The rest of the film, written by Katie Boland and directed by Annie Bradley, follows adult Elizabeth (now played by Sara Paxton) on the anniversary of her mother’s death. Liz is in a stable relationship with lawyer Dan (Hamza Haq), manages her own book store/consignment shop/bar (the details are confusing), and is expecting her first child. But when she encounters an old clown at the annual fair and is subsequently accosted by Maddie (Hannah Forest Briand), a belligerent true crime podcaster, on her front lawn, Liz almost immediately miscarries.

In the aftermath of the dual traumas, Liz embarks on an investigation to uncover the details of her mother’s unsolved murder. In the process, she digs up new information that makes her question the nature of her father Reed’s (David Cubitt) relationship with stepmother Ana (Mary Krohnert), butts heads with unhelpful Sheriff Vernon (James Burke), and reaches out to her schizophrenic aunt Helen (Fiona Highet), whom she’s never met.

Killer Clown could have easily been called Who’s Gaslighting Liz? because it’s evident early on that people have been lying to Liz her whole life. She’s repeatedly made to question her own sanity, and even Dan – whose support initially seems unwavering – at one point asks her to give up her search in order to protect their relationship.

Part of his concern is that Liz has begun seeing the same clown that attacked her mother when she was five. It lures her out of her house with a bouquet of balloons that explode fake blood on her face; it stalks Liz in the parking garage of her doctor’s office; and it even attacks Aunt Helen in her house. Tellingly, though, the clown never appears when other people, especially men, are around, which makes Liz (and, by extension, the audience) question whether her mind is playing tricks on her.

It’s telling how often the men in Liz’s life question whether the trauma of the miscarriage and the anniversary are playing with her mind. At one point, Liz’s father even suggests that there’s a history of mental illness on the female side of the family. This is well worn territory for female-led thrillers and horror films, and for good reason: women continue to be disbelieved and told they’re hysterical when they try to speak out. It’s a trope of the genre not only because it makes for good conflict, but because the problem persists in real life.

One of the more enjoyable aspects of the film, though, is how often Liz pushes back against the gaslighting. When asked how she is, Liz frequently exclaims a variation of “not great!” and even when Dan, Reed, or Ana suggests she take it easy, Liz refuses to let her investigation go. As heroines go, Paxton mostly plays Liz as somewhat passive, but her doggedness is endearing, particularly in the back half of the film when it’s clear that folks aren’t being entirely truthful with her.

Of course, the other interesting element about Killer Clown is its connection to true crime. WARNING: Spoilers Ahead! The film is based loosely on reality, with ties to the murder of Marlene Warren in May 1996.

According to People.com: “Warren opened the door of her home…to what appeared to be a delivery person dressed as a clown with balloons and a basket of flowers. Moments later, the assailant shot Marlene in the mouth and calmly walked to the LeBaron parked in the driveway and drove off.

“For years, authorities suspected Sheila Keen, then 26, who was having an affair with Marlene’s husband, Michael Warren, but said they didn’t have enough evidence at the time to convict her.”

Sheila would eventually marry Michael, but 27 years later, DNA evidence implicated her in Marlene’s murder, and she was sent to jail (she has since been released).

It’s worth noting that in real life, Marlene’s son Joseph was home and witnessed his mother’s death, just like Liz does in Killer Clown. And while the killer’s identity in the film doesn’t map onto the real-life details of the case 1-for-1, the motivation and details behind the crime aren’t too far off. It’s an intriguing adaptation choice for a film that otherwise takes a lot of liberties.

Considering its title, Killer Clown isn’t as campy or salacious as Lifetime audiences may have hoped for. The reality is that the film is more rooted in Liz’s trauma and her inability to move past the thirty-year grief that has defined her life. As a drama with elevated stakes, it’s solid, and Paxton’s understated performance helps to ground the narrative with a real sense of emotion.

