Are You in the House Alone?

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.

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!

A teen attends high school in the Los Angeles area (Kathleen Beller) wherein she starts dating a guy (Scott Colomby), but she's harassed by an unknown stalker. Blythe Danner and Tony Bill play the parents while Robin Mattson and Dennis Quaid are on hand as fellow students.

"Are You in the House Alone?" (1978) is a made-for-TV coming-of-age drama/mystery with elements of horror in the stalking & assault mold. In other words, it's real-life horror as opposed to a cartoonish assailant with a mask and a machete butchering people. It borrows a little from "Black Christmas" (1974) and is the precursor to "When a Stranger Calls" (1979), but don't expect a slasher or any gory, over-the-top horror.

This is perhaps the best movie to behold Beller's youthful, winsome beauty. Meanwhile Blythe Danner is attractive at 34 during shooting. On the other side of the gender spectrum, it is interesting to see Quaid when he was just starting out in the biz.

As far as whom the assailant turns out to be, I wasn't able to figure it out, which was a pleasant surprise. I can't say much else because I don't want to give anything away, but the flick drives home its point effectively while entertaining the viewer (as far as this genre goes).

The film runs 1 hour, 36 minutes, and was shot in Los Angeles, including Ahmanson Mansion, Hancock Park, with a sequence of Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco.

GRADE: B.

I think my issue with this film is that I was expecting a very different movie, but I also think it makes sense to expect a different one. It's called "Are You in the House Alone?" and is apparently about a babysitter being stalked by an unknown assailant, but that's really about 10 minutes of the running time. Most of this film is a high school drama about this girl's teen angst and her current boyfriend ... and she receives the odd anonymous note leading into the 10 minutes of not very effective horror. This is not for me.

This TV movie is surprisingly good about a girl being stalked at school. I used to watch a lot of these movies as a kid and this one stands out as one of the best. It has an unpredictable ending and holds your attention throughout. Highly recommended if you get the chance to see it!