom Hanks.A knife-wielding killer (Tom Rolfing) preys upon young brides-to-be.
The disturbed psycho starts a new campaign of bride-brutalising, first stabbing an engaged woman in a movie theater, and then stalking resourceful young Amy Jensen (Caitlin O'Heaney, in a very winning performance), whose future husband is away on a bachelor weekend.
One by one, Amy's friends fall foul of the killer, until she seeks the aid of her ex-boyfriend, oddball morgue attendant Marvin (Don Scardino), in escaping from her stalker.Director Armand Matroianni (son of actor Marcello) borrows heavily from earlier genre entries.
Hanks has a very small role as a psychology student who gives the film's self-referential speech about why people love to be scared by horror movies.
Also there are effective locations like amusement parks, movie theatres (in a good opening scene that obviously inspired "Scream 2") and a big house.Unfortunately the film has some serious flaws.
Also the then unknown Tom Hanks (in his film debut) has a small role.Perfect movie for a Halloween night.
Some of the scenes in this movie , while we have seen them before, are worth a view, rather odd at times.Tom Hanks in a bit part as a psychology major talking about fear and how audiences pay to be frightened , as a spoof of the movie itself.Tom Rolfing as the Michael Myers type villain is good, this is a comparable film to "Halloween".
Will lovely Amy who's set to be married in just weeks become the killer's next victim?He Knows You're Alone is an enjoyable slasher with a game cast (most notably the always charismatic Scardino).
The opening murder in the movie theater is one of the most effective scenes in the whole film as it sets the tone for the film and, with slasher film playing during murder, firmly plants tongue in cheek making fun of itself.
His approach to filming Tom Rolfing as the murderer was a good choice; have the killer lurking but rarely ever seen fully.
A dedicated police detective (Lewis Arlt) is trying hard to capture the killer before he gets to his next target.Directed by Armand Mastroianni (Who been's directing Television movies for years) made an interesting, slowly paced, horror film in the wake of "Halloween" and "Friday the 13th".
"He Knows You're Alone" is memorable for the opening sequence and some well-known actors like the late Paul Gleason, James Rebhorn, Two-Time Oscar Winner:Tom Hanks and Dana Barron in small roles.
After the first scene in the theater, this thing fell apart.The cast includes Lewis Arlt, Don Scardino, Elizabeth Kemp, Caitlin O'Hearney and a small part played by Tom Hanks, before his stardom..
A good clone in fact.HE KNOWS YOU'RE ALONE (1980)stars Caitlan O'Heaney plays a victim who is stalked by a bride killer (Tom Rolfing) since O'Heaney is going to be married to a class clown (Don Scardino) we suggest that they run as fast as they can.
I only watched this to see Tom Hanks' first appearance on screen (he's only in the movie for about 5 minutes) and ended up transfixed by the whole thing.
Norris, Mastroianni actually keeps this story moving along quite well.A serial killer (Tom Rolfing) who targets brides-to-be sets his sights on Amy Jensen (played by the very pretty Caitlin O'Heaney).
Meanwhile, a somewhat unhinged detective, Len Gamble (Lewis Arlt) who lost his bride to the killer realizes that the maniac is once again on the loose, and is hellbent on catching him."He Knows You're Alone" admittedly gets off to a great start.
While the movie isn't 100% predictable, the ending falls short of really being satisfying.What has given "He Knows You're Alone" some stature is the fact that it was future superstar Tom Hanks's film debut, as he plays a psychology major.
(*** out of *****) This occasionally creepy flick is sort of a combination of "Halloween" and "When A Stranger Calls."  It's not half as good as "Halloween," but I liked it better than "Stranger."  It's about a psycho killer who stalks and kills brides-to-be after being dumped years ago by his girlfriend for another man.
There are several scary and suspenseful scenes throughout the movie to keep things interesting, including an extended, climactic chase that ends in a morgue and a frightening opening sequence in a movie theater that was closely duplicated in "Scream 2."  The shock ending is pretty good, but it also kinda p***ed me off.HIGHLIGHT:  Best friend, Nancy (Elizabeth Kemp) is lying on the floor with the headphones on, so she's totally unaware of the killer, butcher knife in hand, creeping up on her.
Patsy Pease and Elizabeth Kemp are good as Amy's friends, and a young Tom Hanks puts in a great performance in his first ever movie role/acting job.