As for horror beats: there are a few unsettling clown-related moments, and Bradley makes good use of the fair-set scenes, including a climax that heavily features both a hedge maze and a purple-lit funhouse full of mirrors.

Killer Clown premiered on Lifetime on August 1.

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Inspired by real stories, Killer Clown is a psychological thriller that explores trauma, memory, and gaslighting through the lens of a woman confronting the truth about her mother’s murder.

Premiering Saturday, August 1 at 8pm ET on Lifetime, Killer Clown stars Sara Paxton (The Innkeepers, The Last House on the Left, Weapons)! Watch the official trailer below.

Here’s the full plot synopsis: “Decades after witnessing her mother’s brutal murder at the hands of the Killer Clown, Elizabeth Helmer (Sara Paxton) remains haunted by the crime that shattered her childhood. When she begins investigating the long-unsolved cold case, Elizabeth becomes the target of a terrifying copycat stalker, forcing her to confront painful memories she has spent a lifetime trying to escape.

“As she searches for answers alongside her father Reed (David Cubitt) and husband Dan (Hamza Haq), Elizabeth uncovers a tangled web of family betrayal and long-buried secrets.

“As she closes in on the truth, Elizabeth must separate fact from manipulation and fight to survive before history repeats itself.”

Following Saturday night’s premiere, Killer Clown streams next day on the Lifetime app.

Killer Clown is directed by Annie Bradley and written by Katie Boland.

The post ‘Killer Clown’ – Lifetime Original Clown Thriller Starring Sara Paxton Premieres This Weekend [Trailer] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

On the surface, Mariana Cruz (Christina Milian) has a great life. She’s the Head of Personnel at Pana Optic Security, where she’s introduced calmly and confidently dealing with Herbert (Andrew E. Wheeler), a predatory CFO who has abused his company status with a female subordinate. It’s a lengthy sequence, but one that serves to both introduce Mariana’s talent for reading body language, as well as what appears to be the film’s antagonist.

It’s the former aspect that provided the film’s original title, and director Cory Miller provides ample visual cues to help the audience see the world through Mariana’s eyes. Tight close-ups on Herbert’s hands as he fiddles with his cufflinks, or the movement of his feet, confirm when he’s lying, all of which is clocked by Mariana and then unsubtly confirmed by screenwriter Robert Belushi’s dialogue: “Your mouth can lie, but your body won’t”.

After Herbert escapes security and flees the building, He Couldn’t Let Go resets to flesh out the rest of Mariana’s life, including her relationship with hunky fiancé Nick (Gregg Wayans); a plucky best friend in co-worker Fay (Annie Gonzalez); and a beautiful, semi-isolated home in the burbs.

The plot kicks back into gear when Nick is delayed at work, and Mariana is forced to entertain his old College friend Dylan (Steven Strait), a chef visiting from Hong Kong. Shocking no one, there’s nothing but red flags when it comes to Dylan. He’s too perfect: he cooks a near-perfect mofongo, a favorite dish of Mariana’s; he’s familiar with her Bogotá hangouts, and he’s ready to learn salsa moves from her in the living room.

But Mariana’s FBI training (!) means that eventually she begins to pick up on his deceptive body language, and, as the evening progresses, she chips away at his pat answers. What keeps this cat-and-mouse section interesting, since we obviously know there’s more to Dylan than he’s letting on, is how Dylan manages to subtly get under Mariana’s skin while she’s reading him.

Dylan does so by undermining her faith in Nick by suggesting that he has a questionable past, which deftly ties back to the events of the opening with Herbert. The questions Dylan raises also allow the introduction of Calvin (screenwriter Belushi), a red shirt who is called into action when Mariana covertly tries to fact check Dylan’s claims about Nick.

Of course, there’s never any doubt about who will meet a violent end or where the true danger lies. This means that despite the brief 90-minute runtime, the film’s second act drags a little because we’re waiting for the profiler to catch up to what the audience already knows.*

*Sidebar: It’s here that the FBI training element doesn’t fully work because it takes Mariana far too long to catch on to Dylan.

