Are You in the House Alone?

This 1978 TV drama/thriller is based on a novel about a teenage girl, Gail (Kathleen Beller) who becomes stalked and harassed with notes/phone calls. Soon, she comes face to face with the guy where she's battered & raped. This is a good, tense flick with a decent cast that includes Dennis Quaid (Innerspace) and Blythe Danner (Meet the Parents). The Beautiful, Beller does a good job and the film shares a bit of similarities with "When A Stranger Calls" & "Halloween." Give this a view if you like psychological dramas or thrillers.

The title is a bit misleading on this TV movie, in that we expected a horror film. What we actually get is a reasonably decent high school bullying/stalking drama, with the long-haired Kathleen Beller as the victim. The plot also deals with a rape that goes unpunished, truly edgy material for a 1970s family TV flick. Beller plays a high school senior who starts getting nasty phone calls and notes from a stalker. The adults in her life do not handle the situation particularly well, and she begins to withdraw into herself. There is no end of suspects, to boot. Blythe Danner plays her high-strung mom and Dennis Quaid is one of her fellow students. Looks like it was filmed in a real high school, which helps. But it drags after awhile, and could have been about 20 minutes shorter. Truth is, a little bit of Beller goes a long way. She was a bit exotic looking with her massive mane and big round eyes , but she was not a very good actress.

Distributor: GOODTIMES home video Plot: A pretty high school student is marked for unrelenting terror in this suspense filled made for TV movie. Gail Osborne is new in town. She makes friends, has a boyfriend and everything seems to be going her way. That is until she gets an ominous and frightening phone call while babysitting. After more and more phone calls, she is raped. throughout most of the movie, she tries to find proof that the person did rape her. Audio/Video: This 1987 VHS edition from Goodtimes stinks. There are constant lines at the bottom and top of the screen. Extras: No extras from Goodtimes home video. Final thoughts: This suspense filled made for TV movie was made in 1978, so don't expect many deaths (there are none). If you can find this movie with the Worldvision home video logo on the front, then buy it. But the Goodtimes version is pretty crappy. This can be a little boring, but if you are patient, the ending is pretty good.

Okay, I love this movie!!!!! I watched it over and over again. It is so hard to tell who the attacker is. You keep thinking it's one person, then another, then back to the first person, then another person. It is so suspense full you want to fast forward your TV to the end to see who it is. SUMMARY: Gail Osborne is raped and left at her home. She is in the hospital and begins to tell the story of how she was raped. It goes from her meeting her steady boyfriend, to her teacher who takes a liking to her, to her ex-boyfriend, all different stories, all suspects. But who did it? I love the acting, they have a lot of great talent in here. The suspense is wonderful and the settings are superb. If it comes on TV watch it. *** 1/2 stars 10/10

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!

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.

A typical TV thriller where a teenage girl named Gail is harassed by a stalker with threatening notes and phone calls. This main plot point is distracted with the sappy subplot of Gail's dating life with her boyfriend, Steve. Her complicated relationship with her parents (played by Blythe Danner and Tony Bill) is more interesting and I especially liked the performance of Blythe Danner in the mother role (including the part where she says she does not want her daughter to settle down at an early age, but to find herself first). The plot's pacing, though, is very slow and takes a long time to gain any suspenseful traction. When it does, the thrills don't usually last long. And, the title is misleading. Acting was subpar - OK to pass on this one. Grade D