Alone

I have always had a hard time understanding men who wants to control women. Even if i am a man myself, i never felt the need to control any woman. Every woman should feel free to do what they want, and live their life, and not be controlled by any partner. I realise that men who do feel this way, should seek help. Especially if they have no control over what they can do, and might harm the woman. It is always difficult to hear women on interviews, or documentaries, who have been victims of abuse, or even kidnapped by male psychopaths. Speaking of kidnapped, there is one film that i never forget, that the younger generation probably never heard of. But back in the 90´s this was one of the thrillers that most people wanted to see, and that is the 1993 thriller known as The Vanishing ( actually an American remake of the 1988 film Spoorloos ) from director George Sluizer. I have not seen the original film, but i read a long time ago that it is supposed to be good. The American remake is actually a great thriller, mostly thanks to the great cast of Kiefer Sutherland, Jeff Bridges, Sandra Bullock and Nancy Travis. But i do enjoy this film, especially for being a solid thriller. This film tells the story of couple Jeff Hariman ( Kiefer Sutherland ) and Diane Shaver ( Sandra Bullock ) who goes on vacation together. As they stop at a gas station, Jeff suddenly can´t find Diane anywhere, as she is completely vanished. No one seems to knows where she is, and Jeff never stops looking. 3 years goes by and Jeff is still trying to found out what happened, as one person finally come forward with information. The Vanishing is worth checking out if you enjoy psychological thrillers. Have any of you seen the Swedish thriller called Försvunnen from 2011? It is a thriller about a woman who plans to start a new life at a new location, but is suddenly kidnapped by a stranger. For a Swedish thriller, this is not to bad. But i have been curious about an American remake of this film called Alone, that was released last year. Is this remake better than the Swedish film, or is Alone a psychological thriller that no one really asked for?

Jessica ( Jules Willcox ) is starting a new life, after loosing the love of her life who killed himself. She heads off on the highway, hoping that this restart will help her move on with her life. While on the highway, she has a random encounter with a man ( Marc Mencacha ) who cause her to almost have an accident, as she is trying to pass him to the other side of the road. As she stops to rest, she notice that this man is following her, and he also tries to talk to her. Jessica sense something is not right, and takes off. But the journey ahead, will become even more difficut.

I am quite surprised when i noticed that this film is directed by John Hyams. For those of you who don´t know his background, he have directed several of Jean-Claude Van Damme films such as Universal Soldier - Regeneration, Dragon Eyes and Universal Soldier - Days Of Reckoning. But he is also the son of legendary director Peter Hyams who directed ( in my opinion ) one of the better Van Damme films known as Timecop. So why am i surprised over director John making this film? It is definetely a very different film from his catalogue, and i love it when a director takes on a complete different genre than we are used to see them do. Alone is a psychological thriller that reminds me of psychological thriller films that we have seen before ( there are some similarities to the original Swedish film, but not that it affects the film in any way ). I will be honest and say that i prefer this American remake over the Swedish film for a number of reasons. First of all i think this film have a stronger build up than the original film, on a psychological level . I also feel that the acting in this film is stronger as well, especially from legendary actor Anthony Heald ( who i especially remember from The Silence Of The Lambs, that i will be doing a 30 years anniversery review of this summer ) as the psychopath character Richard. Lead actress Jules Willcox ( who i remember from Netflix series Bloodline ) gives a strong performance as Jessica, who is being followed by this maniac. I also feel that this film manage to tell a story that is actually told in a effective way, thanks to the great characters. Alone is a thriller that shows that you can never be safe anywhere, not matter where you go, you never know who is on the highway. There is no doubt that director John Hyams took a big chance by doing this film, this is definetely not something we are used to see him do. Im happy to say that he delivers a thriller that works better than i expected. For some reason i feel like going on a forest journey after watching this film, that must be a good sign, right?

Rating: DDD