Thankfully, the last act kicks the violence into overdrive as the house becomes a battlefield. While one wishes that Milian was given more to do in the first two acts than simply react to Dylan’s revelations, the character never comes off as dumb. In fact, there are several moments when she makes the best possible decision available and circumstances – or Dylan – cut her off at the pass.

The reveal about who Dylan is and what he wants isn’t particularly revelatory, but the extended climax, which features several chases and violent set pieces, is effective. Milian and Strait also have good chemistry, which helps to carry the saggy pacing of the middle stretch, while the height difference between the actors ensures that Dylan is appropriately menacing when they’re in close quarters.

Aside from the surprising detail about Mariana’s FBI training, He Couldn’t Let Me Go doesn’t stray far from the typical Lifetime formula. For fans of domestic thrillers, however, that won’t be an issue; there’s comfort to be found in these kinds of narratives, so why mess with a good thing?

He Couldn’t Let Go premiered on Lifetime Movie Network on July 11.

The post ‘He Couldn’t Let Go’ Review: Lifetime’s Latest Psychological Thriller Sticks to the Formula appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Now it’s time to discuss South African Olympian Oscar Pistorius, who made headlines when he competed in both the Paralympics, as well as the 2012 Olympics. The double amputee was an inspiration, garnered all kinds of press, and became an instant celebrity (it didn’t hurt that he was deemed extremely attractive).

On the night of Feb 13, 2013, Pistorius heard a noise in his apartment and (he claims he) mistook it for an intruder. Brandishing his gun, he shot several times through the bathroom door, striking his girlfriend, model and lawyer Reeva Steenkamp, multiple times. She died on the scene.

Pistorius was tried in March 2014 and eventually found guilty of culpable manslaughter, with the prosecution repeatedly going back to demand a harsher sentence and longer prison time for what they believed was murder.

The 2017 Lifetime film Oscar Pistorius: Blade Runner Killer doesn’t address most of Pistorius’ athletic accomplishments or his celebrity. Alas the screenplay by Adam Freeman and Buffy the Vampire Slayer‘s Amber Benson doesn’t have much interest in exploring the race, class, or celebrity aspects of the case; the film principally focuses on the murder as an extreme example of intimate partner violence.

It is a Lifetime film, after all!

Want even more Murder Made Fiction? Be sure to check out the pod’s Patreon feed, where Jenn and I have ~135 hours of content including a bear attack double feature with Grizzly Night and Cocaine Bear and discussions about last year’s most powerful true crime documentaries: The Perfect Neighbor, Predators, and Devil in the Family: The Fall of Ruby Franke.

The post Lifetime’s ‘Oscar Pistorius: Blade Runner Killer’ Chronicles An Athlete’s Rise and Fall [Murder Made Fiction Podcast] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Teri Polo (Meet the Parents), Dylan Walsh (“Nip/Tuck”), and Jamie-Lynn Sigler (“The Sopranos”) will star in the Lifetime original movie The Man in the Window.

Deadline revealed the first look at Polo and Singer in the psychological thriller, which will premiere on March 28 at 8/7c.

When Sarah (Polo) starts dating Jack (Walsh), the handsome man who just moved in across the street, it feels like her life is finally getting back on track.

But when a neighbor turns up dead, all signs point to Jack. With no one willing to believe her, Sarah is forced to risk everything to prove the man she’s falling for is a killer.

Al Sapienza (“The Sopranos”), Jonetta Kaiser (“Vampire Academy”), Deborah Rennard (“Dallas”), Bryan Arion, Joseph Curtis Callender, and Gerald Louis Campbell round out the cast.

Tragedy Girls executive producer Richard Switzer directs from a script he co-wrote with Amy Irons.

Switzer produces via his Maverick Film, with Irons serving as executive producer.

