When I picked up the film,and I noticed on the sleeve mentions to the Friday the 13th series,it got me to expect that the film would be a fun, nasty slasher film.
During my viewing of the movie,I was surprised to discover,that most of the film is actually a very efficient cat-and-mouse thriller.
The plot:
Over a period of a few weeks,Stanley Herbert-who seems to do his best to make sure that he stays a loner (so as not to raise any ones suspicions)starts to terrorise girls,who are also on there own.Herbert sets out tormenting the girls,by first of all ringing each of his victims up, to give them terrifying phone calls about how he is going to rape and murder them.
After having gotten the girl to become a shivering wreak,Herbert waits until the girl is on her own,so that he can grab them,and then brutally rape and kill them.With signs that there might be a serial killer on the loose in the area,the local TV news station hears about this,and decides to make this there top stories.Although as the murder count increases,it seems that the police have no idea what is happening around them.
This leads to the local news channel head reporter (who is also taking care of her blind and deaf sister,who in the past has been brutally raped.)to decide that she cant wait for the police to get round to properly investigating,and that she is going to investigate the murders herself.
As the reporter starts to investigate around the area,she begins to notice that a neighbour of hers seems to be acting very strangely..
View on the film:
Looking at the cast,I have to admit the I feel that John Disanti gives the most memorable performance in the film as the crazed serial killer Stanley Herbert.With his small-round specs (that should have become a horror trademark)Disanti is truly chilling as Herbert,who seems to enjoy calculating the best time to destroy his victims.In the final battle,Disanti shows that whilst most people would seem to be at a huge disadvantage with a gun pointed at them,he is able to make it feel that Herbert may actually be the one with the upper hand.
With being the only one that seems to be after him,Lauren Tewes (making her film debut) gives a very good performance as news reporter Jane Harris,with Tewes giving the scenes where she is getting closer,and closer to realising the killer,a fantastic edge-of-your-seat intensity,with the risks that the character is taking.
Also in her film debut with this film is Jennifer Jason Leigh as Janes sister Tracy.Even though Leigh plays someone who hardly speaks in the film,the last twenty minutes of the film,where Tracy and Stanley are battling against each other,are given a great sense of danger,by Leigh showing how strong-minded Tracy is about surviving being out of her comfort zone.
Although the first half an hour of the film,has some very enjoyable hack"n" slash moments, (although I do have to admit,that I did smile a little when some one gets beheaded due to the sound effect sounding like someone was cutting through very smooth treacle!) the rest of the film turns into a much more gripping cat-and-mouse thriller,with sections of the film such as Jane being in the killers apartment which,although being a staple of the genre,is still strongly written and very gripping.
From the first ten minutes of the film,the main thing that caught my eyes about the start of the great screenplay by Mark Jackson and Eric L. Bloom,were the phone calls that Herbert does .Which along with being very disturbing,they seem to have inspired the threatening phone call scenes in the first Scream film (especially the first ten minute section of the film.)
Final view on the film:
A gripping cat-and-mouse horror/thriller,with a great script and a fantastic creepy performance by Disanti.
During my viewing of the movie,I was surprised to discover,that most of the film is actually a very efficient cat-and-mouse thriller.
The plot:
Over a period of a few weeks,Stanley Herbert-who seems to do his best to make sure that he stays a loner (so as not to raise any ones suspicions)starts to terrorise girls,who are also on there own.Herbert sets out tormenting the girls,by first of all ringing each of his victims up, to give them terrifying phone calls about how he is going to rape and murder them.
After having gotten the girl to become a shivering wreak,Herbert waits until the girl is on her own,so that he can grab them,and then brutally rape and kill them.With signs that there might be a serial killer on the loose in the area,the local TV news station hears about this,and decides to make this there top stories.Although as the murder count increases,it seems that the police have no idea what is happening around them.
This leads to the local news channel head reporter (who is also taking care of her blind and deaf sister,who in the past has been brutally raped.)to decide that she cant wait for the police to get round to properly investigating,and that she is going to investigate the murders herself.
As the reporter starts to investigate around the area,she begins to notice that a neighbour of hers seems to be acting very strangely..
View on the film:
Looking at the cast,I have to admit the I feel that John Disanti gives the most memorable performance in the film as the crazed serial killer Stanley Herbert.With his small-round specs (that should have become a horror trademark)Disanti is truly chilling as Herbert,who seems to enjoy calculating the best time to destroy his victims.In the final battle,Disanti shows that whilst most people would seem to be at a huge disadvantage with a gun pointed at them,he is able to make it feel that Herbert may actually be the one with the upper hand.
With being the only one that seems to be after him,Lauren Tewes (making her film debut) gives a very good performance as news reporter Jane Harris,with Tewes giving the scenes where she is getting closer,and closer to realising the killer,a fantastic edge-of-your-seat intensity,with the risks that the character is taking.
Also in her film debut with this film is Jennifer Jason Leigh as Janes sister Tracy.Even though Leigh plays someone who hardly speaks in the film,the last twenty minutes of the film,where Tracy and Stanley are battling against each other,are given a great sense of danger,by Leigh showing how strong-minded Tracy is about surviving being out of her comfort zone.
Although the first half an hour of the film,has some very enjoyable hack"n" slash moments, (although I do have to admit,that I did smile a little when some one gets beheaded due to the sound effect sounding like someone was cutting through very smooth treacle!) the rest of the film turns into a much more gripping cat-and-mouse thriller,with sections of the film such as Jane being in the killers apartment which,although being a staple of the genre,is still strongly written and very gripping.
From the first ten minutes of the film,the main thing that caught my eyes about the start of the great screenplay by Mark Jackson and Eric L. Bloom,were the phone calls that Herbert does .Which along with being very disturbing,they seem to have inspired the threatening phone call scenes in the first Scream film (especially the first ten minute section of the film.)
Final view on the film:
A gripping cat-and-mouse horror/thriller,with a great script and a fantastic creepy performance by Disanti.