A Stranger is Watching (1982) from Scream Factory - Blu-ray Forum

hudson4k · 04-12-2021, 03:43 PM

https://www.shoutfactory.com/product...roduct_id=7620

DukeTogo84 · 04-12-2021, 03:54 PM

Was just asking for this. Great news.

dkelly26666 · 04-12-2021, 03:58 PM

Love releases like this from them. I love the famous ones, but I love the obscure ones, equally.

Kyle15 · 04-12-2021, 04:21 PM

Didn't ever expect this one to reach the format tbh. Amazing!

BobSimms · 04-12-2021, 04:59 PM

Great news. Long live Rip Torn!

Scoot79 · 04-12-2021, 05:42 PM

I've never seen this one, but I've heard about it and I'm buying.

The Great Owl · 04-12-2021, 08:08 PM

I used to watch this one all the time on TV when I was a kid. I can’t wait.

rocknblues81 · 04-12-2021, 08:27 PM

Never heard of it.

DukeTogo84 · 04-13-2021, 12:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rocknblues81

Never heard of it.

It's pretty good. One of Rip Torn's best.

MechaFresh82 · 04-13-2021, 01:43 AM

I remember catching this movie back in 1990 on a Saturday night after an episode of Freddy's Nightmares. Yeah this movie was pretty out there. Even though I was just a kid back then.

DukeTogo84 · 07-10-2021, 03:11 PM

Got this yesterday and watched it last night. Top notch transfer. A pretty nutty movie with Rip Torn going fully unhinged. I also love that the film those a few strange things, like have the killer get mugged and beat up. I thought that pretty funny.

RegressiveScan · 07-19-2021, 04:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BobSimms

Long live Rip Torn!

I've got bad news for you...

BluPat · 07-24-2021, 05:16 AM

Just ordered from Amazon. Never seen it before but it sounds good like Eyes of a Stranger was.

ronnie21 · 07-26-2021, 01:53 AM

never liked this one.. slow and just didn't do it for me...

The Great Owl · 07-27-2021, 06:56 PM

Julie, an 11 year-old girl played by Shawn von Schreiber, witnessed the murder of her mother two years ago. Unfortunately, her nightmares are far from over. When she and her father's girlfriend, played by Kate Mulgrew, are abducted by her mother's killer and held captive in the abandoned catacombs beneath Grand Central Station in New York City, the authorities are thrown into a race against time to meet ransom demands, but even they are not prepared for the remorseless evil of the kidnapper, played by Rip Torn.

The 1982 thriller, A Stranger is Watching, based on a Mary Higgins Clark novel of the same name, was directed by Sean S. Cunningham just after the surprise overnight success of his previous film, the 1980 slasher, Friday the 13th. In lesser hands, this particular outing could have turned out to be a fairly innocuous screen story in the vein of made-for-television movies, but Cunningham's effectiveness with nighttime photography, combined with the charisma of all three leads, elevate the end result into engagingly gritty cinema. Schreiber and Mulgrew are both wonderfully convincing with their portrayals of characters who are always trying to outwit their tormentor, while the always-amazing Torn is believable as an unpredictably unhinged villain.

I used to enjoy A Stranger is Watching on television all of the time during the early-to-mid 1980s, back when I was roughly the same age as Schreiber's lead, so my nostalgia probably elicits more praise for this film than it deserves. Even as an adult, though, I love the setting in the underbelly of the city, and I love how the pacing still keeps me on edge. This is not quite on the same tier as the first Friday the 13th, but, even as a more conventional effort, it gets the pulse racing.

This Scream Factory disc looks great. The historian commentary track and Cunningham's interview are both essential for fans.

DaylightsEnd · 08-01-2021, 11:23 PM

How the hell did I miss this flick for all these years??! Just watched it on dvd for the first time today. Great atmosphere, cool grungy cinematography, solid editing, brisk pacing, convincing enough acting, and a truly excellent score that contributes greatly to the heightened sense of urgency and alarm. I'm a huge fan of the early Friday the 13th films, and really dig Cunningham's instantly-familiar style in this very different drama/suspense effort. You get sucked in and keep watching just to see what nutty turn the story is going to take. This one's a definite buy for my collection. It's a detective/suspense/thriller of sorts with a healthy dose of slasher/maniac brutality injected into it. It's ripe with gritty, crass, bizarre interactions, tense moments, nasty struggles with even nastier injuries, and an overriding sense of unease common to most of the early-80's upper-tier slasher genre, that today's films just can't capture anymore. Worth a serious look for fans of just about anything in the vein of horror or suspense from 1975 through 1983. I agree that this could easily have been a "Thursday Night NBC horror movie of the week", but then again, they pumped out some great TV horror flicks in that era. This isn't worlds away from John Carpenter's similar 1978 effort, "Someone's Watching Me! aka High Rise." Recommended!

BluPat · 08-03-2021, 06:46 AM

Just watched my Blu-ray of this and I loved it. That kid is a good actress. And Captain Janeway was great too!

