A brutal serial killer is stalking the women of Miami,
harassing them with obscene phone calls before strangling them. Reporting on
the murders has anchorwoman Jane Harris a little on edge; she personally knows
the trauma that sexual violence can cause. As a child her younger sister,
Tracy, was abducted, raped and nearly beaten to death on the way home from
school. The assault caused Tracy to psychosomatically become blind, deaf and
mute. Now adults, the sisters live together with their dog in a high rise
apartment building. One night Jane watches as her schlubby neighbor Stanley
changes out of a bloody shirt in the building’s parking garage. Correctly
suspecting Stan to be the killer, Jane gets her Grace Kelly on by breaking into
his apartment to search for clues (she finds muddy shoes and a cuckoo clock,
strong indicators of psychopathy). Jane begins taunting Stanley by ringing him
at home and calling him “Phone Freak”, which angers him to the point of
following a very talented stripper home and killing her. Seriously, her dancing is insanely awesome. Thanks a lot, Jane.
Spoilers Ahead.
Upon realization that his pursuer is Jane (her use of “Phone
Freak” on television gives her away), Stanley lures her out of the apartment
and into his. While she’s distracted, he slips into the Harris home, killing the
dog and attacking Tracy. This surprise attack brings Tracey’s eyesight back,
and she’s able to shoot Stanley in the stomach, subduing him for a moment but
not killing him. Jane sees Tracy and the killer from Stanley’s balcony, and
she rushes over, putting a bullet in his head and splattering brain juice all
over her nice bathroom. Tracy speaks for the first time in years and the sisters embrace.
I really liked Eyes of a Stranger, but I think I would have enjoyed it more if a few edits were made. I don't mind scenes of rape or brutalization if they are tastefully done and serve a purpose to the story, but the scenes in which Stanley strips, slaps, and punches his victims really threw the film off balance for me. I thought the movie would have been more suspenseful if the actual mechanics of the murders were left to the viewer's imagination. Yes, this slasher movie lover actually wanted murders to happen off screen for once; there was just something seedy and trashy about the assaults that made me uncomfortable. I did really get a kick out of Lauren Tewes' (Julie, Your Cruise Director from the Love Boat!) feisty feminist Jane, and Jennifer Jason Leigh is both adorable and impressive in her film debut as Tracy. The film's finale is quite memorable; I especially enjoyed the scene in which Stanley toys with Tracy by moving furniture and plates around in the kitchen while she's using them. Guess he's also a big Wait Until Dark fan. Plus, the first murder in the film involves a decapitated head in a fish tank, and who doesn't dig that?
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