111) Hitchcock (2012)

"But what if someone really good made a horror picture?" 

Director

Sacha Gervasi

Cast

Anthony Hopkins - Alfred Hitchcock

Helen Mirren - Alma Reville

Toni Collette - Peggy Robertson

Scarlett Johansson - Janet Leigh

Danny Huston - Whitfield Cook

James D'Arcy - Anthony Perkins

Michael Wincott - Ed Gein 

I don't know where I was or what I was doing in November of 2012 that made me completely miss the biopic "Hitchcock." How'd I miss this for so long? How did I not know about this in 2012? Or, is my memory failing me as I did know about it, and then simply forgot until recently. This movie's whole production and release is just a big mind trip for me, like one of those "Mandela effects" the kids are always talking about these days. 
Through some episode of pure and acute inattentiveness, I had it in my head that "Hitchcock" was released in 2020 or 2021. I was also under the impression that, like so many other movies released during this time, the pandemic had thrown it off the radar.
While "Hitchcock" isn't a horror flick in itself, it is a biographical movie about one of the most notable thriller movie directors, and one of the most iconic and respected horror movies ever made. So, I'm including it on this horror forum. 
The film begins just after director Alfred Hitchcock (Anthony Hopkins) releases his movie "North by Northwest" to high praise and acclaim. 
Being up there in age, a reporter asks him at the movie premier if he has plans to retire. 
This sparks in him a desire to make a movie that'll top and out-perform his previous works. 
There are two movie offers given to him - "Casino Royale" and "The Diary of Anne Frank" - which Hitchcock turns down. 
The idea for his next movie comes as he's reads Robert Bloch's novel "Psycho" which is loosely based on the horrific true life murders of Ed Gein. 
Hitchcock is determined to turn "Psycho" into a movie despite protests from studio executives, as well as the censors. 
Hitchcock puts his mind fully into the psychology of the story. He even tries to mentally picture what type of person Ed Gein (Michael Wincott) is, and what must have been going through his mind when committed his horrible crimes. 
Hitchcock tries to persuade his colleagues to be on-board with his plans to make this horror picture, as well as the hard-nosed executives at Paramount Studios. They refuse to finance this picture, so Hitchcock says he'll finance it himself, and get his television crew who shoot his program "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" to work on the movie. Paramount says they'll distribute "Psycho" under those circumstances. He also has to persuade censor Geoffrey Shurlock (Kurtwood Smith) of the Motion Picture Production Code to allow the distribution of "Psycho."

Even his wife, Alma (Helen Mirren), is not particularly enthusiastic about "Psycho" but she still stands by his side on it. 
Hitchcock casts his stars, Janet Leigh (Scarlett Johansson) and Anthony Perkins (James D'Arcy), in the lead roles. 

Anthony Hopkins as Alfred Hitchcock in "Hitchcock."

