Eyes of a Stranger (1981)

A reporter protects her disabled sister from a psychopathic killer. From the producers of "Friday the 13th" comes this terrifying suspense thriller, featuring "Love Boat" star Lauren Tewes as a newscaster who stalks a brutal killer. A nerve jangling film audiences will never forget. Also starring a young Jennifer Jason Leigh ("Single White Female," "Rush").

Above Average 80's Horror

Made back in the early 1980's, on the heels of the slasher film resurgence, Eyes of a Stranger did it's best to break away from the endless Halloween clones, while still keeping up a level of tension.

It stars the attractive Lauren Tewes (from Love Boat) as a reporter trying to track down and verify the identity of a ruthless killer, played by John DiSanti, who lives near her. Where this movie differs so much from other horror of the era is that DiSanti's identity, and face, are never hidden. You know who he is, and that he did it, from the get-go, giving us more of a suspense film than a true slasher. Tewes is convinced he's the killer, but no one will believe her (duh, of course not) and there is a very tense confrontation between she and her blind and deaf sister (well played by a very young Jennifer Jason Leigh), and DiSanti.

Ken Wiederhorn had worked on PBS before this film, and apparently used this film and genre, like so many others, to try to get a bigger break into Hollywood. In all, there are some strong moments of tension, the effects are good, especially for the day (FX master Tom Savini), and Tewes surprised a lot of people with her tough character (not nearly as sweet and pure as Julie on the Love Boat), but in the end the film never generated much interest and flopped, so it's good to see it on DVD, uncut, and in widescreen format too. October 24, 2007

An OK Thriller/Horror Film

With the title "Eyes of a Stranger" and reading the synopsis of the story, I immediately thought that this had the makings of another "When a Stranger Calls" rip-off, and I really had my doubts about it. But after viewing, I was surprised that this was better than I had expected. Not to say that this is a great movie, but it does have its moments. First of all, I don't think you can classify this film an actual horror movie. It's more like a thriller with horror elements in it. Some of the kill scenes have a "slasher" feel to them and there is some, but not a lot of blood and violence in the film. The basic story of the movie is, for the most part, well written. Its a story about a newscaster who is attempting to find and catch a rapist/killer in Miami where she lives. She beings to find clues and determine the killer's identity, only to find out that the killer has found out about her as well! With a story like this, its easy to see that this film is indeed much more of a thriller than horror. And though the overall story is pretty good, there are a certain few plot points that I can't help to cringe at when I see them since they just don't add up when you think about it. I felt the acting was pretty much on par, and the then very young Jennifer Jason Leigh did a decent job in her role as a deaf and blind girl. As for the movie itself, I just felt it could have been much better. While watching the first 30 minutes or so, I really thought I had found a gem of a movie here. But as the film continued, the tension or suspense didn't build the way it should have. Reasons for this was that towards the end of the film, you already knew the killer's identity and pretty much knew what was going to happen to the characters. Simply put, the film was just too predictable. Nevertheless, this film isn't bad, but its nothing to get excited about. In the end, you're left with a half-descent thriller that's worth a handful of viewings. October 23, 2007

Forgotten GEM

Eyes Of a Stranger is a forgotten gem that is a must see and must have for the Slasher collector. A young Jennifer Jason Leigh is introduced in this movie it also stars Lauren Tewes from Love Boat.
The story is good and so is the acting, the gore is up to par for the early 80's slasher's.
I wasn't bored for a minute. It takes you right to the meat from the beginning till the end.
I was so glad to find this lost treasure and I couldn't wait to order it.Watch out for the FISH TANK~!!!
October 19, 2007

2.5 STARS: "I'm going to kill you, Debbie." -The Killer

"Eyes Of A Stranger" is a pretty decent straight-forward horror-thriller hybrid that delivers what it sets out to do. Somewhat in the mold of a slasher (although with a different flavor), "Eyes Of A Stranger" is a story about a serial rapist-murderer and one woman's efforts to stop him before he gets too close to home. The kills are not too bad for the time period that this movie originated from, the acting is actually pretty decent and the script is pretty good. However, "Eyes" is definitely more of a suspense-thriller than horror movie with little in the way of scares, but it's still effective as a horror movie to some degree just by the very nature of the subject matter involved, although not to the extent that I would like. There is an atmospheric element to this movie at times, but it is not enough to create a sense of horror in the audience as an effective pure horror movie would be able to do. Still, that's not to take anything away from the movie's merits because the fact is that the movie is pretty good for what it is. It's just not a great movie by any stretch of the imagination, no matter how you classify the movie or what genre you assign it to.

The only real criticisms that I would have would be the fish bowl scene which was highly unrealistic and the fact that the movie could have been a little more mysterious and much more suspenseful by hiding the killer's identity as this would have created a fear of the unknown in the viewer/audience. It is this fear of the unknown that often elevates a movie to horror status and is very unsettling to the audience. Sometimes, when you give the audience too much information about the killer and his/her motives, it dilutes the horror element involved...I think that's true in this movie to a certain extent.

Still, that said, "Eyes Of A Stranger" is a pretty good horror-thriller with just enough to it to satisfy fans of this type of movie although it really isn't very scary at all save for maybe a scene or two here and there. For whatever reason, "Eyes" struggles to build and sustain a sense of fear and/or horror in the viewer. I think this has a lot to do with the lack of mystery regarding the killer. However, if you like thrillers, I would definitely pick it up, but if you're looking for a horror movie like I was (the Twisted Terror Collection name is misleading for these movies), you might not be entirely satisfied. Still, one could do a lot worse as is well-documented in my reviews. All and all, "Eyes" is not a bad movie and is actually pretty decent for its type. I officially give "Eyes Of A Stranger" 2.5 STARS which indicates that it is a decent to pretty good movie with some entertainment value. October 15, 2007

A Cult Classic!

I don't believe It! My ex-rental vhs tape of this movie is in need of repair from playing it so much. Made in 1981, this is what a true "Horror" film is to me. This is something that could actually happen to anyone. Although maybe not so much of a "Horror" film, more of a Thriller, is little known about and often overlooked by most people. I never thought Warner Bros would release this on dvd. A few months back, I had found this on [...] to download and buy as a windows media video file to own. To my surprise...It was the UNCUT version with missing gore intact which my vhs copy makes it look like a heavily edited TV version. As the gore is heavily cut on the original vhs release. I had read that there was an alternate version of this film on imdb.com with the gore in it back in 2004. I even emailed special FX artist Tom Savini whose behind the gore on this film, and asked him if he knew how to obtain a copy, or give me any info. He emailed me back and said he had no clue. As the previous 1st reviewer says it's Uncut which I hope it's the same one i got off of cinemanow.com which there's was from the actual film print in widescreen and an excellent digital transfer. This movie grips you and the music in the film is pretty damn creepy to me at least. This is a must have if you like such other films as Wes Craven's 1972 cult classic "Last House On The Left" or Meir Zarchi's "I Spit On Your Grave" (1978) and another long lost film probably best kept that way Jim Sotos' "Forced Entry" (1975) as it's not as good. Also I'd recommend snapping up "The Burning" (1981). Which has been banned in America for a long long time and heavily cut on the THORN EMI VHS Release in America back in 1981. While The Burning does have that cheesy music I say it's a much more better take on Friday The 13th as far as the acting goes. Although I am a huge Friday 13th fan. So snap this one up, you won't regret it if you're into serial killer slasher films. October 11, 2007

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