This is a classic 80s slasher that doesn’t get enough attention. With so many great horror films in this decade, there are more than a few films that don’t get talked about nearly enough. Director Ken Wiederhorn took inspiration from a number of sources, but most notably from the master himself Alfred Hitchcock and his 1954 film “Rear Window”. This was also the film debut of Jennifer Jason Leigh whose performance got her the part of Stacy in the teen classic “Fast Times at Ridgemont High”.
“Eyes of a Stranger” is set in Miami, Florida and a serial killer is on the prowl, stalking, raping, and murdering young women in the area. It starts with an obscene phone call and he keeps calling over and over again. It’s very reminiscent of the opening to Wes Craven’s 1996 Masterpiece “Scream”. What makes this film different is that there is no secret as to who the killer is. His name is Stanley Herbert, played by John DiSanti, a heavy-set white male with glasses who dresses in drab business clothes. He lives alone in a large apartment complex. In the next building over lives Jane, played by Lauren Tewes, a local TV news reporter who cares for her blind mute younger sister Tracy, played Jennifer Jason Leigh. As a little girl, Tracy was kidnapped, beaten, and left for dead. The trauma has manifested itself into her blindness and inability to see or hear. She does have a dog but this is a horror movie and as usual, pets are always marked for death.
Early on we see Stanley following Debbie, a waitress walking home from work, he bides his time and relishes the thrill of the hunt. He then gets into a phone booth and dials her number again and again with some seriously creepy and disturbing calls. Debbie is freaked out until her boyfriend arrives. Soon after consoling her, he loses his head as Stanley uses a giant cleaver that Debbie just had lying around? The big gore effect scenes were done by the one and only Tom Savini, the godfather of 80s horror effects. Debbie then finds her boyfriend's decapitated head in the fish tank. Stanley then attacks her and strangles her with his belt.
Shocked and angered by the recent string of killings, Jane starts to investigate a strange man who she sees changing out of a blood-stained shirt in the parking garage of her apartment complex. This is indeed Stanley, but Jane has no evidence or proof that he’s the killer. Her boyfriend, a lawyer, never seems to believe her and thinks she should give it up. There is another killing, a typist working late in a big office building starts getting the calls and freaks her the hell out. She calls to tell a friend that she is coming over but never makes it out of the parking garage. When Stanley goes to dispose of her body, he kills another couple making out in a car.
While Jane is out and about we are shown flashbacks to when Tracy was abducted and eventually recovered. Jane will never let anything happen to her again, but the more she investigates Stanley the more she unknowingly puts her at risk. Jane is able to steal the superintendent's extra key for Stanley’s apartment and does more snooping around. She keeps getting bolder and bolder until she decides to turn the tables on him by calling him up harassing him. She eventually slips up and inadvertently reveals herself during a newscast, Stanley knows who his next victim is. Unfortunately, Tracy gets stuck in the middle when he finds her apartment. She thinks she is alone until strange things start to happen. Stanley is right next to her mocking her blindness. Tracy acknowledges she is not alone and makes a run for it, but is no match for big Stan. Tracey does her best to fight him off and hides in a closet. With this new attack, Tracey begins to get her sight back, but will this be enough to save her? Meanwhile, Jane is back over poking around Stanley’s place when she sees across the way that he is in fact in hers attacking Tracey! She races back to save her just in time with a well-placed bullet right between his eyes. “Eyes of a Stranger” is a thoroughly entertaining horror thriller with great effects sequences and good acting. It has a very distinct 80s look and feel to it and everything modern filmmakers want to recapture when trying to recreate the era. Shout! Factory has released a special edition Blu-ray that is now a part of my personal collection.