Gail Osborne is a 16 year old who starts dating Steve Pastorinis who goes to the same school as her. It's also around this time that she starts to receive abusive notes stuck in the grills of her school locker and also abusive telephone calls.
For a film, let alone a TV movie to deal with an issue such as stalking in 1978 was very brave indeed as it hadn't entered the public consciousness yet and was largely an alien concept. But Are You In The House Alone? Deals with the subject very intelligently and exposes it for the vile, terrifying and horrific practice that it actually is.
But the movie also deals with other issues such as Gail's parents struggling with their marriage following her father losing his job. This again is dealt with brilliantly and feels integral to the plot rather than just feeling like padding to fill up the running time.
But Are You In The House Alone? Also deals with rape, another taboo topic for 1978. It deals with it amazingly well with discussions regarding getting the rapist to court and obtaining a conviction against him being seen as being very difficult indeed.
I love doing 31 Days of Halloween as it's a great chance to revisit horror films that I have seen in the past but also to watch films that are completely new to me. Some of these I'm really glad I took the time to watch. A small minority bowl me over as they are just so powerful and brilliant. Are You In The House Alone? Is one such film. When it ended I literally had to just sit and digest what I had just experienced and think about just how trailblazing the production was especially for that time and for the topics it depicted without any sugar coating or saccharine gloss.
Are You In The House Alone? Is a very unsettling experience as it worms it's way into your head and will stay with you long after it has finished. And it's a rare instance of a TV movie rightly finding it's way onto Blu Ray (thank you Vinegar Syndrome!)
For a film, let alone a TV movie to deal with an issue such as stalking in 1978 was very brave indeed as it hadn't entered the public consciousness yet and was largely an alien concept. But Are You In The House Alone? Deals with the subject very intelligently and exposes it for the vile, terrifying and horrific practice that it actually is.
But the movie also deals with other issues such as Gail's parents struggling with their marriage following her father losing his job. This again is dealt with brilliantly and feels integral to the plot rather than just feeling like padding to fill up the running time.
But Are You In The House Alone? Also deals with rape, another taboo topic for 1978. It deals with it amazingly well with discussions regarding getting the rapist to court and obtaining a conviction against him being seen as being very difficult indeed.
I love doing 31 Days of Halloween as it's a great chance to revisit horror films that I have seen in the past but also to watch films that are completely new to me. Some of these I'm really glad I took the time to watch. A small minority bowl me over as they are just so powerful and brilliant. Are You In The House Alone? Is one such film. When it ended I literally had to just sit and digest what I had just experienced and think about just how trailblazing the production was especially for that time and for the topics it depicted without any sugar coating or saccharine gloss.
Are You In The House Alone? Is a very unsettling experience as it worms it's way into your head and will stay with you long after it has finished. And it's a rare instance of a TV movie rightly finding it's way onto Blu Ray (thank you Vinegar Syndrome!)