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Title: A Stranger Is Watching (2005) Starring: Kate Mulgrew, Rip Torn, James Naughton, Shawn von Schreiber, and Barbara Baxley Director: Sean S. Cunningham Rating: R (Restricted) Runtime: 92 minutes Avg. Score: 5 Submit Comment Hits: 19

Review of A Stranger Is Watching

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Comments for A Stranger Is Watching

• Posted on 2008-03-13
  A Movie about a Murder & kidnapping on Long Island that moves into the tunnels of Grand Central
  
  I was working when this Movie was being filmed and I saw first hand the Drama and Crime as they went "deep" into the tunnels of Grand Central Terminals and the areas not really known to the public. This Movie is about a murder in Long Island and a witness to this murder who places the blame on the wrong person. The husband of the victim works for a News Magazine and years later as they are going to execute the wrong man another News company, T.V. Division reporter who also is dating the widowed Newsman decides that she wants to look at the angle of the murder and try to prove that he is not the one. Action Movie and a little mystery involved as who reall is involved. Great Cast Kate Mulgrew T.V. News cast Reporter and Rip Torn as the real murderer
  Score: 5
• Posted on 2007-04-07
  Kate Mulgrew the best
  
  Sorry for my english. I'm Italian and living in italy.
  
  I'm very like this film.
  Suspence and good actors. Kate Mulgrew is fantastic, intense and expressive.
  I'm like very much Rip Torn and von Schreiber.
  Kate Mulgrew and von Schreiber they have a beautiful feeling.
  
  Loved it.
  
  Score: 5
• Posted on 2007-03-17
  A Pretty Good Movie
  
  I read the novel by Mary Higgins Clark and it was great. The movie wasn't as exciting as the book. The book was so exciting that i found myself holding my breath. But, the movie was similar to the book. Ronald Thompson knows he never killed Nina Peterson... yet in two days the state of Connecticut will take his life, having found him guilty via due process of law. But Thompson's death will not stop the pain and anger of Nina's husband, Steve. Thompson's death will not still the fears of Nina's daughter, witness to her mother's brutal slaying. Not even the love and friendship of Sharon Martin, a journalist who is slowly becoming a part of their world, will ever erase their bitter memories. Only time, perhaps, will heal their wounds. But in the shadows a stranger waits, a cunning psychopath who has killed before, who has unfinished business at the Peterson home and kidnapps Sharon and Steve and Nina's daughter. I enjoyed watching this movie and if your looking for a good mystery movie, "A Stranger is Watching" is a good pick.
  
  
  Score: 4
• Posted on 2006-02-09
  Could it have gone on a little longer so I would really get nightmares!
  
  This was a terrific film. Faithful to the book and cast with two fabulous actors -- Rip Torn and Kate Mulgrew.
  
  Any story that takes place underground is destined to scare me and this one did. I didn't expect this film to be a gritty and as detailed as it was. The scenes with the dumb-waiter were so realistic that I felt the rope burns on my hands. Rip Torn flings a wicked knife right into the center of things. Kate Mulgrew uses every resource of the story and her talent to bring Sharon to life.
  
  Creepy music too!
  
  Loved it!
  Score: 4
• Posted on 2005-12-10
  New York's Grand Central Station...millions of people a year pass through it...some of them never get out.
  
  For those interested in watching the film A Stranger is Watching (1982), hoping to find a faithful adaptation of Mary Higgins Clark's novel of the same name, you'd probably be better off skipping the film all together...for those interested in a fairly thrilling, suspenseful film with a modicum of the visceral, then this will fit the bill. Adapted for the screen by Earl Mac Rauch (The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension) and Victor Miller (Friday the 13th, "All My Children"), and directed by Sean S. Cunningham, whose previous feature had been the seminal slasher film Friday the 13th (1980), the movie features Kate Mulgrew (Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins, Throw Momma from the Train), Rip Torn (The Beastmaster, "The Larry Sanders Show"), and Shawn von Schreiber in her one and only film role. Also appearing is James Naughton from the Planet of the Apes television series, Barbara Baxley (Nashville), Stephen Joyce (Billy Bathgate), and character actor James Russo (Beverly Hills Cop, We're No Angels). Also, in a `Hey! I recognize that guy!' moment, keep an eye out for Vincent Spano (Over the Edge, Creator) in a bit part accredited as `Gas Thief'.
  
