He Knows You're Alone (1980)

Director:

Armand Mastroianni

Writer:

Scott Parker (written by)

Release Date:

12 September 1980 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

Every girl is frightened the night before her wedding, but this time... there's good reason!

Plot:

A young bride-to-be is being stalked upon by a serial killer. She gets help from a former lover, but will they manage to escape?

Plot Keywords:

Bride | Serial Killer | Boy Scout | Bathroom | Electronic Music Score

Cast

Don Scardino	...	Marvin
Caitlin O'Heaney	...	Amy Jensen
Elizabeth Kemp	...	Nancy
Tom Rolfing	...	Ray Carlton (the killer)
Lewis Arlt	...	Det. Len Gamble
Patsy Pease	...	Joyce
James Rebhorn	...	Prof. Carl Mason
Tom Hanks	...	Elliot
Dana Barron	...	Diana
Joseph Leon	...	Ralph the Tailor
Paul Gleason	...	Det. Frank Daley
James Carroll	...	Phil
Brian Byers	...	Bernie
Curt Hostetter	...	Tommy
Robin Lamont	...	Ruthie
Robin Tilghman	...	Marie
Peter Gumeny	...	Det. Thompson
John Bottoms	...	Father McKenna
Debbie Novak	...	Girl in Car
Russell Todd	...	Boy in Car
Dorian Lopinto	...	Gamble's Bride
Jamie Haskins	...	Ice Cream Vendor
Barbara Quinn	...	Dance Teacher
Laurie Faso	...	Coroner's Assistant
Anthony Pullen Shaw	...	Detective (as Anthony Shaw)
Ron Englehardt	...	Detective
Michael Fiorello	...	Detective (as Michael Fiorillo)
Steve James	...	Young Man (as Steve W. James)
Karen Evans Kandel	...	Young Woman
Gordon Keys	...	Young Cop
Suzanne Lukather	...	Professor's Wife
Michael Eiler	...	Sickle Killer
Patricia Benson	...	Guest at Party
Vic Di Milia	...	Wedding Guest
Joe Di Milia	...	Wedding Guest
Rick D'Aversa	...	Wedding Guest
Anna Feil	...	Flower Girl
Caren Mastroianni	...	Flower Girl

Directed by
Armand Mastroianni

Writing credits
Scott Parker		(written by)

Produced by
Joseph Beruh	....	executive producer
Robert Di Milia	....	co-producer
Edgar Lansbury	....	executive producer
George Manasse	....	producer
Nan Pearlman	....	co-producer

Original Music by
Alexander Peskanov
Mark Peskanov

Cinematography by
Gerald Feil		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
George T. Norris

Art Direction by
Susan Kaufman

Makeup Department
Cecilia Verardi	....	makeup artist (as Cindie Verardi)

Production Management
Robert Di Milia	....	unit production manager
Bob Millman	....	unit manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Costa Mantis	....	assistant director

Art Department
Sandy Hamilton	....	property master
Will Scheck	....	props

Sound Department
David Abramson	....	sound effects editor
Stuart Deutsch	....	boom operator
Jack Higgins	....	re-recording mixer: Magno Sound
Jane McAuley	....	sound effects editor
Rolf Pardula	....	sound mixer
Jeffrey Stern	....	sound effects editor (as Jeff Stern)
Bob Thomas	....	sound effects editor
Ken Dufva	....	foley artist (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Taso N. Stavrakis	....	special effects

Stunts
Steve James	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Dwane Arthur	....	key grip (as Duane Arthur)
Stefan Czapsky	....	gaffer
Robert Di Milia	....	camera operator: second unit
Mike Edwards	....	second assistant camera
Robert Elfstrom	....	grip (as Bob Elfstrom)
Morris Flam	....	electrician (as Morris Flamm)
Ira Holzman	....	electrician
Rose Lansbury	....	still photographer
Jacki Ochs	....	second assistant camera
Robert Paone	....	first assistant camera

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Ellen Lutter	....	wardrobe supervisor

Editorial Department
Vera Dika	....	first assistant editor
Michael Norris	....	assistant editor
Mike Norris	....	assistant editor
Bill Rosenfield	....	post-production assistant
Linda Shamest	....	dailies editor

Music Department
Joseph Lesko	....	music supervisor
Robert Stecko	....	music associate

Other crew
Tommy Allen	....	production assistant (as Tom Allen)
Vera Dika	....	script supervisor
Darrell Jonas	....	production coordinator
Bill Minet	....	production assistant
Roberta Presser	....	production office coordinator
Guilherme Rodrigues	....	production assistant
Rob Schweber	....	production assistant
Lise Seidenberg	....	production assistant

