Bloodtype Online
For the best of the Horror/Cult/Exploitation film experience
Alone with Her (2007)
Whether or not you are a fan of movies that use the documentary, faux snuff film and reality television style of film you do have to admit that most of the efforts help create an original subgenre for horror. The list is huge so let me do some name dropping with the films like the brutal snuff style of “August Underground”, the reality of “Series 7: The Contenders”, the witty snuff reality of “Man Bites Dog” and “Last Horror Movie”, the documentary style “Blair Witch Project”, the shot to look like a documentary “Open Water” and the upcoming takes on this subgenre like Gary Sherman’s “39: A Film By Carroll McKane” and the long awaited “Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon”.
Many of the films I just mentioned are a matter of taste. Most of them have tremendous qualities like showcasing brutality to the point of emulating a cold reality of the world. Others are satires on the world of celebrity or portrayals of the vanity of self obsessed serial killers. “Alone with Her” is a film that is shot all with either cameras Doug (Played remarkably by Colin Hanks) sets up in a beautiful girl Amy’s home or from his hand held camera he follows her around with. When he holds conversation with her he is also bugged with a mini surveillance camera connected to him. He manipulates her by knowing everything about her. He is a guy that Amy (Played by the gorgeous Ana Claudia Talancon) meets by chance but he set up the entire meeting. He watches girls until it becomes an unhealthy obsession and unlucky for Amy she is his target. He comes across as an okay guy that is caring but she doesn’t know the half. He knows her favorite bands, every conversation she holds and when she is lying to him. When he knows she’s going on a date instead of going to a concert with him he makes sure she can’t go by injecting her milk with a substance to make her puke. He knows her daily routine and is slick enough to set everything up to get her to eventually consider dating him.
Colin Hanks does an outstanding job and I believe this is his first leap into the horror genre. His performance is both at time subtle and angry. He pulls off his nervous character to a T and I couldn’t imagine anyone else in his role. Not only did he do a great job acting but he had to have his character pass as a normal individual that was trustworthy. She did however sense something was off about him but with everything Doug orchestrates he makes it possible to form a connection.
Most of the film takes place in Amy’s perspective although it’s through the lenses bugged in her apartment by her creepy stalker. I watched all of her vulnerable moments like crying, showering and becoming ill due to the injections in her drinks and swabs of itchy substance he covered on her bed. He would ruin potential dates of hers and then try to help her with her art career by hooking up a website for her. Never did he do things out of love because he never fairly got to know her. Everything they had together was never by chance because it was always from his stolen knowledge of her he watched from monitors.
The film is a cautionary tale with a brutal and unapologetic ending that truly captured the feeling of the stalker and the victim. Once he got a chance with her he blew it due to his own insecurities and loneliness. Things also fell apart one her friend Jen (Jordan Spiro) sensed that he was a creep. He didn’t handled being questioned very well and once he sensed she was on to him her screen time began to expire.
Director Eric Nicholas has crafted a welcome entry into the non traditional genre of video filmmaking although it was structured like a regular story. The acting was stellar across the board and I felt like I was a voyeur in this warning to those who hold onto their privacy dearly. Colin Hanks proved he has acting chops by delivering a cold, sad and livid performance that provided the story with intensity. His character may have came off as empathetic if he didn’t go the depraved route of harming the girl he was fascinated with. Once he fucks up the relationship he never had a chance with without controlling me as a viewer knew Amy was in big trouble.
The movie is flawless and I highly recommend it for those who like films with true to life characters, great direction and originality. In my opinion it is the best film I’ve seen this year so far and I’ll be surprised if I like another one better. This film is another reason to be paranoid about all the surveillance in the world. This however is a much scarier example of how surveillance could be used. Honestly I rather have the government keep tabs on me then a menacing stalker that can’t control his emotions. This is an excellent Bloodtype Online classic.
Rating - ****
-Russ Rutter
