HE KNOWS YOU’RE ALONE

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HE KNOWS YOU’RE ALONE (director: Armand Mastroianni; screenwriters: Scott Parker/Robert Stecko; cinematographer: Gerald Feil; editor: George T Norris; music: Mark Peskanov; cast: Caitlin O’Heaney (Amy Jensen), Don Scardino (Marvin), Tom Rolfing (Ray, The Killer), Elizabeth Kemp (Nancy), Lewis Arlt (Det. Len Gamble), Dana Barron (Diana), Tom Hanks (Elliott), James Rebhorn (Professor), Patsy Pease (Joyce), James Carroll (Phil), Paul Gleason (Det. Frank Daly), Elizabeth Kemp (Nancy), Joseph Leon (Ralph, the tailor); Runtime: 94; MPAA Rating: R; producer: George Manasse; MGM Home Entertainment; 1980)
“Too many things don’t work, especially the contrived twist ending at the morgue.”

Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz

The big screen directorial debut for Brooklyn-born Armand Mastroianni (“Black Widow”/”Virus”) is a copycat indie slasher film. He’s the cousin of the Italian actor Marcello Mastroianni. Writers Scott Parker and Robert Stecko recycle slasher films like Halloween to tell the story of a jilted psychopath killer (Tom Rolfing). The girl he loved rejected him for police detective Len Gamble (Lewis Arlt) and he killed her just before her wedding ceremony. When a bride-to-be is fatally stabbed in the back at a Staten Island movie theater while watching a scary horror film, Len believes he has been given a second chance to catch the killer after tracking him for three years. Len focuses obsessively on the about-to-be married college student Amy Jenson (Caitlin O’Heaney), whose bridal tailor (Joseph Leon) was killed just after she left his shop. Sensing danger while her boyfriend (James Carroll) is away for a weekend bachelor party, Amy seeks the help of her ex-boyfriend morgue worker Marvin (Don Scardino). Unfortunately there is no mounting suspense, the acting is far from top-notch, the story is predictable and the execution is heavy-handed. Too many things don’t work, especially the contrived twist ending at the morgue.

REVIEWED ON 1/25/2017 GRADE: C+

Dennis Schwartz: “Ozus’ World Movie Reviews”

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