Production Companies

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Distributors

• Cinema International Corporation (CIC) (1981) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Audio Visual Enterprises (1985) (Greece) (VHS)
• Esselte Video (198?) (Finland) (video)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (VHS)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (also video)
• Warner Home Video (2004) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• After Six Formal Wear  special thanks (as After Six Formals)
• Charma Realty  special thanks
• Curtiss Candy  special thanks (as Curtis Candy Co.)
• Federal Signal  special thanks
• Formfit Rogers  special thanks
• Four Corners Florist  special thanks
• Hoffritz  special thanks
• Kingdom Sound Studios  music recorded at
• M&M Mars Co.  special thanks (as M&M/Mars Candy)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)  additional titles and opticals (as MGM)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios  rerecorded at
• New Cadenza Music  music published by
• Paratore Pictures  titles
• Renaissance Fashions  special thanks
• Richmond Memorial Hospital  special thanks
• Seaview Hospital  special thanks
• Sedutto's Ice Cream  special thanks
• Videart Opticals  opticals
• Wamsutta  special thanks
• Ward Foods  special thanks

Also Known As:

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:R | Norway:18 | UK:18 | USA:R | Iceland:(Banned) | Iceland:16 (cut) | Finland:K-18 (cut) (1981) | New Zealand:R16

Filming Locations:

Fox Theatre, Hylan Blvd., Staten Island, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

Producers George Manasse and Robert Di Milia cameo as the angry drivers that shout at Det. Gamble during the chase scene.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: In the scene where Nancy plays the record album, there are two close-ups of the album on the turntable. From the first close-up to the second close-up, the speed of the spinning record has increased, although the speed/pitch of the music remains constant.

Quotes:

[Wanting to have sex with Joyce]
Professor Carl Mason:Come on lets do it on the table.
Joyce:I told you, the table's too hard!
Professor Carl Mason:No it's not!
Joyce:Oh that's easy for you to say, I'm the one on the bottom!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Cinema Snob: Caligula: Part II (#2.29)" (2010)

Soundtrack:

I'll Never Tie You Down

Flawed slasher movie, of curiosity interest for the presence of debuting Tom Hanks.

While Psycho was one of the great films of all-time, we've all had to pay a high price ever since. The slasher genre was ignited by the phenomenal success of John Carpenter's Psycho homage "Halloween", and an interminable series of slasher movies followed in the late '70s and early '80s. Halloween II, Happy Birthday To Me, Friday the 13th, The Final Terror, Visiting Hours, Prom Night and He Knows You're Alone are just a handful of titles that spring to mind. He Knows You're Alone is a fairly forgettable example from 1980, but it has sporadic moments of suspense and is of curiosity interest as the movie debut of Tom Hanks.

A knife-wielding killer (Tom Rolfing) preys upon young brides-to-be. Years earlier, he murdered his ex-girlfriend on her wedding day and has been pursued ever since by the cop, Len Gamble (Lewis Arlt), to whom she was due to be wed. The disturbed psycho starts a new campaign of bride-brutalising, first stabbing an engaged woman in a movie theater, and then stalking resourceful young Amy Jensen (Caitlin O'Heaney, in a very winning performance), whose future husband is away on a bachelor weekend. One by one, Amy's friends fall foul of the killer, until she seeks the aid of her ex-boyfriend, oddball morgue attendant Marvin (Don Scardino), in escaping from her stalker.

Director Armand Matroianni (son of actor Marcello) borrows heavily from earlier genre entries. His build-up in the murder sequences is almost identical to Carpenter's use of lighting, music and point-of-view camera shots in Halloween. The gore is kept to a minimum (apart from a quite bloody severed-head-in-a-fishtank scene) and a greater emphasis is placed on suspense. Alas, many of the "suspenseful" moments are rather fluffed because the director makes it too obvious when the jump-out-of-your-seat moments are about to occur. Hanks has a very small role as a psychology student who gives the film's self-referential speech about why people love to be scared by horror movies. He's competent in the role, but one wouldn't have predicted from this evidence that he would go on to become a super-star. A major flaw with the film is that Tom Rolfing's killer character is supposed to be a bride killer, but he breaks his own rules on numerous occasions by hacking down victims who are not brides-to-be. In fact, some of his murders are so senseless and unmotivated that he comes across more as a rampaging killing machine than anything else. It just seems to me that films of this ilk should at least make a small amount of sense, at least on their own terms.He Knows You're Alone is a competent and forgettable slasher film... if you're a fan of the genre you'll like it, if you're not you won't.