Before I explain why I removed 3 stars I will say this is a good film . it just could have been better with a few minor changes. The Real Lead Anna Brecon did a fantastic job as did most everyone else I can recommend this on a rainy or foggy night. Did the lead Character tell anyone she had a PA coming to help her ? Did Linda The PA introduce herself to he writer ? Just Say Personal Assistant because Not everyone knows what a PA is . If my 2 questions would have been answered in that 4 minutes that were edited from the version I saw sorry but I had to take a star for that hole in the set up .I didn't remove a star for the fact that the film makers chose to push the less important character Linda as the Lead in the film when she isn't. The Actress playing Linda isn't the better actress of the 2 and she hasn't learned to speak her lines Clearly. When the 1st human was killed the killer mumbles the second half of the lines but lucky for the audience later we hear that Full line from a recording Where Surprise the lines were clearly spoken otherwise we would have no idea what was said and it's important to the plot . But I didn't remove a star for that .The film loses a second star for the movie cover because it gives too much away .It lost a 3rd star for allowing the villain to too quickly & too easily without justification or explanation bully the lead character into submission when saying "The servants have to leave they annoy me ." Yes the actress who you gave 1st billing Linda Overacts If she usually does a lot of stage acting and didn't adjust herself to the small screen that could explain that. Otherwise a well written ,directed and acted film .

Not to be confused with the 1970s Soviet film where three men wander off in to the Russian wilderness and do absolutely nothing for four hours STALKER is no less unentertaining . Based upon a British horror movie from 35 years earlier whose only claim to fame it was banned by the BBFC . It features a plot about a female writer working on her second novel but instead of getting on with the task of writing a book she sits in the garden , sips a glass of wine , has a bath , lies in bed and does a hundred other mundane things , none of which involve typing stuff up on a lap top . There might be something about to happen because creepy music plays out on the soundtrack . Ms Writer sits down in a chair , creepy music . Ms Writer stares at a computer , creepy music . Ms Writer brushes her teeth , creepy music . In fact no matter what happens creepy music is the star of the movie . Considering the director of STALKER is Martin Kemp the talented pretty boy from Spandau Ballet this might be the reason for it

When novelist Paula Martin retreats to the seclusion of her family home Crows Hall she hopes to clear her mind and focus on her new book. The arrival of an assistant, Linda, should take the pressure offBut bodies begin to pile up, and Paula finds herself trapped in a terrifying nightmare of murder and madness.....A remake of the criminally under seen 'house on straw hill', Stalker begins very well, and Kemp proves he is as good behind the camera as well as in front of it. But as soon as March appears on the screen, it falls apart.I haven't seen March in anything prolific since Color Of Night, and back then she was known as 'The Sinner From Pinner' and this stuck in my head for the majority of the film.Salmon is good, but he's nothing more than a narrator, filling in the blanks for the clueless audience...if there are any.The rest of the cast are really good, but March hams it up too much to be a convincing men ace. Half the time she looks ill, and the other half just being too prissy toward everyone.So all in all, it's well made, Kemp is a very able auteur, but March needs to pull her reins in. She ruins the movie.

One reviewer claims this isn't a horror film then seeks to justify that comment by saying there's very little gore. Dear me, when did good horror require gore? If done with a bit of style, atmosphere, decent acting and a proper understanding of and respect for the genre, then it's not needed at all. The interesting thing is that the writer and director is none other than Martin Kemp. The man has gone from child actor to pop start to cinematic gangster to soap star to music revivalist to screenwriter and director...and like everything else he's done, he's been successful! Interesting too that he would know much about the infamous Hose on Straw Hill/Expose film of the mid-70s. Perhaps other reviewers would question that films horror veracity too? Here Kemp remakes with a considerable twist (albeit a somewhat clichéd one) and even brings back Linda Hayden who played a younger, saucier character back in the day. From the original film to Hammer Dracula to the awesome 'Blood On Satan's Claw', Linda is always a welcome contributor. Convincing performances from Jane March and Billy 'The Bill' Murray also help and it's mice to see the excellent Colin Salmon, though he seems less comfortable. In short, a psycho thriller type horror film that isn't particularly original but successfully evokes the feel of mid-70s independent British horror. I hope that Kemp makes more of these.