Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good

Konterr Brilliant and touching

Bluebell Alcock Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies

Francene Odetta It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

Coventry I should probably start by stating that I don't regret watching "Are you in the House Alone?". On the other hand, however, if I had known from beforehand that this was primarily a family melodrama rather than a psycho stalk thriller, I never even would have bothered. The least you can say is that certain things here are slightly misleading. Yours truly is a horror fan! With such a title, film poster and plot synopsis like these, I was expecting a horror/thriller but there isn't a single casualty. I'll be the first to admit there are a few suspenseful moments and, more importantly, the film features many eerie trademarks that later would be copied & pasted in countless of other (and real) slasher movies like menacing phone calls, stalkers' notes and POV camera shots. Sadly, though, that's not what the film is aiming for. Even the whole "mystery" surrounding the stalker's identity is easy to predict, as the stare in his eyes pretty much betrays the perverted rapist quite early in the flashback already. The real story is about the - incredibly cute - teenage girl Gail Osborne of whom we learn at the very beginning of the film that she was raped in her own living room. What follows is a long flashback that clarifies how Gail arrives at a new school and quickly becomes a popular student among the male population of the school; and that includes teachers and boys. She finds disturbing little notes in her school's locker and at home she receives nasty phone calls with uncomfortable silences, creepy laughter and eventually the titular question. For some bizarre reason, there's also a totally irrelevant and dull sub-plot about Gail's father having lost his job and both her parents concealing this for their almost adult daughter. The final act, taking place after the rape, is reasonably interesting but, again, it's drama instead of thrills. Kathleen Beller is an indescribably beautiful lead girl in peril, but if you want to see a truly tense film dealing with similar themes I advise you to check out either "Black Christmas" (1974) or "When a Stranger Calls" (1979)

gavin6942 A teenage girl is plagued by harassing phone calls. Her fear mounts when she is babysitting at a neighbor's home one evening and the caller rings her at that number.There seems to be an effort to get this film marketed as a horror film. IMDb says it is one, Scream! Factory is selling it as one, and the title and cover strongly suggest a horror theme. While it is certainly a situation that would be terrifying to anyone in real life, that does not make it a horror film. It is more a "crime drama" or some such thing.That being said, it is not a bad movie if you go in under proper expectations. A young Dennis Quaid gives a powerful performance, Blythe Danner does her part, and the rest of the cast is quite good. The story is fairly tight in its script.For horror fans, what may be worth pointing out is that this film actually predates "When a Stranger Calls" by a year. Although the calls in this film are not coming from inside the house, there is a similar feeling and possibly a connection (though it could just be coincidence).

rixrex The best thing going for this rather routine TV movie melodrama is spirited performances by the young stars, including a very youthful Dennis Quaid in a part that would have gone to Bruce Dern 15 years before. The movie is almost two separate movies in one, the first part leading up to the assault on the teenage female lead babysitter is a quasi-horror film not unlike the original When A Stranger Calls, which was released later. There are various suspects who may be making the terrorizing phone calls and messages, and we are in the dark until the assault. The second part, anti-climactic in a way, involves the girl recovering to be stronger and to bring the perpetrator to justice. Unfortunately this section is weaker than the first part regardless of the good intentions by the film-makers to show the difficult process of justice. The adult leads are really unspectacular and mediocre at best, and Tony Bill displays good reasons as to why he left acting to be a producer/director. There is a subplot regarding his character losing a job that really goes nowhere and was unnecessary to the main plot. Blythe Danner as the mother is often more hysterical that the teenage daughter, and comes off as hammy. She's done better work. Scott Columby is fine but could have easily been replaced by one of the other "Scott" actors of the time, either Jacoby or Baio. Alan Fudge is good, and shows why his last name was a big mistake. Where was his agent when he first started? Imagine if he and Barbara Hershey had gotten married!

lazarillo Someone should really make an effort to find more of these old 70's TV movies and release them on DVD. I've been fortunate enough to catch "When Michael Calls", "Terror on the Beach", and this one on late-night cable showings. Others like "Bad Ronald", "This House Possessed", and "Go Ask Alice" can be obtained if you don't mind spending money in the morally ambiguous world of bootleg video sellers (or, even worse, on E-bay). Others though like the the made-for-TV slasher flick "Deadly Lessons" seem to be lost forever.The 70's TV movies were not necessarily good, but they were often pretty enjoyable in a cheesy way. They were aimed at a more general audience than TV movies today (i.e. not just dumb, bored housewives) and they did not try to tackle any "issues". This movie actually kind of does tackle an issue (stalking and acquaintance rape), but it was really before it was an issue. It also has some pretty effective suspense leading up to the rape (scary notes, creepy phone calls, "Halloween"-style POV camera shots ). And instead of turning into a predictable courtroom drama after the rape, it ends on a rather ironic and somewhat cynical note. Interestingly, the movie was based on a fairly well-known young adult novel of the same name by Richard Peck (whose other book "If You Don't Look, It won't Hurt" would later provide the inspiration for the theatrical art film "Gas, Food, Lodging). As adaptations of young adult novels go, it's a hell of a lot better than "I Know What you Did Last Summer". I wouldn't pay $20 to an unscrupulous bootlegger to see this, but it's definitely worth watching if it comes on cable TV.