The post Teri Polo, Dylan Walsh, Jamie-Lynn Sigler to Star in Lifetime Thriller ‘The Man in the Window’ appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Blurring the line between dream and reality, the psychological thriller will premiere March 21 at 8/7c.

Katie Boland (I Was Honey Boo Boo) writes and directs, based on Marissa Finch‘s 2022 novel Don’t Fall Asleep.

Breslin stars as Kelty Crawford, a millennial struggling with financial strain, career uncertainty, and a wedding she can’t afford. Desperate for money, she enrolls in a sleep-study experiment that spirals into terror when she experiences a vivid, violent dream of a dying man, a bloody knife in her hand, and a voice accusing her of murder.

When a news report the next day reveals a missing man who matches her dream, Kelty is drawn into a dangerous, emotionally charged pursuit of the truth — one that forces her to confront unsettling secrets and the shadows she may not be able to escape.

Bethany Brown (“Charmed”), Michael Eklund (The Call), and Landon Liboiron (“Hemlock Grove”) round out the cast.

Navid Soofi for PF Birch Productions produces in association with Barn Loft Productions and Studio TF1 America. Supermodel Lydia Hearst executive produces alongside Timothy O. Johnson, Abbey Sibucao, and Jocelyn Freid.

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Lifetime just announced their lineup of brand new original holiday movies they’ll be releasing for Christmas this year, and while most of them are holiday rom-coms, one of them is a little bit different. It’s a Christmas-themed thriller titled Do You Fear What I Fear – come on, that’s a winning title – and the first image was released by The Wrap this afternoon.

In Do You Fear What I Fear, “When Claire (Ciarra Hanna) lands her dream job in the city, she believes she finally escaped her Christmas hometown. That’s until holiday decorations start appearing in her home unannounced, each one with a message from someone close to her. The thriller must decide who the Secret Santa truly is and escape her haunted holiday.”

Do You Fear What I Fear premieres Thursday, December 4.

The “It’s a Wonderful Lifetime” programming takeover begins November 29 on Lifetime.

The post ‘Do You Fear What I Fear’ – Lifetime Premiering New Christmas Thriller This December appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Writer Ken Miyamoto tosses the audience in the deep end right from the start. The film opens at night as a teen boy (Aiden Howard, It’s A Wonderful Knife) walks up to a payphone and calls the police, identifying himself as kidnapping victim Jack Reese.

It’s not until we’ve gone through the morning routine of Haley (Tegan Moss) and Richard (Matthew Kevin Anderson) that the couple’s connection to Jack becomes evident. They seem mildly overprotective of their young, pre-teen son Tyler (Kingston Goodjohn) and for good reason: when Haley and Richard meet with Detective Doyle (Vincent Ross) at the police station, it is revealed that Jack is their son…and he’s been missing for twelve years.

The question at the center of The Boy Who Vanished is whether Jack is who he says he is. The teen is quick to anger and reacts aggressively when either parent tries to touch him, but they both recognize that he’s experiencing PTSD and needs therapy. An early red flag occurs when Jack doesn’t recognize their neighbourhood or his room, but Richard’s dialogue clarifies that the family moved and this is a different house from the one Jack grew up in.

Still, the teen boy does exhibit other strange behaviour, including his immediate request for a cell phone (Richard even questions why, noting that Jack “doesn’t have any friends”.) And who is the teen calling late at night that requires him to covertly sneak out of the house?

Miyamoto is good at doling out enough mystery to insinuate that there’s more to the story than meets the eye. Thankfully this isn’t a simple grifter mystery; an early line of dialogue suggests that Haley and Richard are also keeping something from their son, which complicates the mystery further.

Then there are the two odd, threatening characters – Luna (Maia Michaels) and Travis (Gord Pankhurst) – who keep turning up. Their clothing and hair codifies them as threatening, particularly to an affluent WASPy couple like the Reese family, and they spend the film either spying from their grey van or confronting Haley and Richard in parking lots where they comment on their wealth and privilege.