On the case is a cop (who's been after the guy from the very beginning) has tracked down killer's next victim, now it's a matter of time just who gets to Amy first.Standard post-Halloween low-budget slasher with a smart title that really has no relation to anything in the film, but gains topical interest for being the starting point of a young charismatic (it was there from the get-go) Tom Hanks in a tiny role.
No hiding the fact who's the killer, as we see him and wielding a blade as he openly takes out his first victim that closely resembles the opening of Wes Craven's slasher hit 'Scream 2 (1997)".Armand Mastroianni (The man behind little unknown horror oddities such as 'Cameron's Closet (1989)', 'The Supernaturals (1986) 'and very good 'The Clairvoyant (1982)') fashionably controlled direction is all about placement and build-up, despite the sparse atmosphere and at times mishandled suspense or the lack of it.
Lewis Arlt productively gets out a worn-out cop routine and Tom Rolfing's lurking presence makes for a modest killer who's good at slicing and dicing with little to no blood being spilt (truly class- work!) and staring down his victims..
That is not to say the music in 'He Knows You're Alone' is anywhere near as frightening or effective as it is in 'Halloween'(which the composer obviously tried to imitate) because that would be highly inaccurate, but it works very well in its own way.There are also several suspenseful stalker sequences, the settings are quite atmospheric, and, finally,the smooth twist ending which threatens to bring events full circle is actually an intelligent improvement on most fade out scenes in films of this genre.
He is supposed to be stalking and killing brides yet he murders Ms O'Heaney's friend and teacher 'James Rebhorn' for no apparent reason and their bodies are never discovered during the film.
Movies like PROM NIGHT and JASON TAKES MANHATTAN are a lot worse.The movie, about a killer stalking young brides-to-be, is kind of scary and at times suspenseful.The fact we always see the killers face is scary because it gives you a realism.However, you see several scenes yanked from HALLOWEEN.
It copies the music(which was creepy), the appearance of the killer(from behind), the script is not very good or the acting (except for Tom Hanks), and it's not gory just like in Halloween.
The plot languishes in time because the writer doesn't seem to know what to do in between murders.What I said before about clichés that aren't clichés yet was said in regards to any recurring surprise you've ever seen in a slasher movie.
Whenever I'm traipsing around the horror section in Movie Madness (a video store in Portland), I point out to other people that "He Knows You're Alone" was Tom Hanks' film debut.
Knowing that Tom Hanks became probably the most popular actor in the United States, I wonder whether or not the movie would have been any different had he played the killer.
This tale about brides to be facing the fury of a serial killer is of interest only for movie buffs who want to look for a very early appearance by a young Tom Hanks.
Anyone who doubts how influential John Carpenter's HALLOWEEN was to the countless slasher films that followed soon thereafter should take a look at 1980's HE KNOWS YOU'RE ALONE.
The killer soon focuses on bride-to-be Amy Jensen (Caitlin O'Heaney), who is conflicted over whether to go through with her marriage or get back together with her old flame Marvin (Don Scardino).No matter how hard it tries to be, this film is no HALLOWEEN.
Like HALLOWEEN, the film contains little graphic gore, but director Armand Mastroianni is no John Carpenter when it comes to building up suspense.
Solidly made, if unoriginal, little slasher film about a bride-to-be having herself and her wedding party stalked by a deranged killer.
There's not a lot of gore and it's not all that scary, but you do get to see the film debut of Tom Hanks as a psychology student who has a scene where he tells the group about why people like to be scared at the movies.
a girl gets killed at the movies while watching a horror movie (scream 2) that scene was set up good but then it all goes down from there.
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..
it didn't match Halloween's, the direction is decent, and the gore factor is bad overall.HE KNOWS gained popularity at the end of the 80's when Tom Hanks was already a big Hollywood star, I guess that Hanks fans watched this slasher just because their idol is on it.
and then that's it.When this movie tries to build suspense it works very well, and most of the stalking scenes are done in broad daylight, which is another point in this movie's favour since it avoided all of the clichés about a dark house/ basement/ attic/ closet, but it does end up lapsing into clichés several other times, like when we see a friend of Amy's having an affair with a college professor for no other reason than just to have a sex scene and ten minutes of filler material, and then, as I said before, the ending is just the obligatory set up for a sequel.
