Alone

'Creepy, Psychological Thrills'

'Cranks up the Tension'

'Explosive'

These comments are printed proudly on the sleeve of the DVD. Believe them at your peril. You could certainly spend the 89Mins I spent watching this doing something more worthwhile. It doesn't even manage to be creepy by accident.

I Implore you, avoid this film

If you like a good psychological thriller/serial killer movie try SEVEN, SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, BONE COLLECTOR, FALLEN. Anything but this

2/10

'Alone' is an obscure British horror/thriller that was released straight to DVD back in 2002. The movies feature a unique concept and thanks to the blue light filter everything's bathed in an eerie yet depressing atmosphere which makes this world feel colourless, dark and gives it a rather disturbing edge. But is this movie a lost gem or does it deserve to be forgotten.

The plot = Detective Hannah (John Shrapnel) & Jen (Isabel Brook) are desperately on the trail of a serial killer known only as Alex whose leaving behind a trail of dead women.

This movie is technically ambitious by using the perspective of the killer which gives this an intriguing angle and immediately draws you into their sick and twisted mind and every time this person is on screen its totally unnerving. There is also a decent amount of tension and suspense on display here and the mystery element is well done. However, there are quite a few flaws though, such as the characters they could have done with a lot more fleshing out as I didn't find them engaging enough to care and the way that it ended was severely disappointing and to be honest, I didn't even realize that it was meant to be a plot twist.

Overall 'Alone' would I call this underrated yes and no, as there are some good stuff on display here, but several plot elements could have also been handled a lot better also. So, I would call this flick an average effort all round.

I have to begin by saying that this was probably one of the least original serial killer films i've seen in a while. You can pick your cliche from many films before it, be it the killers childhood problems to the tough, seen it all before detective. That said this is still a decent film with some very nice touches by the director. The point of view perspective of the serial killer is not a new idea, yet is very well used, and there are some genuinely creepy moments throughout. Unfortunately the ending is pretty predictable but is still very well handled by the director. On the whole a watchable film.

* NO SPOILERS AHEAD *

In general: "Alone" is a movie you won't remember after a month or so, but that doesn't make it an awful movie..

After watching the whole movie, I got the same feeling I had with the "9th gate": The movie needed 10 more minutes of plot unraveling, to explain/conclude some things. It seemed as if the producer run out of funds and had to finish the film in a hurry.

That left apart, the movie contains some very nicely done camera tricks (first person perspective, memory flashbacks etc), an interesting -yet not that genuine- background of Alex (the main character), and some nice acting.

Concluding: The camera tricks are not groundbreaking, as the ones in "Matrix". The plot is not even close to "Seven". No Oscar was nominated for acting in this film. Compared to some 5-star films, "Alone" is not much to look at. It surely is not one of the best films I've seen, but not a bad film either. 6/10 for me: slightly above average. Worth watching it on TV or renting it for 1,5 euros, but nothing more.

There is a nice idea at the back of this film, and the director has assembled a talented cast.

Unfortunately the novelty of the approach wears thin and the idea - that we see only through the eyes of the killer- becomes incredibly iritating by the end of the film.

Aditonally the "twist" is predictable after about 5 minutes.

This is a shame as the actors are very talented and could undoubtedly have made a decent fist of the role given half a chance.What a wasted opportunity!

Technical details are excellent and the editing and sound design are superb.Unfortunately the same cannot be said of the movie.