Kind of Watching It Bootleg DVD's: Are You In The House Alone?

Oh hi. I'm back from my.vacaciones. You know, I'm still watching the television and I stumbled on this great movie in my travels. The movie is called Are You In The House Alone? I had to change the title since Scatman Crothers burnt me a copy and called it Is You In The House All By Yourself?

This horror movie stars Kathleen Beller, as a teenager who is stalked like crazy. Kathleen Beller, yes you remember her, she was an actress popular in the late '70s and early '80s, very attractive. She was the reason why I wanted to see this but I ended up enjoying it for another reason (heh heh heh.....)
For a bit, I turned my head from the screen and then I heard this voice, kind of upper-crusty, waspy yet not totally annoying. I said to myself, "That's Blythe Danner." I rolled over on my cat (he wailed!) to see the TV and that's who it was and it was Blythe Danner. Ain't that something!  Danner played the mother to Beller's character, Gail. And oddly enough after seeing Blythe, all thoughts of Kathleen Beller just drifted away. 


I've got to say I was really taken with Danner here. She's about in her mid '30s here and she had so much poise, bearing and that great expressive face. Tony Bill played her husband and they really look way too young to be this kid's parents. Anyway, Beller portrayed Gail very realistically. She wasn't an angel and her phone number wasn't on the bathroom wall. Unlike many films of the time, Are You In The House Alone presented an unhappy family. Danner's mother character is the unhappiest ever! Throughout the movie she steams, hems and haws and seems to get her second wind once her husband is out of the house.

As for the rest of the movie, pretty standard horror fare. Gail has a boyfriend and no shortage of weird guys in the neighborhood, an ex-boyfriend, a teacher who calls her "sexy" and of course a creepy rich guy in her circle of her friends. Guess who's playing the friend? You guessed it, Dennis Quaid. Quaid was at his obnoxious best here, you can't get a handle on his character. And speaking of familiar faces, Gail's best friend in the movie is played by character actress Robin Mattson, Gina LaMont Capwell Timmons!

Enough of old home week, let's get back to the star of the movie. Danner had a few more contentious scenes but she may it clear that she loved Gail. I cried. 

Here's a clip to the left, to set it up, the parents have been fighting and Gail stumbled on them. The dad took her in the kitchen for chocolate ice cream--like she's 5 or something. Mmm, chocolate ice cream good! I bet it was Sealtest too. And look at mom's nasty attitude! Hilarious, "I didn't knowwww." Ha!





Part 2: Sadly I knew who the culprit was in this movie due to the bootleggers DVD graphics. (Hey, thanks a lot.) To be honest, this is really unsettling fare when you think about it. Still this is worth seeing for Blythe Danner great portrayal.

Grade ***