Introduction to A Stalker in the House Movie Review

 

My first thought when I saw the title of this movie – A Stalker in The House – was that a more compelling title to grab viewers' attention would be “A Stalker in my House” instead of “A Stalker in the House.”

 

However, after watching the movie, I realize the reason for the title since the stalker was initially a serial-type stalker who would stalk victims at their houses. So using the term “the House” instead “my House” seems apropos.

 

But I digress. You have probably seen plenty of similar-type stalker movies that follow the same playbook. However, unlike other stalker movies, you may not see a potential victim make as many mistakes in dealing with a stalker as the character did in the movie, A Stalker in the House.

 

 To find out her mistakes and more, check out my movie review of A Stalker in the House.

 

By the way, I watched A Stalker in the House film on Amazon Prime Video for free; however, the movie may be  streaming on other services as well.

 

Synopsis of A Stalker in the House Movie

 

The movie A Stalker in the House is on the surface basically a regular run-of-the mill stalker movie. The major difference I see in the plot is the numerous blunders or missteps the last woman he stalked made and quite foolishly kept on making throughout A Stalker in the House movie.

 

The gist of A Stalker in the House movie is that the stalker (Jack Pearson as Mike) met his latest prey or victim on an on-line dating service. During their first date, when he grew more and more persistent with his date, she resisted. After multiple rejections from her, he seemed even more obsessed with stalking the victim.

 

The rest is history as they say with the stalker continuing to text or try to contact her, even though it was obvious that Veronika Issa's character as Jen was not interested in him or wanted to see him.

 

Subplots involve the stalker’s destruction of anyone who visited or knew the main female character Veronika Issa as Jen – including her best friend Michelle Ng as Lisa and many of her other friends.

 

Movie Magic in A Stalker in the House Movie

 

In addition to being a stalker, Jack Pearson’s character would resort to destroying her friends either by first pretending to befriend them or just outright accosting them violently, most of the time while out in public no less. 

 

The movie magic comes into play when the story plot seems to dismiss the destruction of these characters as something that did not warrant inquiries where at least one family member or friend would ask Veronika Issa’s character about them missing.

 

 Interestingly enough, even Veronika Issa as Jen, the main character did not seem concerned or appeared to follow up on the whereabouts of her best friend when her texts went unanswered and she went missing.

 

In real life, I believe at least one of the victim's relatives or friends would have contacted Veronika Issa’s character to look for the missing person who is now deceased at the hands of the stalker. At the very minimum, a detective or policeman would have showed up at her apartment to question her regarding the missing person’s whereabouts.

 

 

Too Many Characters in A Stalker in the House Movie

 

Looking back on A Stalker in the House movie, the victim was portrayed as someone who was rather popular and was constantly dating. I think the movie would have had more of an impact from a scary, horrifying perspective if the number of other men she was seeing was reduced so the audience would get a sense that she was frightened with only her female best friend around to help her when she was stalked or in danger.

 

 

Blatant Mistakes the Victim Made in A Stalker in the House Movie

 

If you watch A Stalker in the House movie, you may mentally say to yourself "She should not have done that '' as the victim continues to take poor actions and make bad decisions throughout the film. I will list a few mistakes she made  below – however, there may be more.

 

Below is a list of actions she should not have done -- emphasis on the word "not":

 

– Letting him know where she stayed or lived during their first date

 

–Taking too long to get a restraining order against the stalker

 

–Permitting the stalker to see her apartment code when she entered her apartment, enabling him to memorize the numbers, use them at his discretion to come and go unseen, in and out of her apartment as he pleased

 

–Letting him back in her apartment, even when she denied his requests to do so and had already told him “No” many times previously

 

–Not blocking him sooner on her phone

 

–Trusting him to tell the truth when she knew he was was not honest

 

–Since she did not block him on her phone, responding to his text about a watch that he “conveniently” left in her bathroom

 

–Not being firm, strong, determined and stern in her “No” responses to him

 

–Last but not least, refusing to see him period regardless of his reasons, especially after she knew he was stalking and frightening her

 

As I alluded to before, I'm sure there are more mistakes she made, but I will stop here.

 

Ironically, Veronika Issa’s character was studying to be a psychologist, so at the very least she should have recognized the warning signs from the stalker’s personality- behavior and taken necessary precautions to immediately cease contact with him.

 

 

Assessment of A Stalker in The House Movie

 

The point of this movie could possibly be to educate women (and men) about stalkers. However, I think the movie did a disservice by implying that sometimes victims are not strong in their “No” responses, that they can be easily persuaded to do something against their better judgment and most importantly victims are not taking steps to protect themselves.

 

A plus for the movie was Veronika Issa’s character was the only victim who fought back against her stalker. 

 

To seemingly make up for all the mistakes and movie magic-type scenes in the movie – the movie A Stalker in the House managed to end on a somewhat positive note – two years after these unfortunately stalker events occurred. You will know what I'm referring to if you watch A Stalker in the House movie.

 

Even though I’m not giving A Stalker in the House film a high rating, I recommend you watch this movie since I believe there are lessons to be learned.

 

Rating of A Stalker in the House

 

Based on a rating of 1 star to 5 stars with 5 stars being the highest, I rate A Stalker in the House movie 2 stars.