Eyes of a Stranger (1981)

User Rating:

5.1/10   

Director:

Ken Wiederhorn

Writers:

Eric L. Bloom (writer)
Ron Kurz (writer)

Release Date:

27 March 1981 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

Sorry, your party is dead.

Plot:

A reporter suspects a creepy neighbor, who lives in the high-rise building across from hers, is a serial killer terrorizing the Miami area.

Plot Keywords:

News Anchor | Sister | Serial Killer | Deaf | Elevator

Cast

Lauren Tewes	...	Jane Harris
Jennifer Jason Leigh	...	Tracy Harris
John DiSanti	...	Stanley Herbert
Peter DuPre	...	David
Gwen Lewis	...	Debbie Ormsley
Kitty Lunn	...	Annette
Timothy Hawkins	...	Jeff
Ted Richert	...	Roger England
Toni Crabtree	...	Mona
Robert Small	...	Dr. Bob
Stella Rivera	...	Dancer
Dan Fitzgerald	...	Bartender
Jose Baramonde	...	Jimmy
Luke Halpin	...	Tape Editor
Rhonda Flynn	...	Woman in Car

Also Known As:

Die Augen eines Fremden (Austria) (West Germany) [de]
En främlings ögon (Sweden) [sv]
Gli occhi dello sconosciuto (Italy) [it]
Los ojos de un extraño (Spain) [es]
Muukalaisen silmät (Finland) [fi]
O strangalistis tou Miami xanahtypa (Greece) [el]
Yabancinin gözleri (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]

Runtime:

84 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

West Germany:18 | Australia:R | Finland:K-16 | UK:18 | USA:R | Iceland:(Banned) | Norway:(Banned) (1981-2003) (cinema release)

Filming Locations:

Miami, Florida, USA

Company:

Georgetown Productions Inc.

Trivia:

At the movie theater there is a poster for Dawn of the Dead (1978) which Tom Savini also did makeup-effects for.

Goofs:

Continuity: During one of the last scenes of the movie, a man rips Jennifer's top completely from front but during next few seconds her top is intact but later on when she goes to bathroom her top is ripped again.

Movie Connections:

References Dawn of the Dead (1978)

Decent slasher flick.

Lauren Tewes of 'Love Boat' fame stars here as a TV anchorwoman who lives with her deaf, dumb, and blind sister (Jennifer Jason Leigh, making an appealing film debut). She comes to suspect that one of her own neighbors is the serial rapist / killer stalking Miami, and takes it upon herself to catch the psycho.

With shades of "Rear Window", this creepy and sleazy little film was originally intended to be more of a straight thriller, but the producers were all too conscious of the slasher craze going on at the time, and insisted on adding the gore and nudity. Tom Savini provides the gore, although in reality it's very restrained compared to his work on such films as "Maniac", "The Prowler", and "The Burning". One major gag is an exact copy of a similar scene in "He Knows You're Alone": a severed head in a fish tank.

The film itself is actually not all that bad. Better slashers have been made, true enough, but there have also been worse. Director Ken Wiederhorn (who shows scenes from his spooky 1976 flick "Shock Waves" playing on TV sets here) establishes an eerie, uncomfortable mood, enhanced quite well by an excellent Richard Einhorn music score.

Tewes is quite acceptable in the lead, although Leigh and John DiSanti, as the lustful, disgusting cretin, are the obvious standouts.

It begins ominously enough, with one of the victims being discovered underwater by a photographer, and doesn't waste any time, providing some solid, sordid thrills from beginning to end. I definitely liked it.

7/10