Meurtre au 43eme étage

I couldn't believe my luck when I stumbled on to this movie at a local video store in Iceland. It had subtitles and everything. What a find! As many of you know, this is the "lost" John Carpenter movie, and it's nothing short of fantastic. It plays like an homage to the likes of Dario Argento and Alfred Hitchcock, although the Hitchcock influences are more apparent here.

Lauren Hutton moves into a fancy apartment building and starts receiving mysterious phone calls and presents. And we, as the audience, know that this stalker lives in the building across from hers and that he's watching her every move.

Although not much actually happens here, the film's gradual buildup to a terrifying finale is nothing short of brilliant, orchestrated by a very fresh John Carpenter at the height of his creativity.

The cinematography (especially the POV's) makes one think of Dario Argento but the atmosphere (and storyline) reeks of Hitchcock. John Carpenter has admitted to the fact of having been inspired by both.

I strongly recommend this film. If you can locate it, that is.

I never expected that a TV movie like this early work from John "Thrillmaster" Carpenter could be thrilling and excellent as this one was made. Thanks Mr Carpenter. Excellent entertainment and terrific conclusion.

Leigh Michaels (Lauren Hutton) moves into a beautiful apartment building in LA. She also gets a new job, makes friends with lesbian coworker Sophie (Adrienne Barbeau) and makes a new boyfriend with charming Paul Winkless (David Birney). But she starts getting threatening phone calls and letters by a man who seems to know her every move. Sophie and Paul try to help her but they can't and it seems he's getting more and more dangerous.

A good movie for Capenter that's obviously made for TV--there are blackouts every 20 minutes or so. It's not as good as "Halloween" but how could it be? It's more like Hotchcock's "Rear Window" than anything else. It's well-directed by Carpenter with a few nicely placed scenes that will make you jump. The script is very good too with believable characters and a fairly intricate plot. Also it's unusual that Carpenter got a lesbian character in the movie. There's nothing wrong with that at all--it was just a fairly gutsy move for a 1978 TV movie. Hutton is surprisingly very good in her role. You slowly see her character crumble under the pressure. Barbeau is also excellent in her role. Only Birney is off--he seems a little uncomfortable in his role. Still this is a good suspense film from Carpenter. Well worth catching.

John Carpenter's "Someone's Watching Me!" is a stylish thriller and I don't care if it's supposed to be heavily influenced by Hitchcock. Point is, Carpenter made a very decent thriller. You can clearly see there was a young director with a lot of talent at work here. The way he makes the camera move and how he chooses his angles. Good stuff. Even though the film doesn't really move along at a fast pace, it never gets boring. Carpenter uses good timing to inject certain scenes with a lot of suspense and he keeps the whole thing steadily going until the rather abrupt, but solid ending (with a very short & sweet – well not that sweet – climax). Decent lead by Lauren Hutton and a fun supporting roll by Adrienne Barbeau as her lesbian colleague. Someone will be watching this film again some time in the future. Someone else will be watching it too, because it's a Carpenter film I'll recommend to anybody who wants to hear about it.

The TV director Leigh Michaels (Lauren Hutton) moves from New York to the fancy apartment building Arkham Tower in Los Angeles to forget a relationship. She is hired by a local television and befriends the lesbian assistant Sophie (Adrienne Barbeau). Then she dates the philosophy professor Paul Winkless (David Birney) and starts a relationship with him. Leigh is a woman that likes to joke and out of the blue she receives gifts and strange phone calls. Soon she realizes that a stranger is stalking her driving her mad with phone calls, gifts and letters. Leigh and Paul decide to go to the police but the police inspector tells that he cannot do anything to help her. Leigh decides to investigate the opposite tower block, she witness the stranger killing Sophie. She calls the police but no one but Paul believes her. What can she do?

"Someone's Watching Me!" is one of the first movies by John Carpenter and homage to Alfred Hitchcock's "Rear Windown". Despite the low budget since it is made for television, the story holds the attention of the viewer until the last scene. The cat-and-mouse game between the stalker and Leigh is tense and full of suspense with great performance of Lauren Hutton. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Alguém Me Vigia" ("Someone's Watching Me")

Note: On 12 July 2020, I saw this film again.

Note: On 24 February 2025, I saw this film again.