A TV movie remake of the 1965 William Castle movie of the same name, this is a low-key and subtle film which makes a pleasing change from all the gory slashers and monster-of-the-week flicks which were doing the rounds at the time. The film is fairly slow-paced and set over the course of one fateful night, and benefits from realistically drawn characters and a highly effective score which adds to the tension. In particular, Robert Carradine's killer is not just a clear-cut unstoppable evil type, instead he's portrayed as a flawed man with a psychological defect, so the crimes he commits are not really his fault after all.
The biggest flaw with I SAW WHAT YOU DID is the contrived plot, which is over complicated where it should be straightforward. This is especially true in the set-up, in which Kim and Lisa visit Adrian's house, thinking that he might be a prospective boyfriend, and Kim just happens to leave her handbag there so he can follow her to her home. I'll bet the original Castle film wasn't this unbelievable. The horror isn't graphic and the film is bloodless with the exception of a couple of supernatural "visions" that Carradine has which are shoe-horned into the plot to bolster the horror content, and consist of a woman in bad zombie makeup and that clichéd shot of hands pushing out from the inside of a wall.
Taking the lead role of the teenage victim is Shawnee Smith, who is saddled with an unappealing character and is frankly poor - and was much better in THE BLOB. At least her friend Lisa - played by Tammy Lauren (WISHMASTER) - has spirit and is a more interesting character. Robert Carradine is effective as the multi-layered villain (and arsonist, giving a fun angle to the action) of the piece whilst his brother David is on hand to lend a touch of class to the proceedings as a minor investigative character. The suitably fiery climax also provides a fitting ending to the film's diluted horrors, and then there's another twist that I didn't see coming to finish off..
The biggest flaw with I SAW WHAT YOU DID is the contrived plot, which is over complicated where it should be straightforward. This is especially true in the set-up, in which Kim and Lisa visit Adrian's house, thinking that he might be a prospective boyfriend, and Kim just happens to leave her handbag there so he can follow her to her home. I'll bet the original Castle film wasn't this unbelievable. The horror isn't graphic and the film is bloodless with the exception of a couple of supernatural "visions" that Carradine has which are shoe-horned into the plot to bolster the horror content, and consist of a woman in bad zombie makeup and that clichéd shot of hands pushing out from the inside of a wall.
Taking the lead role of the teenage victim is Shawnee Smith, who is saddled with an unappealing character and is frankly poor - and was much better in THE BLOB. At least her friend Lisa - played by Tammy Lauren (WISHMASTER) - has spirit and is a more interesting character. Robert Carradine is effective as the multi-layered villain (and arsonist, giving a fun angle to the action) of the piece whilst his brother David is on hand to lend a touch of class to the proceedings as a minor investigative character. The suitably fiery climax also provides a fitting ending to the film's diluted horrors, and then there's another twist that I didn't see coming to finish off..