"Someone's Watching Me" is practically always described as a "Hitchcockian" thriller. This is of course a quite superficial and even remotely hypocrite way to label a film. Whenever an acclaimed director revolves a thriller on themes that were largely introduced by Alfred Hitchcock, the critics are tempted to mildly review the film as a "Hitchcockian" thriller, yet when an unknown director does the same, his/her effort is likely to get categorized as a weak attempt to imitate the legendary filmmaker. John Carpenter had just scored big hits with "Halloween" and "Assault on Precinct 13", so consequently his TV-produced variation on "Rear Window" was bound to fall into the first category. By stating this, I certainly don't intend claiming "Someone's Watching Me" is a bad film, mind you, but it's definitely a bit overrated and inarguably routine. The basic plot and structure are just too simplistic and derivative and, since Carpenter still isn't on par with Alfred "the master of suspense" Hitchcock himself, he doesn't manage to turn this into a highly memorable film. The film benefices from a handful of genuinely suspenseful moments as well as a steady pacing, but specifically in order to maintain the pacing, the script makes a couple of implausible (on the verge of absurd, even) twists and turns. "Someone's Watching Me" introduces Leigh Michaels, a lady in her late twenties with a peculiar habit of making bad jokes and the even more irritating habit of continuously talking and singing to herself, who just migrated from New York to Los Angeles and moved into a fairly luxurious apartment block with a view all over the city. She accepts a great job, makes a few friends (Adrienne Barbeau as a lesbian) and everything goes well until some pervert spots her through a telescope from the building across the street. He must really fancy women with a giant gap between their front teeth, as Leigh unendingly receives strange phone calls, expensive gifts from a fictional company and unsettling remarks about her behavior and the places she visited. The poor girl slowly loses her sanity and, since the police can't interfere until something tragic happens, she and her newfound friends eventually start an investigation of their own. Carpenter's attempt to deliver a suspense-driven TV-thriller is admirable, but the material is too minimal to fill up nearly 100 minutes of running time and some of the invisible villain's methods are just too grotesque. Come on, which deranged stalker would be willing to spend a remarkable sum of money to buy his victim expensive gifts (from a fake company with its own letterhead!) or go through so much effort to falsely accuse another tenant? The eventual denouement and unmasking of the culprit is far too improbable as well. Also, and rather obvious since it concerns a TV-production, the film severely lacks action and bloodshed. If only Carpenter was able to invite the protagonist from his previous film, Michael Myers, to join the party! Imagine what would happen! Surely it would take Michael quite a while to reach the penthouse, but once he's unleashed the stalker would regret the day of his birth!
Review of Someone's Watching Me!
