Mary Ann Marshall is a woman working late in her locked High-Rise office building who along with John Doe struggle to elude a killer trying to kill them.Mary Ann Marshall is a woman working late in her locked High-Rise office building who along with John Doe struggle to elude a killer trying to kill them.Mary Ann Marshall is a woman working late in her locked High-Rise office building who along with John Doe struggle to elude a killer trying to kill them.
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This movie Is bad. In the movie they never explained why the killer was killing. I mean, granted he was a psycho but even psychos need reasons, rational or not. and i think that they had john doe and her boss act too creepy. I never trusted their motives. Throughout the movie i am trying to figure out the plot, I was reading too much into it. This movie is way shallow but it has potential if they ever re-did it. it seems like the editors, in haste, cut the plot to fit the time slot. but it is very edgy. i think someone should re-do it.
Beloved character actress Kathleen "Event Horizon"/"Twilight Zone: The Movie" Quinlan is trapped in a high-rise office building by some unseen nutcase. Along comes Bruce "Re-Animator" Abbott, an industrial spy, and the two are soon playing cat-and-mouse with the would-be killer. This was a TV movie, and a darned good one for its time. The focus is totally on Quinlan, who played ladies in peril better than anyone except Nancy Allen during the 1980s and 90s. (Quinlan rarely died in her movies, one big exception being "Event Horizon" where her death scene is so realistic and harrowing it is usually trimmed for TV showings, even in today's more permissive broadcast atmosphere.) See TRAPPED for Quinlan. She was one darned sexy lady in her day.
To compare it with DIE HARD is stupid.
It is not relevant since those two movies have nothing in common except to happen in a tower. By the way, 14 HOURS directed by Henry Hathaway and THE TOWER INFERNO directed by John Guillermin & Irwin Allen are also set in a tower : so what ? To those who have seen WHEN A STRANGER CALLS- the original one directed by Walton - and his APRIL FOOLS' DAY, TRAPPED will mean what they knew already : Walton is able - technically and psychologically - to put fear on screen. Kathleen Quinlan is excellent from the beginning to the end.
When a DVD of that one ? And if it was shot in 1.66 or 1.77 or 1.85, when a 16/9 DVD, I precise ?
It is not relevant since those two movies have nothing in common except to happen in a tower. By the way, 14 HOURS directed by Henry Hathaway and THE TOWER INFERNO directed by John Guillermin & Irwin Allen are also set in a tower : so what ? To those who have seen WHEN A STRANGER CALLS- the original one directed by Walton - and his APRIL FOOLS' DAY, TRAPPED will mean what they knew already : Walton is able - technically and psychologically - to put fear on screen. Kathleen Quinlan is excellent from the beginning to the end.
When a DVD of that one ? And if it was shot in 1.66 or 1.77 or 1.85, when a 16/9 DVD, I precise ?
10desult
Really, this flick is not as bad as the 2 previous commentors would like you to believe. The killer's motive is, simply, not handed to the viewer on a silver platter. You've got to think about it. I swear it's there. And try not to compare it to Die Hard or that Anna Nicole Smith piece of cinematic garbage.
I've loved this film since the first time I watched it, back in 1989, when I was barely a teenager. It continues to surprise me like others where you just can't get everything in one viewing, and I have my own copy that I've viewed numerous times.
Sure the story line is improbable: homicidal kook and a woman are locked into a 65 story skyscraper. But try and free your mind of movie clutter and enjoy how Fred Walton (the director/writer) tells a story. Watch it alone, with the sound up.
I've loved this film since the first time I watched it, back in 1989, when I was barely a teenager. It continues to surprise me like others where you just can't get everything in one viewing, and I have my own copy that I've viewed numerous times.
Sure the story line is improbable: homicidal kook and a woman are locked into a 65 story skyscraper. But try and free your mind of movie clutter and enjoy how Fred Walton (the director/writer) tells a story. Watch it alone, with the sound up.
Caught this movie a long time ago. You have to really pay attention as there are many quiet scene that tell you a lot. There are actually three story lines going on at one time. You do find out why the killer is killing, you do find out who these people are and how the building and their jobs are all intertwined. I watch this movie at least 4 times a year, along with Dark Harbor (the flick with Alan Rickman & Norman Reedus). These movies are great as they make you pay attention and think, you have to listen to the dialog to figure everything out.Kathleen Quinlan is both beautiful and very talented. She does a great job as the woman running from the killer. Bruce Abbott is both good and talented as the spy. He can be both tough and understanding. They make a great couple on screen. They are also married in real life. As I said, love this movie, stands well on it's own.
Did you know
- TriviaA TV movie made for the USA network.
- Quotes
Mary Ann Marshall: I thought you said you didn't like violence?
'John Doe': I said I didn't believe in it. I never said I didn't like it.
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