He Knows You’re Alone is a horror/thriller movie from 1980. It’s one of those films I chose from the video store during my youth. I never watched it though. I think that the cover art was kind of dull and the title, He Knows You’re Alone, wasn’t “cool” enough for a teenager. And to be completely honest, many times, when renting movies in those days, a cool title and great cover art made all the difference. Maybe it still does? Without good packaging you probably can’t sell anything. Not a slasher and not a loaf of bread.

I would argue that He Knows You’re Alone is in essence a slasher. It may be disguised as a serial killer police movie or investigation, and there might be slightly more involvement from the police during the course of the film than usual. Slashers can be very isolated movies in the sense that everything that matters happens here and now. If the killer is caught, it all happens after all the killings have been committed. Slashers also usually have masked, mysterious killers.

Now, the killer in He Knows You’re Alone might not be masked, but he is kind of mysterious. We get a possible explanation to who it might be and what the motive is, but there are not many answers to be given. It’s more like a mysterious figure going around and killing women about to be married. At least that seems to be the modus operandi.

Inspirations and similarities

Name: He Knows You’re Alone - 1980
Rating: 2.5

There are hints all over the place that He Knows You’re Alone is very inspired by John Carpenter’s Halloween. There’s the music for one thing. It may not be as iconic as the Halloween theme, but I think there are obvious similarities. There’s also other things, like the mysterious disappearance of the guy who in one shot is staring at a stalked woman, and in the next he’s just gone.

There’s also similarities to Friday the 13th I think, but more on an academic and theatrical level. They both have actors in them that later become really famous. Friday the 13th had Kevin Bacon and He Knows You’re Alone has a young Tom Hanks. Not that he’s in it very much; there are just a couple of scenes really. But like they usually do, they incorporate this into the marketing strategy. They make a point of that particular name in the marketing, nowadays at least. It’s like with George Clooney in Return of the Killer Tomatoes.

I think it’s kind of entertaining from time to time. It’s not particularly suspenseful and the acting isn’t very good. I feel that it’s way too predictable and you can tell that it’s not experienced writers and direction here. Nor has it reached the cult status that other slashers from the time period have accomplished. Films like The Burning, The Prowler and My Bloody Valentine. It has remained relatively anonymous. I’m glad I finally took the time to see it to add it to my frame of reference, but it’s also quite forgettable.

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