Making his movie debut in this low-budget slasher flick (filmed entirely on Staten Island) in 1980, the then-twentysomething Tom Hanks was a few years away from turning into a box office superstar and more than a decade away from his back-to-back Oscar wins for Philadelphia(1993) and Forrest Gump(1994).
Here, he’s simply ‘Elliot’ (last names have never been a prerequisite for low-budget blood baths) and he doesn’t get to do much.
But He Knows You’re Alone is an interesting curiosity for anyone interested in one of the first slasher films to come out in the wake of the 1978 smash hit Halloween, which created a seemingly endless stream of knife-wielding maniacs in its wake.
Reluctant bride-to-be Amy Jensen (stage actress Caitlin O’Heaney in her movie debut) is stalked by a serial killer (Tom Rolfing) who kills brides and the people around them.
While her friends are killed one by one, a cop whose bride had been killed three years before (Lewis Arlt) tries to hunt him down before it is too late.
Meanwhile, Amy has to figure out if it is all in her imagination or not, aided by her witty, never-say-die ex-boyfriend, Marvin (Don Scardino), who works in the local morgue.
Lewis Arlt wins the worst actor of the movie award, nudging out Tom Rolfing (who might have won if he had been given any dialogue).
Marvin
Don Scardino Amy Jensen
Caitlin O’Heaney Nancy
Elizabeth Kemp Ray Carlton
Tom Rolfing Det. Len Gamble
Lewis Arlt Joyce
Patsy Pease Prof. Carl Mason
James Rebhorn Elliot
Tom Hanks Diana
Dana Barron Ralph the Tailor
Joseph Leon Det. Frank Daley
Paul Gleason Phil
James Carroll Bernie
Brian Byers Tommy
Curt Hostetter Ruthie
Robin Lamont
Director
Armand Mastroianni
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But He Knows You’re Alone is an interesting curiosity for anyone interested in one of the first slasher films to come out in the wake of the 1978 smash hit Halloween, which created a seemingly endless stream of knife-wielding maniacs in its wake.
Lewis Arlt wins the worst actor of the movie award, nudging out Tom Rolfing (who might have won if he had been given any dialogue).
Amy Jensen
Diana