Also in the mix is Haley’s brother Michael (Jesse Moss, Ginger Snaps). He was a person of interest in Jack’s abduction back in the day due to his struggles with addiction. In the present, Michael combatively tells his sister that he’s clean, but she doesn’t full trust him because he’s living on the margins of society in an RV park (see: aforementioned WASP comment).

The story has a lot of moving parts, but director Christie Will Wolf shoots the film in a matter of fact way that doesn’t overcomplicate the proceedings. It’s that familiar Lifetime visual aesthetic, but The Boy Who Vanished treats even its most ludicrous developments as simple plot beats in a mystery. In fact, the tone is much more thoughtful and emotional than other, more histrionic, Lifetime films.

It helps that the vast majority of the film is grounded in the family drama between Jack, Haley, and Richard. Moss has no difficulty portraying the doting mother: Haley is immediately convinced of Jack’s authenticity and she is desperate to repair their fractured relationship, be it via gifts or acquiescing to all of his demands.

Kevin Anderson’s Richard is less certain (at least initially). It’s clear that the patriarch wants to believe the teen, but Richard maintains a slight distance, even when Jack makes efforts to learn about his job as the CO of a wealth management firm.

Howard is undeniably the lead of the film and he does a expert job of straddling the line between earnest and duplicitous. That’s important not just for the mystery, but for believably selling some of the character’s more innocuous reactions to everyday life.

Jack is, in many ways, a conventional teenage boy – albeit one with a bizarre and sensational story that immediately makes him front page news. Still, his interest in Summer (Grace Beedle), a hot, sensitive girl he runs into at school, confirms that his primary interest is regaining a sense of normalcy and avoiding the media frenzy that follows him everywhere.

Summer is a totem of what Jack’s life could be had he not been kidnapped: in another life, Jack would just be a normal guy dating an attractive, supportive girlfriend who inspires him to open up. Alas, Summer – along with many of the supporting cast, including Tyler, Michael and Luna – are not really characters so much as pawns that either advance the narrative or offer insight into Jack.

It’s the mystery that’s front and center, though, so thankfully The Boy Who Vanished doesn’t wait until its climax to expose the truth. While some elements are telegraphed early, Miyamoto has a few additional cards up their sleeve that make the final reveal worth the wait.

The Boy Who Vanished isn’t revolutionary, but between the emotional family drama and the teasing mystery, complete with red herrings, it’s a ride worth taking.

The Boy Who Vanished aired on Lifetime Movie Network June 15.

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Fifteen years ago, Delilah Douglas (Meghan Carrasquillo, last seen in Tubi’s Til Death Do Us Part) was the lead on a bog standard family sitcom called From the Hart. With her days as a tween star far behind her, Delilah is happily teaching high school students about Shakespeare when she gets the call: the sitcom has found new life in the age of streaming and the Hollywood suits have greenlit a contemporary reboot with the original cast reprising their roles.

The problem? Delilah has no interest in going back to acting. As revealed in flashbacks, Delilah’s acting career wasn’t her choice; her actions were being dictated by her emotionally abusive momager (Denise Gossett) who berated her for being exhausted or forgetting her lines.

Naturally Delilah’s decision to decline the offer draws the ire of both hard-core fans, as well as the frustration of several of former co-stars. This includes Cody (Colton Tapp), who played her TV boyfriend Danny, and has been struggling to book more prestigious gigs than anti-fungal foot commercials.

But Internet hatred and annoyed co-workers don’t hold a candle to the real-life threats on Delilah’s safety, which begin with online harassment before escalating to vandalism and threats to her safety. Naturally the cops don’t take her concerns seriously, advising Delilah to move until things cool down. The problem is that she has nowhere to go.

In an ill-advised move of desperation, Delilah accepts the offer of a kindly barista named Ellen (Lauren Cole) that she has recently befriended. The offer: stay a few nights at Ellen’s parents’ remote country home. Never mind the fact that there’s no wifi or cell coverage. What could possibly go wrong?

