When the book this was based on was published in 1977 it was a compulsively readable page turner told in the form of letters and notes drawing you in to a slowly escalating situation. At that time before the John Lennon and Rebecca Schaeffer stalking tragedies made the scenario all too real it was a good suspenseful read. Of course now it would be tinged with the memories of those and other similar events that at the time seemed unimaginable but it's still a solid book. So it's a real pity what they did to it while translating it from page to screen. They hired a top flight cast and then squandered their gifts on a flatfooted, directionless and needlessly violent pseudo slasher flick. Betty Bacall, Michael Biehn and Maureen Stapleton all try to make something out of this but their efforts are in vain. A wasted opportunity.
