Okay, full disclosure here: I had a crush on Lauren Tewes as a kid. Yes, around 1979, I watched “The Love Boat” religiously (“Saturday nights on ABC!”) to get an eyeful of Julie McCoy, the peppy, blonde cruise director. “Peppy” was fine, but “blonde” is the key word here. The previous year, Debbie Harry had awakened by childhood love of blonde women, and this continued through the 80s with Lisa Whelchel, Kristy McNichol, Alexandra Neil, and a few others I’ve forgotten. Yes, I was a horny fucker, even before I knew what ‘horny’ meant.
Therefore, when you combine “Lauren Tewes” with “slasher film”, it’s positively unfathomable that I didn’t see EYES OF A STRANGER until years after its release. One of the main reasons it got on my radar was because Tom Savini featured it in his first how-to effects book, “Grande Illusions”. Here, he got to recycle a few of his decapitation and throat-slashing gags from FRIDAY THE 13th (1980), as well as borrow the head-in-the-fishtank gag from his assistant, Taso Stavrakis, who first used it in HE KNOWS YOU’RE ALONE (1980).
Tewes plays Jane Harris, an earnest Miami news anchor who begins to obsess over the latest reports of a local rapist/murderer (played with a notably high ‘ick factor’ by John DiSanti). She’s made even more sensitive to the carnage from years of caring for her younger blind/deaf/mute sister, Tracy, ably brought to life by Jennifer Jason Leigh, who of course went on to jump-start her career the following year in FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH. When Jane begins to suspect a neighbor of the city’s latest spate of ghastly violence, she ups the ante, harassing him in turn as the would-be prey becomes the hunter. All this culminates in a shocking face-off as the burly, menacing killer zeroes in on Tracy, who is helpless to defend herself.
Released in the midst of 1981’s slasher haven, EYES OF A STRANGER bombed at the box office. There were some mighty odds stacked against it–not only is the film rather lurid and misogynistic, but headliner Tewes was caught up in a well-publicized battle with cocaine at the time, as well. As far as I’m concerned, the baffling one-sheet didn’t help matters much, either. If only the script had a couple more drafts to up the stakes a bit more, this could have been a home run. The idea of a news journalist playing detective, and then taunting the man she suspects of multiple murder, is a grand concept, and even critics who trashed the film agreed Leigh’s performance was impressive. There’s a lot to hang your hat on here, but the results didn’t quite go far enough to make a lasting impact on horror fans.
Nevertheless, a fully uncut version of the film was made available to the public once it debuted on DVD, and the small (albeit messy) additions finally allowed Savini to show off what he does best. I’d love to see someone get a hold of this and do a proper remake. By fleshing out the characters a bit more and making its villain even more dangerous, EYES OF A STRANGER could become the classic it should have been the first time around. Hell, for the right price, I’ll do it.
Awww, yeah — it’s Tewes!!
#unclean&unseen #eyesofastranger #theloveboat #laurentewes #jenniferjasonleigh #fasttimesatridgemonthigh #johndisanti #tomsavini #tasostavrakis #grandeillusions #fasttimesatridgemonthigh #fridaythe13th #heknowsyourealone
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