Are You in the House Alone? (1978)

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

The first must-see film of the year.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

In "Are You in the House Alone?!," teenager Gail (Kathleen Beller) begins receiving threatening phone calls and notes. At first, she and her friends believe them to be just cruel pranks. As the calls and letters become more aggressive, she starts fearing for her life. Who is stalking her and why?I can't begin to tell you how tedious and slow "Are You in the House Alone?!" gets towards the end. The last 30 minutes are unbearable. The final six minutes trudged along at a snail's pace that has to be experienced to be believed. It's evident this was meant to be a social statement about rape and encouraging victims to speak out against their attackers. I'm not knocking it and think that's important. However, it would help if the movie didn't cause you to fall asleep before the message is fully delivered. Early appearances by Blythe Danner ("Meet the Parents") and Dennis Quaid ("Frequency") makes this a little easier to sit through.

A young high school student begins getting creepy phone calls which eventually leads to her being stalked in 'Are You in the House Alone?". Gail Osborne is a sweet teenage girl who begins going out with classmate Steve. Eventually, she gets a phone call from an anonymous person who does the whole heavy breathing routine. It gets worse from there as Gail gets a note in her locker stating "I'm watching you". We get our list of suspects early on... is it the creepy photography teacher, Gail's current boyfriend or her ex boyfriend? Gail takes a babysitting job in town and that's when the stalker gets close and sadly Gail is raped by this person. We know who did it, and the rest of the film shows Gail trying to prove this person did this to her.'Are You in the House Alone' is actually an important film for it's time as it tackles tough topics such a rape and women's rights. It isn't so much a horror film (like the title might make it seem) as it is a suspense/mystery movie. We spend a lot of the film trying to figure out who the stalker is. Once we find out the identity of the person, it's hard to watch Gail have to prove it to her closest friend and even the courts/police. Some of the stalking scenes were REALLY well done, and add creepiness to the movie.The acting was very well done from Kathleen Beller, Scott Colomby, Robin Mattson and a young Dennis Quaid. Where the film lacks is it's pacing. It drags on quite a bit, and focuses a lot of the time on Gail's family issues and her father who's been recently laid off of his job. Good performances by her parents Blythe Danner and Tony Bill. I recommend seeing this 70's made for TV film for sure. It's only ever been released on VHS, but is online as well. It's a slower moving movie, but definitely has it's moments7/10

This movie may not be a straight up slasher movie due to the fact that there are no deaths at all, but for a TV movie, I found this very much decent and entertaining. The opening where we see the aftermath of a high school girl beaten and raped, which really set the tone for what this movie is about and then it flashbacks to the previous events leading up to what happened.Like I said this movie is not a slasher but features several elements like the young girl getting strange phone calls, threatening notes and tense stalk scenes. However the suspense here has a very realistic feel and you do feel the raw emotions that this character is going through especially when she sees her rapist getting ready to stalk his next victim and of course we do get a list of suspects and this movie doe's display that angle well and keep you guessing throughout. While what happens is horrifying, there's not much in the way of true horror, but what we have is a pretty solid thriller with lots of build up and a great pay off thanks to its good pacing.The strongest thing about this movie is the acting which is top notch Kathleen Beller who plays the main character was very good and believable, her innocence and beauty makes you really root for her especially when she turns detective and eventually turns the tables on her attacker. Plus we get a standout performance from a fresh faced Dennis Quaid and Scott Colomby as the boyfriend also really stood out, displaying great chemistry with Gail, in fact all of the cast had great chemistry with each other, even the parents were great.All in all "Are You in the House Alone" may seem a bit dated by today's standards, but still genially creepy and frightening realistic.

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.