At this same time, Alma agrees to work with writer Whitfield Cook (Danny Huston) on a screenplay he's writing. It's clear that his intentions with Alma extend farther than his being a mere writing partner. 
This makes Hitchcock jealous to the point were he asks her if they're having an affair. 
After reconciling with each other, Alma works firmly beside her husband on his movie. 
When they finish, and the movie brings in the results Hitchcock aimed for, we're clued in on what his next picture is going to be. 
When it comes to biopics, I've often said on this blog that I prefer those that focus on one aspect of a subject's life rather than cover their entire lifespan in two-hours. It leaves the audience thinking about one particular event or aspect of that subject which makes them worth earning their own biographical motion picture. Often we hear about particular events that surround various notable people. Watching those events depicted helps put those stories into a clearer perspective. It's interesting in itself. An entire life span can be written well into a motion picture, but it then runs the risk of losing its focusing and being too long.
I appreciate "Hitchcock" doing just that. It tries to capture what kind of person Hitchcock was by taking this one period of time and turning it into a story. 
We're given Alfred Hitchcock the director, the husband, and the individual.
Still, "Hitchcock" doesn't impress me much with its depiction of the famous director making one of his most iconic films. His personal life is more interesting while the movie making part of the story is underwhelming. "Pyscho" was released in 1960. It was a period when some faint vestiges of  moral decency still existed in Hollywood. It wasn't much, but it was there. So, the only interesting part about watching this movie depict Hitchcock trying to make "Pyscho" is the amount of pushback he receives because of the boundaries he tries to cross. Regardless, he has his mind and heart set on this project so much that he's willing to put up the money himself. This means he and Alma has to make some sacrifices in their personal lives just to get a movie filmed. Outside of that, everything else is business as usual in the movie making process.
Like all other directors, Hitchcock has a unique style of movie making. He chose leading ladies who were pleasant on the eyes. In this case, he casts Janet Leigh played well by Scarlett Johansson. 
He would have his main characters mimic the audience reactions to create suspense. He also kept the stories simple and avoided clichés as best he could. 
While watching "Hitchcock" the depictions of his techniques didn't stand out. One scene shows him filming the famous shower scene in "Psycho." 
As he's directing Leigh to scream while she's being stabbed, she's not giving the performance he wants. So, he grabs the knife from the Norman Bates character, and starts swinging and thwarting it at her. This time, Leigh is truly terrified and starts screaming in true fear. Then Hitchcock stops and yells "cut." That was the highlight of the movie's portrayal of Hitchcock's directing techniques as far as "Psycho" is concerned.  

Scarlett Johansson, Anthony Hopkins, and Helen Mirren.

Helen Mirren helps hold the film together. She adds some true human warmth to the story as she's sandwiched between Hopkin's portrayal of Hitchcock's monotone voice and demeanor, and his indifferent persona. His passions are in his actions while his his voice and body language are drab and several notches below uninteresting. On the other side of him is business driven Hollywood, with its eccentric actors, and pervy screenplay writer, Whitfield Cook.
Hopkins captures Hitchcock's personality and passion as well as he can. Even then, I sense Hopkins channeling a bit of the personality of his former character, Hannibal Lecter from "Silence of the Lambs." Faint, but it's there.
His emotions come out when he suspects Alma is having an affair. It spills into his work, and explains his action in the scene were he directs Leigh in the shower scene.  
"Hitchcock" tries to be huge, and has a fantastic cast which includes Ralph Macchio and Toni Collette, but it ends up telling us very little. As a horror fan, I would have loved more story about "Psycho" and the reactions it led to. Otherwise, there's not a lot I learned about Hitchcock and the absolutely classic horror movie he made. I can't say the movie fully accomplished what I'm guessing it set out to do. What a shame.

110) He Knows You're Alone (1980)

"No, Frank. He's back. He's giving me a second chance."

Director
Armand Mastroianni

Cast
Caitlin O' Heaney - Amy Jensen
Don Scardino - Marvin Travis

Elizabeth Kemp - Nancy
Patsy Pease - Joyce

Tom Rolfing - Ray Carlton
James Rebhorn - Prof. Carl Mason
Paul Gleason - Det. Frank Daley
Lewis Arlt -  Det. Len Gamble
Tom Hanks - Elliot

Did you, reader, ever stop and ask yourself, "Self, what was Tom Hanks's first movie role?" 
I asked myself that question a while ago. And wouldn't you know...his first movie appearance is in a slasher flick called "He Knows You're Alone" released in 1980. 
So, I looked for it, found it, and watched it.
Hanks doesn't play a big role in this first movie of his. And actually, his part is completely unnecessary. 
Figuring that out, I couldn't help but wonder if Hanks, back when he was working on this movie, pondered what direction his acting career would go from there. 
He went from a generally pointless side-character in "He Knows You're Alone" to a huge celebrity that has played notable people such as Fred Rogers, Jim Lovell, Capt. Richard Phillips, Chelsey "Sully" Sullenberger, and Walt Disney.
Incidentally, the next two movies Hanks stars in after this are "Splash" (1984) and "Bachelor Party" (1984). Large oaks from little acorns grow!
"He Knows You're Alone" centers on a young bride-to-be and a maniacal serial killer of brides-to-be. 
The movie begins as a bride is murdered hours before her wedding by her dejected and jealous ex-boyfriend, Ray Carlton (Tom Rolfing), whom she broke up with for her current fiancé. 
Afterwards, he begins a string of murdering young women engaged to be married. 
The next victim is a young girl named Marie who's at a horror movie with her best friend. In the middle of the movie, she goes to use the bathroom. On her way there, Marie thinks someone is following her. 
Worried, she gets back to her seat and tells her friend who shrugs it off as the horror movie messing with her mind. 

