Review of The Lonely One

Joanna Cassidy stars in this surprisingly suspenseful tale of a resident boogeyman called "the lonely one" who seems to be considered responsible for murdering single women at night, so it is encouraged for all the females not attached to be in their homes at a certain time. Cassidy stubbornly refuses to abide by the rules but her decision to walk home late one night through a ravine (a path of multi-leveled steps leads off the neighborhood sidewalks into it) could be quite dangerous on her part while her best friends (played by Sheila McCarthy and Maggie Harper) constantly request her to stay home with them instead of brave the great unknown alone to her own house. What this little tale does well is produce the chilling quality of being alone at night while on the way home without others walking along side you. The mystery of who the killer is makes even a seemingly helpful police officer potentially the 'lonely one'. The lovely redheaded Cassidy is a nice choice for the lead as she is more than capable in showing a woman who appears to be unafraid and courageous but harbors a lurking fear that soon surfaces when it could be too late to receive assistance from others willing to offer it earlier. The established fear in the town, particularly the women, is well executed…it is all too obvious that the killer has produced a shockwave that has left the female community on edge. Superb use of lemonade in a glass to ring the bell that the killer is in the midst. Excellent nighttime sequences and a funny cinema scare really hit a home run that "The Lonely One" knows how to develop chills. Solid episode of The Ray Bradbury Theater is simply plotted but directed well thanks to an all too real scenario plausible if you just think of the recent discoveries of bodies in Long Island…even in the smallest, less ominous towns a killer (or killers) dwells.

The discovery of a woman's body at the bottom of the ravine during the day, two old ladies questioning the sanity of Cassidy in her insistence on going to the night show at the movies, rustling in the distance and all around as all three lady friends walk home, and the emergence of a cop willing to walk with Cassidy all really build upon the denouement which amusingly states that even in the comforts of home may not be enough to escape.