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Dagger, Switchblade, Butcher Knife, Revolver, Scalpel
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Reviewed by: Jenicide
The success of John Carpenter’s Halloween took the horror scene by storm, inspiring a host of copycats, among the first of which was He Knows You’re Alone. While thematically different, the film is so structurally similar to Halloween that making comparisons between the two is inevitable, and He Knows You’re Alone suffers because of it.
Amy Jenson is weeks away from her wedding, when she finds herself being stalked by a killer who targets young brides-to-be. Detective Gamble, whose own fiancée fell victim to the maniac, pursues him in a quest of revenge. Meanwhile, Amy tries unsuccessfully to convince her friends that the man following her is real, and not a result of pre-wedding jitters.
While the killer does not use any sort of disguise, He Knows You’re Alone is clearly inspired by Halloween’s formula. His stand-and-stare stalking technique, as well as his knife-centric attacks are straight out of Michael Myers’ playbook. Moreover, the film features a heroine who is the only one aware that something is wrong and a man obsessed with stopping the killer. Yet, these similarities become overkill as homage descends into straight-up copying. Several scenes are almost the same as in Halloween, such as the chase between Amy and the killer, where he breaks a car window with his bare hands, or the confrontation between the killer and Gamble. Even the music is similar, attempting to replicate the stinging piano strikes of Halloween, with much less effectiveness.
On a positive note, the film’s opening scene should be commended for its movie-within-a-movie psych-out, which inspired imitators of its own with similar tricks being seen in films such as Blowout. Also featured in the opening scene is a cleverly executed kill set to the rhythm of a horror film so that the screams are synchronized and nobody realizes what has happened. The scene was memorable enough that it was practically recreated in Scream 2. Also worth mentioning is a young Tom Hanks in his debut performance, who stands out as the best character in the film, despite being in it for roughly five minutes. Perhaps it was his winning charm that earned him the best lines in the movie, a short speech on the nature of fear.
He Knows You’re Alone is an okay film, but its weaknesses prevent it from being good. It tried desperately to be the next Halloween, but the film ultimately fails to match its quality in terms of writing, cinematography, and suspense. In the end, it’s worth watching once in a blue moon when nothing else is on.
splatterjunkie 