A boring ending notwithstanding, this is still better than most of the other slasher movies that came out around this same time - including that horrendously over rated 'Halloween'..
he plot follows a soon-to-be bride who is stalked by a killer the weekend before her wedding.Shot in Staten Island, New York in 1979, He Knows You're Alone has been credited as one of the first horror films inspired by the success of 1978's Halloween and shares a number of similarities with the previous hit.
A Good Title and the Opening Scenes are Inviting but from there it has Pacing Problems and although there are Numerous Kills, only one or two are in any way Memorable or Ground Breaking.The Acting ranges from Bad to Good, in Fact, Tom Hanks' Feature Film Debut had His Character Slated for a Slashing but Cut Not so because His rather Brief Appearance was so Likable.The Editing is Clunky and the Movie Shows Little in Articism and is only Slightly Removed from its Cloning.
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.
A serial killer with a serious grudge against women about to get hitched stalks pretty bride-to-be Amy Jensen (Caitlin O'Heaney), killing her friends and acquaintances in the process.He Knows You're Alone's rather neat film-within-a-film opening scene briefly suggests that the film might offer a little more fun and creativity than the average 80s slasher—which only goes to make it all the more disappointing when the film turns into one of the most uninspired and ineffective Halloween clones of the whole genre.The killer POV shots, the menacing figure looming in the background before mysteriously vanishing, the suburban setting, the final chase scene, and the all too familiar score all smack of the 1978 slasher classic, but solid scares and edge-of-the-seat scenes of suspense are sorely lacking, director Armand Mastroianni's pedestrian handling of his material rarely having the desired effect.A brief shower scene featuring a topless Elizabeth Kemp and an unconvincing severed head in a fish tank prevent the film from being a total loss, while the debut movie appearance of Hollywood superstar Tom Hanks (in a completely pointless bit part that adds nothing to the plot) adds a certain curiosity factor, but overall this is a far from memorable effort..
The film is known for its ending, where it ensures the viewers that the killings won't stop and 'women' play a vital role in the making of a serial killer.The film begins with Amy (Caitlin O'Heaney) bidding goodbye to her boyfriend Phil (James Carroll).
the only thing I founded a little bit exiting, was the appearance by Tom Hanks (his first film debut), actually why didn't he get more screen time, it would have been much more fun to look at him, than this sorry pierce of slasher cinema.This slasher movie, as many others, looks a lot like that successful movie called 'Halloween', not that I'm disappointed over that, because how can you, half of the slasher movies out there is a cheap knockoff of 'Halloween', but what i am disappointed about is the lack of creativeness in the soundtrack department...
And by the hand, what this slasher really need, is more gore and violence, you never get that wonderful feeling of B-movie trashiness, when you see the actual kills, after-all we only see these kind of movies, because we love to see how cheap and violent they can look, and this movie never shows that, the only "remotely violent thing" we get to see, is the killer waving with his knife in the air, and some blood dripping from the dead person (not even a single flesh wound)...
HIGHLY underrated slasher is well made and VERY creepy a times especially the finale although i couldn't help think about Halloween while i was watching this because some of the scenes are very much like Halloween's still this is one of the best rip offs of Halloween due to the 2 strong leads and suspense.
Instead we get some insights of the detective chasing the guy and a friend dating a character played by Tom Hanks among many other subplots.I watched it only because i am checking movies released in 1980.
This sort of resembles John Carpenter's "Halloween," but I think it helped inspire some later films like "Scream 2." It's not bad and features a decent cast.
SPOILERS AHEAD...This early eighties slasher gets the first prize award for plagiarising John Carpenter's Halloween (1978), all the situations, age groups, clichés, even the synthesiser music is similar to Carpenter's superior movie.The opening of He Knows You're Alone is the best part of the film, later given homage in the opening scenes of Scream 2.
So you know that Gamble will finally face Ray, the man that killed his fiancé in cold blood while the maniac chases Amy throughout the lower section of the morgue through lots of dark halls and quiet, darkly lit rooms.Gore-less slasher flick has a polished production and great cast(..including a young Tom Hanks as a charming Psych major who starts a relationship with victim Nancy).
The man, it turns out, has a history of murdering brides, and he has his eyes set on Amy and her friends.While I'm the first person to admit that "He Knows You're Alone" is a complete tread on everything that made John Carpenter's "Halloween" the great film that it is, I still don't have the heart to rag on this movie simply because it's so much fun.