The biggest challenge plaguing I Am Your Biggest Fan is that there are few, if any, surprises. It’s evident from the start where the danger is coming from and why, so when Delilah winds up drugged and in shackles at the end of the first act, it’s less of a twist than a simple confirmation of our suspicions.

Unlike recent titles such as Trapped in the Spotlight, Murder at the Lighthouse or Trapped in Her Dorm Room, this kidnapping movie never shifts gears beyond its initial conflict. The remainder of the film finds Delilah struggling to retain her composure, negotiate with her captor, and desperately seek out opportunities to escape (which inevitably fail…because that’s how these films work).

Kidnapping films are tricky to execute because they require a constant (re)negotiation of stakes, as well as dynamic actors to guarantee audience investment. While I Am Your Biggest Fan struggles in the first capacity, it is mostly successful on the latter point; Carrasquillo and Cole are both solid and compelling leads (though one wishes that Cole was allowed to go full psychotic).

Alas, Emily Golden’s screenplay is resolutely classy, almost to a fault.

There’s a trashier version of the film that could have leaned into the camp and been much more successful and entertaining. Consider that Delilah is held captive on a recreation of her sitcom set and forced to perform as “Chelsea” in order to guarantee her safety. There’s huge potential in this set-up…but, for the most part, I Am Your Biggest Fan resists exploring any salacious, campy possibilities in favour of playing things straight.

Disappointingly the film also avoids tackling (in a Quiet on Set-esque way) the devastating psychological and social impacts of making and consuming teen content. There are hints of something bigger and deeper, particularly in the scenes in which Delilah-as-Chelsea reenacts dialogue and plot lines from the show. These moments evoke the entitlement and fan service that audiences of legacy sequels and reboots demand. They also hint at the inherent power of watching Chelsea confront and overcome her childhood trauma while living through a fresh round in adulthood.

Unfortunately Golden’s script holds back from truly engaging with this intriguing narrative premise. Instead what we get is a traditional narrative that opts to swing baseball bats and pick handcuffs with bobby pins. It’s not bad, but it is also quite conventional.

Thankfully it’s still extremely watchable – thanks in no small part to its two competent lead performances, as well the expected but still welcome “twists,” and an amusingly over the top action climax (which director Haylie Duff admittedly struggles to stage convincingly).

Ultimately I Am Your Biggest Fan is safe and pat, but the movie still checks all of the boxes for a Lifetime kidnapping flick.

I Am Your Biggest Fan is now available on Lifetime Movie Network.

The post Director Haylie Duff’s ‘I Am Your Biggest Fan’ Is a Predictable But Watchable Kidnapping Thriller [Review] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Rachel Stubington (“Shrinking”) stars as Heather Robinson, who was abducted as a baby and raised by the family of a serial killer who was convicted of murdering her mother. Jana Kramer (“One Tree Hill”) plays an investigator working on the case.

Heather (Stubington) grew up in a loving family in Illinois. By the time she was a teen, she had long known that she had been adopted as an infant by her parents.

But in 2000, the then-15-year-old’s world was shattered when she learned that the man she knew as her uncle, John Robinson (Guttenberg), was a serial killer accused of murdering multiple women in the Kansas City area, including her biological mother, Lisa Stasi. After her uncle’s arrest, Heather learns the shocking truth about her birth mother’s disappearance.

Lee Gabiana (Gaslit by My Husband: The Morgan Metzer Story) directs from a script written by Shawn Linden (Hunter Hunter) and Pamela Gray for Marwar Junction Productions and Allegheny Image Factory.

Kidnapped by a Killer: The Heather Robinson Story will premiere on Saturday, June 7, at 8/7 c on Lifetime.

