Alone

Directed by John Hyams, this lean thriller works more or less in the ways it's supposed to, but it also has a strong sense of vicious cruelty, and it may leave a bad taste in your mouth. Hyams has a strong visual style and a good sense of rhythm, and he puts all of the story's bits and pieces together in just the right way to create white knuckles. But given that the entire story of Alone is about a relentless, psychopathic stalker who's trying to harm an innocent (and already victimized) woman, it just doesn't sit right. Similar but far more controversial exploitation classics like The Last House on the Left and I Spit on Your Grave at least gave their female characters a chance to fight back. In Alone, Jessica is a helpless victim for 95% of the movie.

What's more, viewers are asked to forgive some strange coincidences and silliness. First, it's totally random that Jessica should come upon the slow-driving psychopath in the first place. Does he drive slowly all the time in the hopes that solo women drivers will try to pass him? And how does he always know where she is? How did he manage to cause her eventual car crash in order to capture her? And why is his phone not passcode-protected? Given that Alone starts off by recalling Steven Spielberg's early horror movie Duel, perhaps it should have embraced its killer's supernatural qualities rather than pretend that this is all just happening by chance. It's a shame that lack of care brings down an otherwise well-made thriller.