You're Not Alone

I enjoyed this movie. Is it Oscar-worthy? Absolutely not. But it was a fun, suspenseful movie that was entertaining. Yes, the first scene is similar to Scream. But then, they acknowledge that there are copycat killers, so it isn't like they are claiming the scene is original. Enjoy it for what it is. Don't try to make it something it isn't. It was a fun, thriller romp just in time for Halloween. And some of the dialogue was entertaining. I don't understand why some people watch movies like this and then critique them. Just watch it and escape for a few hours. It's not that deep! Analyzing a movie like this is pointless.

How can an experienced filmmaker Chris Stokes with over 40 directorial credits and almost as many writing and producing credits come up with such nonsense... aren't you supposed to get better the more films you make instead of worse? Aside from the obvious Scream rip-off, adding a predictable and infantile 5-minute twist at the end doesn't justify wasting viewers time with this mess.

Stokes also seems he hasn't learned how to direct his cast properly, because aside from MJW (who was the only draw to see this mess) who can carry his own without cast direction, every other actor seemed like this was their first acting job. And if you want to see this film because of MJW, trust me, you will see zero of his martial arts skills, he was only cast to draw an audience, that like myself, will be very disappointed.

Aside from MJW, all casting and performances were amateur hour. The story was riddled with plot and technical issues, and aside from being cliched, you will get more eyerolls and cringe with the laughable dialogue and nonsense screenplay. Even at a normally comfortable 85 min runtime, this film dragged on and felt never-ending with it's sappy dialogue, terrible acting, and cringeworthy story. Even the pin-hole camera shots were more annoying than effective. There's nothing redeemable about this mess, and I can go on and on how bad this was, but I've already wasted enough time watching this mess so you don't have to, so enough said. It's a generous 2/10 all going to MJW who was miscast and underutilized. My tittle says it all.

I have no idea why I finished watching this, but I'm glad I did because it really did get worse at the end, which seemed pretty impossible. The acting was just horrible. The only thing worse was the stilted, cliched dialog. It was like the actors were reading cue cards of a script they hadn't read before too, with the same measured talking. And then when we get to what should have been the last scene, we're thrown what the writer thinks is a plot twist. But what it really does is rewrite the whole movie in 5 minutes, even down to reshooting the last scene with new dialog. Just dreadful. From acting to directing and writing, this movie has no redeeming qualities. Even the soundtrack is awful and doesn't support the scenes at all. It doesn't even qualify as so bad, it's good. It's just bad.

I resent that anyone put up funds to make this stinker. You need to look no further than the opening scene where they have an actress who is at least 10 years older than she is supposed to be portraying. She keeps answering her phone even though she knows it is a prank caller. It even showed on her phone that the incoming caller's phone number was blocked yet she still continues to answer it. Then she goes downstairs and unlocks the front door and goes outside. If she was frightened she would invite an intruder in by unlocking the front door. Stop pushing garbage, go back to film school and leave filmmaking to the pros.

BUT, besides the bad acting, it makes me wonder if the writer has ever experienced a home invasion. People who have been broken into before would act much differently unless they had serious blinders on.

And if I were the dad-character, I'd sue that plane company.

Past that though, this is not an energetic-thriller. The characters are all stupid (except the boyfriend. He was cool.) And the ending could've been done much better. But it's a good movie for facepalming the character's decisions and wondering why the killer hasn't fallen asleep somewhere yet. I still enjoyed it.

I'd still recommend giving it a try if you are someone who likes trying 3-star movies. It's a good 3-star.