The post Steve Guttenberg to Play Real-Life Serial Killer In Lifetime’s ‘Kidnapped by a Killer’ appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Following the tragic death of the family patriarch due to cancer, mom Elena (Kristi Murdock) moves her daughter Sadie (Julia Terranova) and her father Jim (Ken Lyle) from LA to small town suburbia. They secure the giant old Crane house for a steal, but in no time the family discovers that realtor Malcomb (Christopher Sky) wasn’t forthcoming about the property’s sordid history.

The cold open briefly features previous homeowners Lila (Christie Leverette) and Tim (Tyler Gillett) fleeing the house in the dead of night, so the audience already knows there’s something going on. Later Sheriff Danforth (Bradford Haynes) and Sadie’s bitchy classmate Brittany (Madison Reitz) fill in the details: the house previously belonged to a rich, reclusive family with a dark past.

It turns out that the Cranes isolated themselves from the outside world until the house was foreclosed and the sole remaining member, Nathaniel (Ken Lyle) was evicted. Since then, the property has been home to countless weird occurrences, which means nearly everyone in town has grown superstitious of it.

So far, so good, right? Start with a spooky house, add some lore and bizarre events, then sprinkle in some mother/daughter drama, and you’ve got the foundation of a decent mystery.

Almost immediately, however, it’s clear that writer Daniel West and director David Benullo are just going through the motions. We’ve seen this story countless times before, and better. The characters are shallow and one-note, the supporting characters pop up to deliver exposition in a scene or two and then disappear, and, most frustratingly, Elena spends nearly two-thirds of the film refusing to believe her daughter, even when increasingly wild things are happening around her.

There’s an explanation for Elena’s reticence to acknowledge the supernatural, but it comes so late in the film that it feels more like an excuse than a genuine character beat. Instead Secrets in the Foundation adopts a rigid narrative formula and sticks with it: Sadie sees or hears something suspicious and freaks out. Elena comes in and dismisses her concerns and the pair argue about leaving the house. Rinse, lather, repeat.

It’s fine the first few times, but these interactions get stale very quickly. There’s a brief spark when the kindly neighbour Louise (Sharl Hill) shows up after a failed yard sale and proudly declares herself immune to superstition, but the character barely gets anything to do. This is a persistent issue that also affects Brittany, the mean girl at school who gives Sadie an earful about the house’s dark history, then is never seen again.

The only real supporting character of note is Sadie’s one and only friend at school, Dylan (Collier Randall). The gay bestie only really pops up to deliver a ridiculous quip or offer additional exposition, though. Dylan is clearly meant to be the fun comic relief in an otherwise serious supernatural film, but all of his jokey bits go over like a lead balloon.

Not helping matters is the fact that both Randall and Terranova’s line deliveries leave a lot to be desired. As a result, all of their scenes together are particularly challenging. Meanwhile, Sadie is so dour and whiny that it’s hard to muster any energy to invest in her plight.

Then there is the casting and locations. Terranova and Murdock look (and are often styled) more like sisters than mother/daughter, and Lyle is only coded as a grandpa because he has white hair and a narratively contrived hearing aid (literally: his only job in the film is to repeatedly comment on and/or fiddle with his hearing aid).

So, the three family members barely differ in age (at least in presentation) and the acting from half of the leads is mediocre. That leaves the house and the actual hauntings to do the heavy lifting, but things aren’t much better on this front.

The exposition about the Crane family emphasizes that they lived in the house for countless generations, and there are stories about secret passages and bricked off rooms. What is captured onscreen, however, is a large, relatively modern house with a completely normal lay-out. Then, when things get hectic in the finale, the previously unseen parts of the house that the characters move through are very obviously another set/location. Add to this a collection of bland haunting elements (barely-audible whispers in the wall, flickering lights, etc) and it all just feels very amateurish.

Bad acting, bad casting, an unconvincing setting and lackluster supernatural elements doom Secrets in the Foundation from the start. If you’re a Lifetime completionist the film is watchable, but there are far better, more interesting films in the LMN stable.

Secrets in the Foundation airs on Lifetime Movie Network on April 4.