A man sits right behind Marie, slowly pulls out a knife, and stabs her through the seat. She slumps over dead and into her friends lap. 
The killer happens to be Carlton, who escapes into the night.
He travels by bus to Staten Island where he overhears a university student named Amy Jensen (Caitlin O'Heaney) chattering about her upcoming wedding as she says goodbye to her fiancé Phil (James Carroll) and his buddies as they leave for an extended bachelor party vacation.
Carlton gets off the bus and starts to stalk Jensen. 
He begins murdering people associating with her including her dressmaker, her best friend Joyce (Patsy Pease) and her university professor, Carl Mason (James Rebhorn), whom Joyce is having an affair with, a couple of pet goldfish, and her other friend, Nancy (Elizabeth Kemp). 

Tom Rolfing and Caitlin O' Heaney in "He Knows You're Alone"

Nancy recently started dating Elliot (Tom Hanks) - a jogger whom she often sees jogging along a forest trail. 

Meanwhile, Jensen's old boyfriend Marvin (Don Scardino) wants to hook back up with her, and tries to convince her not to marry Phil. Rather than grow angry and drive him off, Jensen feels bad for Marvin and treats him kindly despite his encouragement to call off the wedding.
The police are trailing Carlton, trying to figure out who specifically he's going after next. 

After investigating the dressmaker's murder scene, one of the investigators obtains a clue that points to Amy Jensen as his potential next target.
Jensen meanwhile sees Carlton in her backyard one evening, and quickly figures out she's being stalked. 
Pretty soon, the killer has her and Marvin trapped in the morgue where Marvin works. The police need to get to Carlton first before he gets to Jensen. 

"He Knows You're Alone" not only marks Hank's initial film role, it's also the directorial debut for director Armand Mastroianni. 

He went on to direct other under-the-radar horror films such as "The Clairvoyant" (1982), "The Supernaturals" (1986), and "Cameron's Terror" (1988). He also directed a few episodes of T.V.'s "Tales from the Darkside", "Friday the 13th: The Series" and one episode of "The Dead Zone."

"He Knows You're Alone" has decent enough production value, but the plot is substandard. 
The story feels like it was made by someone who watched a ton of horror movies but never wrote a story in their life, and then decided to write a movie using all the tropes they've seen in horror movies. It has a killer who moves quickly all over town and is always present in the shadows. There's the cop named Frank, at least one dumb character, a main character who stupidly puts herself in harm's way, and the bad guy doesn't die that easily. At least the phone works when its a matter of life and death, and the car is able to start.
Some of the shots, such as a scene with Jensen walking along a sidewalk with Carlton lurking nearby as well as some POV shots from the killer's perspective seem inspired by John Carpenter's successful 1978 slasher flick, "Halloween."   

The soundtrack as well seems a little similar to that from "Halloween."

But to the movie's credit, it doesn't attempt to be a "Halloween" rip-off. It works to be its own movie.  
The opening doesn't waste time building the uneasiness and apprehension. It turns out to be a scene from a movie. A twist done in horror films several other times before.

The horror factor comes and goes. The most horrific scene, outside of the dead goldfishes, is a scene where Jensen finds Nancy's severed head in the fish tank. 

What the movie does to keep the trepidation lingering from scene to scene is tacky and cheap - eerie music, predictable clues, blown out fuses, and someone hiding right off camera. Most of the horror content induces nothing more than eye-rolling.

"He Knows You're Alone" tries hard to be a horrific thriller, only to come out as an underwhelming, predictable (in the worst way) slasher flick. It's lucky enough to carry the claim of being the first movie with now superstar Tom Hanks.

Elizabeth Kemp as Nancy, and Tom Hanks as Elliot.