Alone

Evil gets way too banal in Alone – with Jules Willcox as troubled young Jessica, who’s wisely getting out of Portland and landing in the path of a Pacific Northwest psycho ready to abduct her. Marc Menchaca’s relentless stalker is as threatening as William H. Macy in full nerd mode. He’s not a particularly good serial killer, either. The creep assures Jessica that she’s one of many victims, but the shaken gal pretty much just strolls out of his cabin. It’s so easy that viewers will briefly be convinced that they’re watching something suspenseful – but, no, the guy’s obviously new to this stuff. He’s even ripped off the wearing-the-armsling trick from The Vanishing. So did screenwriter Mattias Olsson, faithfully rehashing his Swedish film Gone for no real purpose. Veteran TV director John Hyams is equally uninspired. At least the original featured lots of scenic Swedish forestry. That was nice. We’re all sick of Oregon right now.

[R]