Recent Reviews
DVD Review: A Stranger Is Watching
By HammerFanatic
Feb 16, 2006, 13:27

In 1982, director Sean S Cunningham (Friday the 13th) and writers Earl Mac Rauch (The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai) and Victor Miller (Friday the 13th) adapted the Mary Higgins Clark novel, A Stranger Is Watching for the big screen. With a cast that included Kate Mulgrew (Star Trek: Voyager), Rip Torn (The Beastmaster), James Naughton (Cat's Eye), Frank Hamilton (Tales From the Darkside/TV Series), Maggie Task (The Verdict) and Shawn von Schreiber.

One night, young Julie Peterson (Shawn von Schreiber) witnesses the brutal rape and murder of her Mother at the hands of a delivery boy. Two years later, as the execution is set for the murderer, Julie, her Father, Steve (James Naughton) and live-in caretakers, Mr. and Mrs. Lufts (Frank Hamilton and Maggie Task) are slowly trying to put their lives back on track. Steve is the editor of a large news magazine and has fallen in love with newscaster Sharon Martin (Kate Mulgrew), who is reporting on the pros and cons of executions. On an evening when the Lufts are going out to the theatre, Sharon is coming for dinner and Steve is held up, young Julie is left in the house alone. Soon, it's very apparent that Julie isn't alone and once Sharon arrives, both are taken captive by Artie Taggart (Rip Torn). Taggart takes the two into New York City and they are held captive beneath Grand Central Station. A few attempts at escape are made by Sharon and Julie, but in the end, both are brought back to the room under Grand Central Station and held there with a homemade bomb. Taggart leaves the two and goes about the business of arranging to receive the ransom and makes contact with his accomplice. What may or may not come as a surprise to the viewer is the ending and a revelation concerning the rape and murder of Mrs. Peterson.

A Stranger Is Watching is presented in anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) and overall, the video quality is quite nice, I really didn't detect any issues with the video or audio for the disc. Available language choices for the disc are English and French with English, French and Spanish subtitles. Sadly, the only bonus feature is the theatrical trailer.

I saw this film several years ago, but sometimes confuse this film with other similar titles of the day. It's not a bad film, it's got a real 70s and 80s look and feel to it and strangely enough, the 70s and 80s can look so dated, these days! The story for the film seems like so many we've seen before and while the cast is pretty decent, the film seems to lack the punch that you'd expect from a story line such as this. I've never read the novel this film is based on, but I have heard the book is much better, so perhaps that's an avenue to explore, as well. Don't go into this viewing expecting anything like, Friday the 13th, blood is kept in a minimum and it appears director Cunningham was trying to build more tension and suspense than a gore-soaked film and it does have a moment or two of suspense, but not nearly enough to carry the film. I like the effort and would probably watch this film, again, but you definitely need to go into this viewing with certain expectations and they can't be too high.

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