DaylightsEnd · 08-04-2021, 02:32 AM

The way Rip Torn chews through the scenery, and considering how much I appreciated the tense score and grungy atmosphere, I think this one will also have great re-watch value. With all the weird, random, unexpected attack scenes, it started to feel a bit like a late-'70s vigilante flick. That's some tasty icing on the cake, for certain.

Another thing I particularly appreciate about movies from this era is how the characters in the film are often likeable and believable, and usually react precisely how one would think these people would react, if put in the various challenging situations presented in the film, in real life. The film stays focused on the plot, and the characters help advance the story in a logical and compelling way. Simple, and effective.

Today's movie scripts, quite to the contrary, are chock full of preposterous, moronic dialogue, idiotic decisions, utterly bizarre and inexplicable behavior......things that ordinary people would absolutely NEVER SAY or DO, under similar circumstances, or otherwise. Today's horror and suspense films feel highly unrealistic, partly for this very reason, even without the ridiculous cgi and preposterous social justice agendas that almost always eviscerate the vast majority of new films anyway. Irony, chance, intrigue, and surprise are left on the table in favor of a few cheap jump-scares, and a bunch of out-of-place shock value. They can't just seem to tell a simple, engaging story anymore either, without turning everything into an eye-rolling, nauseating propaganda piece, full of loathsome losers. At some point after 1983, "ordinary and believable" fell heavily out of favor in Tinseltown.

troykan · 10-29-2021, 04:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ronnie21

never liked this one.. slow and just didn't do it for me...

Yeah, just did not like it!

DukeTogo84 · 10-29-2021, 05:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by troykan

Yeah, just did not like it!

A shame. Awesome film.

04-12-2021, 03:43 PM	#1
hudson4k Banned Top contributor Member since:May 2020 4K collection:64 Blu-ray collection:408 DVD collection:54 Blu-ray reviews:3	A Stranger is Watching (1982) from Scream Factory https://www.shoutfactory.com/product...roduct_id=7620

08-01-2021, 11:23 PM	#16
DaylightsEnd Blu-ray Knight Member since:May 2019 Blu-ray collection:1 Blu-ray reviews:1	How the hell did I miss this flick for all these years??! Just watched it on dvd for the first time today. Great atmosphere, cool grungy cinematography, solid editing, brisk pacing, convincing enough acting, and a truly excellent score that contributes greatly to the heightened sense of urgency and alarm. I'm a huge fan of the early Friday the 13th films, and really dig Cunningham's instantly-familiar style in this very different drama/suspense effort. You get sucked in and keep watching just to see what nutty turn the story is going to take. This one's a definite buy for my collection. It's a detective/suspense/thriller of sorts with a healthy dose of slasher/maniac brutality injected into it. It's ripe with gritty, crass, bizarre interactions, tense moments, nasty struggles with even nastier injuries, and an overriding sense of unease common to most of the early-80's upper-tier slasher genre, that today's films just can't capture anymore. Worth a serious look for fans of just about anything in the vein of horror or suspense from 1975 through 1983. I agree that this could easily have been a "Thursday Night NBC horror movie of the week", but then again, they pumped out some great TV horror flicks in that era. This isn't worlds away from John Carpenter's similar 1978 effort, "Someone's Watching Me! aka High Rise." Recommended! Last edited by DaylightsEnd; 08-04-2021 at 02:27 AM.

08-04-2021, 02:32 AM	#18
DaylightsEnd Blu-ray Knight Member since:May 2019 Blu-ray collection:1 Blu-ray reviews:1	The way Rip Torn chews through the scenery, and considering how much I appreciated the tense score and grungy atmosphere, I think this one will also have great re-watch value. With all the weird, random, unexpected attack scenes, it started to feel a bit like a late-'70s vigilante flick. That's some tasty icing on the cake, for certain. Another thing I particularly appreciate about movies from this era is how the characters in the film are often likeable and believable, and usually react precisely how one would think these people would react, if put in the various challenging situations presented in the film, in real life. The film stays focused on the plot, and the characters help advance the story in a logical and compelling way. Simple, and effective. Today's movie scripts, quite to the contrary, are chock full of preposterous, moronic dialogue, idiotic decisions, utterly bizarre and inexplicable behavior......things that ordinary people would absolutely NEVER SAY or DO, under similar circumstances, or otherwise. Today's horror and suspense films feel highly unrealistic, partly for this very reason, even without the ridiculous cgi and preposterous social justice agendas that almost always eviscerate the vast majority of new films anyway. Irony, chance, intrigue, and surprise are left on the table in favor of a few cheap jump-scares, and a bunch of out-of-place shock value. They can't just seem to tell a simple, engaging story anymore either, without turning everything into an eye-rolling, nauseating propaganda piece, full of loathsome losers. At some point after 1983, "ordinary and believable" fell heavily out of favor in Tinseltown. Last edited by DaylightsEnd; 08-04-2021 at 03:04 AM.

04-12-2021, 03:54 PM	#2
DukeTogo84 Blu-ray Archduke Top contributor Member since:Aug 2012 Location:California 4K collection:155 Blu-ray collection:4937 Blu-ray reviews: 62 Trading Score:139	Was just asking for this. Great news.