  The Peterson family suffered a terrible loss a few years earlier when Nina Peterson, wife and mother, was viciously brutalized and murdered in the Peterson home, right before the eyes of her daughter, Julie Peterson (von Schreiber). The killer, Ronald Thompson (Russo), has since been captured and convicted, based almost solely on the eyewitness testimony of Julie, and now is on death row, awaiting his impending execution. Julie and her father Steve Peterson (Naughton), a prestigious news magazine editor, have since tried to pick up the pieces of their life, but the upcoming execution has thrown them back into the spotlight as opponents of the death penalty, including Steve's television reporter girlfriend Sharon Martin (Mulgrew) desperately voice their condemnation of the severity of the punishment. Turns out Thompson, who's proclaimed his innocence since his arrest, may truly not be the killer, as we see another stalking Julie, eventually kidnapping her and Sharon, locking them away in dirty, filthy, stinking hidey hole under New York's Grand Central Station. Their abductor, Artie Taggart (Torn), is a mean, nasty, surly type whose motives are, at first, unclear, but his intent isn't, especially towards Sharon given how he despises them haughty types who think they're better than everyone else. As the police try to piece together the clues, Sharon and Julie try desperately to escape, and Julie begins to realize that Artie Taggart, and not Ronald Thompson, was the one who killed her mother, and now an innocent man may soon die for her mistake. There's little time to worry about this as Artie reveals his plans for both Sharon and Julie, ones that don't include going to Disneyland...
  
  First off, I have not read the Mary Higgins Clark novel this film is based on, but knowing the movie is based off a book I couldn't help feel there was quite a bit missing from the story. I do know in the book the character of Julie was actually a little boy named Neil, and while that's probably the most obvious change, I doubt it's the most important. I suspect the more important changes are within the structuring of the story, and where the emphasis was placed, comparatively speaking. I'm sure in the novel relationships were more clearly developed and defined, ones that were most likely glossed over in the film. The oddest aspect to me was getting the makers of the film Friday the 13th to bring the story to the screen. They did a good job in making a watchable, interesting film, but in terms of staying true to source material, particularly the essence of the story, I couldn't help wonder how far they actually strayed. Well, regardless, what's done is done, and I'll tell you what, I did enjoy the movie. The direction was solid and the story did move along well. The pacing was a little draggy in the beginning, but it picked up a little once the women were abducted. There did seem to be some holes in the plot, but none really majorly gaping. Cunningham took what could have been a predictable story and added a few twists here and there, maintaining my interest well. The one aspect that seemed odd to me was why Torn's character didn't do away with Sharon right away rather than keep her along with the little girl. He seemed to have some base interest in her, but she quickly proved herself more a liability to his plans than any meager pleasures he may have derived from her around for...his main interest was in the little girl, and the character of Sharon just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, which is why he took her along. As far as the performances, I thought they were all pretty solid, especially Torn's as he seemed to exemplify the sleazy kind of character one would expect to do the things he did...he was mean, surly, reeked of attitude, and always ready with a colorful obscenity (sounds like a typical New Yorker). One thing's for sure, his character sure got the beating a number of times in the film, so one can see from where some of his pent up hostilities stem. As far as the characters of Sharon and Julie, I did appreciate how they weren't portrayed as typical, helpless victims cowering in fear, never attempting to free themselves of their imprisonment. A good deal of the movie seemed to take place underneath the New York subway system, in dank, dirty, steamy, cobwebby, rat infested tunnels which was interesting in and of itself. I think it is important to mention there are a couple of nasty sequences, one near the beginning (it's hammer time!), and another near the end, that do feature some visuals Cunningham apparently ported over from his previous film, Friday the 13th. I guess he had a hard time leaving those slasher tendencies behind. This didn't hurt the film, but it may be difficult for more sensitive viewers not accustomed to seeing such intimate violence depicted on the screen.
  
  The picture on this DVD, presented in widescreen anamorphic (1.85:1), looks relatively clean, and comes through well, and the Dolby Digital mono audio is very decent. The only extra feature included is a theatrical trailer.
  
  Cookieman108
  
  By the way, I don't know if this holds true for the book, but in terms of this film, the title just didn't fit. It's a good title, but just not for this film.
  
  Score: 4