Someone's Watching Me! [Blu-ray]

Overview

Hot on the heels of his theatrical-feature megahit Halloween, writer-producer John Carpenter concocted this nailbiting made-for-TV suspenser. Lauren Hutton stars as stylish career girl Leigh Michaels, who lives in an ultra-modern, glassed-in high rise apartment. Leigh's relatively tranquil existence is shattered when she begins receiving disturbing phone calls--and ostentatious gifts--from a man living in the high-rise next to hers. Despite the increasingly threatening tone of her mystery caller, Leigh is unable to get any help from the police, simply because there's no real evidence that she's in danger. Rest assured, however, that she is--and that, in traditional "John Carpenter heroine" fashion, she will ultimately deal with her tormentor all by herself. Filmed under the title High Rise, Someone's Watching Me! first aired November 24, 1978, on NBC.

Product Details

Release Date:	08/07/2018
UPC:	0826663188721
Original Release:	1978
Rating:	NR
Source:	Shout Factory
Region Code:	A
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Mono]
Language:	English
Time:	1:37:00
Sales rank:	17,505

Special Features

New interviews with Adrienne Barbeau and Charles Cyphers; New audio commentary with author Amanda Reyes (Are You in the House Alone? a TV Movie Compendium 1964-1999); "John Carpenter: Director Rising"; TV promos

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Lauren Hutton	Actor
David Birney	Actor
Adrienne Barbeau	Sophie
Charles Cyphers	Actor

Technical Credits

John Carpenter

Director

Editorial Reviews

This early John Carpenter effort, made before Halloween but telecast afterwards, is a modest but solid example of his developing skills as a filmmaker. Carpenter's script isn't terribly original (the premise and several scenes borrow heavily from Rear Window) but he makes the story his own with his own quirky brand of characterizations: Leigh escapes the usual 'pretty heroine' stereotype thanks to her independent mindset and quirky sense of humor and Paul makes a thoughtful, refreshingly non-macho romantic foil for her character. These intriguing characterizations further benefit from skillful performances by a well-chosen cast: Lauren Hutton brings the right combination of charm and skill to make her characterization believable, David Birney turns in a nicely understated performance as and Adrienne Barbeau brings a likeably feisty cynicism to the role of Leigh's wise-cracking coworker. Behind the camera, John Carpenter shows off his already solid grasp of thriller film mechanics with a combination of slick, gliding camerawork and sharply-timed editing. The limitations of the made-for-t.v. format hold back the film from delivering the full-throttle delights of his later work but he manages to pack a high level of jittery suspense into Someone's Watching Me and keeps things moving at a fast clip. As a result, it isn't top-flight Carpenter but is smart and skillful enough to make a viewing worthwhile for his fans.

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