Stalker (2010)

Director: Martin Kemp

Writer: Martin Kemp (Screenplay) Martin Kemp, Jonathan Sothcott, Phillip Barron, James Kenelm Clarke (Story)

Starring: Jane March, Anna Brecon, Jennifer Matter, Danny Young, Billy Murray, Colin Salmon, Deo Simcox, Triana Terry

Plot: A writer struggling with her second novel is terrorised by a homicidal PA.

There may be spoilers the rest of the review

Verdict: Unsuspenseful Thriller

Story: We start by following our struggling writer being pushed into taking a break to focus on her next book. We also meet a hounding journalist who wants an interview with the author but her publicist won’t agree to it. As the book is struggling a new PA is sent to take away all the pressure the author is having, but with her nightmares haunting her she struggles to find a direction. With the reporter trying to track our author down through other routes our writer still struggles while her PA tries to offer a helping hand, before showing her darker side. As the time away continues our PA starts to take over writing duties while our author gets lost trying to figure about a mysterious little boy.

The idea sounds pretty good on paper, but what really lets this down in the lack of any suspense, we have a lot of build with very little happening, we then have a couple of random snap scenes but in the end it all ends in a blur. We can see the final twist coming off a mile away and this twist really makes all the build-up rather pointless. The ghost like mystery seems to get forgotten half way through even though we do learn who it was, the scares just dry up and become a thing you forget about. This ends up coming off feeling like a bad episode of a television drama where things might get wrapped up nicely but they end up offering nothing interesting. (4/10)

Actor Review

Jane March: Linda the PA sent to help Paula with her work, who comes off very friendly. She does have a dark side after taking over writing duties and controlling everything. Jane gives a solid performance with the being able to switch emotional state easily. (6/10)

Anna Brecon: Paula Martin our author who is sent to the country to relax and refocus on her new novel. She lets the PA take over while she is dealing with nightmares which could be telling her a truth she hides from. Anna gives a solid performance but struggles with a few of the final moments of the film scenes. (5/10)

Jennifer Matter: Sara Phillips publicist who wants to protect her client from the world while she writes her book. She thinks everything is going well but she doesn’t know the truth. Jennifer gives a solid performance, having a perfect look for a publicist. (6/10)

Support Cast: Most of the support cast offer small gaps to fill in story but really only used for ways to expose Linda’s true identity.

Director Review: Martin Kemp – Creates the setting, the outline of the story well but fails to build the suspense needed for this to be a solid thriller. (5/10)

Horror: Offers a couple of early scares, but then seems to forget about them. (4/10)

Thriller: Even though this should pull you in it ends up leaving you losing interest early on and never manages to pull you back in. (3/10)

Settings: The isolation setting works with the story and leaves our lead stranded. (9/10)

Suggestion: I think this could be one to miss, it doesn’t offer anything fresh to the ideas of a horror thriller. (Skip It)

Best Part: I liked the idea of a ghost story.

Worst Part: I didn’t like that it was almost forgotten.

What Could Have Been Better? – Make up its mind where the story wants to go.

Believability: No (0/10)

Chances of Tears: No (0/10)

Chances of Sequel: No

Post Credits Scene: No

Oscar Chances: No