I won't lie, I'm a fan of Maryam d'Abo and Lisa Blount, and the fact that both were involved here was my impetus for watching. If nothing else is true I trust completely in both actors; the otherwise quality of the picture is another matter. I think Blount is definitely shortchanged by the material she's given, though as I would expect she makes the most of it and I wish her role was larger; d'Abo is charming and terrific, showing fine nuanced range, yet I think the overall thrust of the film mistreats her. (Notably, star Jay Underwood spends most of his time on-screen chewing scenery, though I can't completely blame him and he does also illustrate broader acting skills at points throughout.) That thrust is something revealed to us by opening narration, of which the very inclusion is questionable both in and of itself and for the nature of the words spoken. Henry Ramer's gravelly timbre recites statistics regarding stalking, as though this were an episode of '60 minutes,' and bizarrely seems to intone that the deserving focus of the story isn't the victim, but the stalker. Let's not delve too deeply into that initial framing, but suffice to say that once the movie properly begins it illustrates that chief character Daryl is far less than deserving of our sympathy. The least that can be said is that the screenplay gives light, passing service to the idea that the mental health services in our society are woefully underfunded and undervalued, yet frankly this facet of the tale and the character needed more emphasis.
The latter is also 100% true of the fact that Daryl otherwise represents not just a stalker specifically, but all the worst traits of the worst of men, generally. We see in him, among many other traits, the condescending belief that men always know better than women; the false notion of male entitlement to women's bodies and affections; extreme possessiveness, extreme gaslighting, and - as with domestic violence - shrinking the victim's world so they depend entirely on him; and blithe dismissal of the utility of mental health, of seeking help, or simply the possibility of ever being in the wrong. There is also, of course, the way that men are inclined to believe one another over women. 'Stalked' is at once a horror-thriller carrying itself with the softer tone of a Lifetime original television movie, and a less artistic spiritual predecessor to Alex Garland's 2022 feature 'Men,' and in both instances surely treats the subject matter in a manner not quite matching what it should have been. This is unfortunate, because when you get down to it all the right pieces are here for what should have been a chilling, genuinely frightening, haunting, and socially relevant horror-thriller, and it's only small bits and pieces that really needed to have been altered for the title to achieve the desired effect. Chief among these, and perhaps the greatest flaw, is that by spotlighting the term "stalker," the flick mythologizes male behavior in a way that allows men at large (and that very small percentage of women, or non-binary or gender non-conforming persons, to whom like descriptors apply) to distinguish their identical behavior from that of the "stalker," and separate themselves; e.g., "Oh, I'm not a stalker, so what I'm doing is okay."
Shift that "stalker" framing, and discard the opening narration, and we're already well on our way to improving this 1994 film. Reduce or omit the abusive mother and we've taken another step. And so on, and so on, but here's one more thing: I don't think any one person is to be blamed, not the writers, director Douglas Jackson, the cast, composer Milan Kymlicka, or anyone else. At some point in the conjuration, however, the fact remains that 'Stalked' was robbed of the darkest energy and electric vibrancy that would have helped its most striking, meaningful, impactful ideas to truly land. Case in point, those most awful traits represented in Daryl are something that the astute viewer will readily pick up on, but the feature should have been accentuating these itself. The appropriate scenes, dialogue, characters, and narrative are here, if imperfect; missing are the feelings that the tableau should evoke, and the lightning bolts of revelation that should follow from a tale broaching real-life issues. In all regards I think this is well made overall, including not just the acting, writing, and direction, but certainly the stunts and effects, too, not to mention editing and cinematography. Between some aspects being misshapen or mishandled and others just not given all due weight, the sad result is a picture that falls short of what it could and should have been. I still like this, and I admire what all involved put into it; would that the utmost mindful care had been taken, and/or that the filmmakers knew exactly what they had grasped onto and had taken full advantage of it. I think 'Stalked' is worth watching on its own merits, and is surely suggested most for fans of the cast. I gladly give this my light recommendation; would that I could speak of it with more enthusiasm.