04-12-2021, 03:58 PM	#3
dkelly26666 Blu-ray Samurai Member since:Jul 2012	Love releases like this from them. I love the famous ones, but I love the obscure ones, equally.

04-12-2021, 04:21 PM	#4
Kyle15 Blu-ray Duke Top contributor Member since:Jan 2011 Location:Alabama 4K collection:151 Blu-ray collection:393 DVD collection:8 Trading Score:5	Didn't ever expect this one to reach the format tbh. Amazing!

04-12-2021, 04:59 PM	#5
BobSimms Blu-ray Samurai Member since:Apr 2018	Great news. Long live Rip Torn!

04-12-2021, 05:42 PM	#6
Scoot79 Blu-ray Samurai Top contributor Member since:Sep 2011 4K collection:342 Blu-ray collection:1613 DVD collection:147 Trading Score:1	I've never seen this one, but I've heard about it and I'm buying.

04-12-2021, 08:08 PM	#7
The Great Owl Blu-ray Archduke Member since:Dec 2012 Location:Georgia 4K collection:921 Blu-ray collection:6031 DVD collection:28 Blu-ray reviews: 255 Trading Score:6	I used to watch this one all the time on TV when I was a kid. I can’t wait.

04-12-2021, 08:27 PM	#8
rocknblues81 Blu-ray Champion Member since:Nov 2009 Location:Shithole USA 4K collection:396 Blu-ray collection:2583 DVD collection:521 Digital collection:474 Trading Score:47	Never heard of it.

04-13-2021, 01:43 AM	#10
MechaFresh82 Expert Member Member since:Jan 2012 Location:Dallas, TX/Los Angeles, CA Blu-ray collection:238 Blu-ray reviews:2	I remember catching this movie back in 1990 on a Saturday night after an episode of Freddy's Nightmares. Yeah this movie was pretty out there. Even though I was just a kid back then.

07-10-2021, 03:11 PM	#11
DukeTogo84 Blu-ray Archduke Top contributor Member since:Aug 2012 Location:California 4K collection:155 Blu-ray collection:4937 Blu-ray reviews: 62 Trading Score:139	Got this yesterday and watched it last night. Top notch transfer. A pretty nutty movie with Rip Torn going fully unhinged. I also love that the film those a few strange things, like have the killer get mugged and beat up. I thought that pretty funny.

07-24-2021, 05:16 AM	#13
BluPat Blu-ray Ninja Top contributor Member since:Nov 2008 Location:Texas 4K collection:241 Blu-ray collection:1455 Blu-ray reviews: 80 Trading Score:4	Just ordered from Amazon. Never seen it before but it sounds good like *Eyes of a Stranger* was.

07-26-2021, 01:53 AM	#14
ronnie21 Power Member Member since:Jun 2010	never liked this one.. slow and just didn't do it for me...

07-27-2021, 06:56 PM	#15
The Great Owl Blu-ray Archduke Member since:Dec 2012 Location:Georgia 4K collection:921 Blu-ray collection:6031 DVD collection:28 Blu-ray reviews: 255 Trading Score:6	Julie, an 11 year-old girl played by Shawn von Schreiber, witnessed the murder of her mother two years ago. Unfortunately, her nightmares are far from over. When she and her father's girlfriend, played by Kate Mulgrew, are abducted by her mother's killer and held captive in the abandoned catacombs beneath Grand Central Station in New York City, the authorities are thrown into a race against time to meet ransom demands, but even they are not prepared for the remorseless evil of the kidnapper, played by Rip Torn. The 1982 thriller, A Stranger is Watching, based on a Mary Higgins Clark novel of the same name, was directed by Sean S. Cunningham just after the surprise overnight success of his previous film, the 1980 slasher, Friday the 13th. In lesser hands, this particular outing could have turned out to be a fairly innocuous screen story in the vein of made-for-television movies, but Cunningham's effectiveness with nighttime photography, combined with the charisma of all three leads, elevate the end result into engagingly gritty cinema. Schreiber and Mulgrew are both wonderfully convincing with their portrayals of characters who are always trying to outwit their tormentor, while the always-amazing Torn is believable as an unpredictably unhinged villain. I used to enjoy A Stranger is Watching on television all of the time during the early-to-mid 1980s, back when I was roughly the same age as Schreiber's lead, so my nostalgia probably elicits more praise for this film than it deserves. Even as an adult, though, I love the setting in the underbelly of the city, and I love how the pacing still keeps me on edge. This is not quite on the same tier as the first Friday the 13th, but, even as a more conventional effort, it gets the pulse racing. This Scream Factory disc looks great. The historian commentary track and Cunningham's interview are both essential for fans.

08-03-2021, 06:46 AM	#17
BluPat Blu-ray Ninja Top contributor Member since:Nov 2008 Location:Texas 4K collection:241 Blu-ray collection:1455 Blu-ray reviews: 80 Trading Score:4	Just watched my Blu-ray of this and I loved it. That kid is a good actress. And Captain Janeway was great too!

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