Early Carpenter mimics Alfred Hitchcock and Dario Argento with this gialloesque thriller / horror made for TV. But make no mistake. This might be relatively bloodless. It's quite tense and chilling in parts.
How can this be you may ask? First of all the exquisite lead. Lauren Hutton plays a strong and independent woman who tries to make the most of her new life. She jokes, takes charge and is not afraid to be feminine when needed. When you first meet her you don't expect her to get startled easy. And to be fair she holds out pretty long when being stalked by an unknown creepy man who keeps invading her life. It's pretty disheartening to see a strong and fearless woman like this getting scared beyond belief. Especially since she only has one or two people who actually believe that she is in a dangerous predicament.
The scare tactics are pretty subtle but effective. Not because of jump scares or anything. But because of the realization that what you see on the screen could actually happen. I live in a flat myself and am very aware how easy it is to disappear from sight. Let alone if you live in a huge High Rise in which almost every apartment something is going on. Now there are moments where you have to suspend disbelief. In films like these that is a given. I was very willing to do this since that is what makes thrillers so much fun.
To be honest, I would have never guessed that John Carpenter had written and directed this. But if there was any doubt about his skills then this definitely would convince you. John Carpenter is a master of horror. A must watch!
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