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Trapped in Her Dorm Room has the potential to be completely over the top. As written by Casey John, however, the story about an obsessive, entitled man who imprisons his crush in her college room over Spring Break is chillingly plausible (the story does, in fact, allege to be ‘Inspired by true events’).

Erin Wallace (Ciara Hanna) is a promising art student living a relatively sheltered life. She’s a scholarship student, which means she’s obsessed with her grades, much to the chagrin of her roommate Kaley (Aja Hinds), who wants her to cut loose and come to Daytona Beach for Spring Break. Erin demurs, arguing that she needs the quiet time to work on a major project.

Her decision appeals to Cade Rowlands (Will Sparks III), the nice guy in Erin’s program who is obviously obsessed with her. Cade also plans to stay on the nearly deserted campus in order to try and woo Erin while everyone is away.

Things come to a head when Kaley convinces Erin to change her mind, resulting in an argument between the artist and Cade that takes a violent turn when he pursues Erin into her room. Our lead is knocked out and, when Erin awakens, she discovers that Cade has tied her to the bed. With Kaley on vacation and Erin’s overbearing mom, Andrea (Nicole Dionne) mistakenly went with her, Erin is left at the mercy of a jealous, possessive, and potentially violent man for a week.

The film adopts the usual Lifetime approach by opening at the end and then flashing back, so we know in advance that Erin escapes Cade’s clutches at some point. It’s one of the few major missteps Trapped in Her Dorm Room makes, if only because the framing device adds very little value aside from an obvious opening hook.

The film is best when director Peter Sullivan lets Hanna and Sparks III do their thing, with sporadic complications introduced to shake up the primarily single-setting film. The vast majority of Trapped in Her Dorm Room takes place in the titular dorm, but Sullivan trusts the interactions between captive and captor to carry the drama.

Hanna delivers a quietly compelling performance. For large chunks of the run time, Erin is either tied to her bed or her desk and while the character is put through the emotional wringer, Erin is no damsel in distress. Our protagonist frequently makes smart, believable choices to either placate Cade or seize on opportunities for escape.

The MVP of the film, however, is Sparks III, who effortlessly channels the disarming likability of an entitled straight white man. There’s definitely a soft incel vibe in Cade’s desire to control Erin, particularly when her sexuality (ie: she should be with him and no one else, otherwise she’s “just like the other girls”). John’s script wisely has Erin challenge him on this subject in a way that doesn’t feel preachy, but definitely gets the point across.

As the film progresses, additional characters and developments are introduced to shake up the narrative. These include Anna (Ishika Muchhal), the RA on Erin’s floor who some suspicious activity and begins to monitor the situation. There’s also campus security officer Sophia Tate (Jessica A. Caesar), who performs a wellness check on Erin and later connects the dots when Andrea realizes something is very wrong.

The fact that all of the characters who become embroiled in the story are women is no coincidence. Trapped in Her Dorm Room engenders sympathy for its male antagonist with an abusive backstory in its back half, but for the most part, the film openly acknowledges the dangers of toxic masculinity, unchecked mental illness, and how vital it is to believe women.

Even if some of the developments stretch credibility, Cade’s actions throughout the film reinforce how easy it is for men to play into and manipulate social hierarchies to their benefit. Erin is a survivor who repeatedly fights for her own freedom, but it is only because of the interjections of multiple women who refuse to dismiss their gut instincts that she is discovered.

Trapped in Her Dorm Room isn’t the most bombastic Lifetime movie, but it tells its simple story exceedingly well. Hanna and Sparks III anchor the film with grounded performances. The story unfolds in a believable, but entertaining fashion so that the film never becomes boring. It’s just a solidly entertaining thriller with an extremely relevant perspective on unchecked male entitlement.

Trapped in Her Dorm Room airs on Lifetime Movie Network on March 21 at 8pm EST.

The post Lifetime’s ‘Trapped in Her Dorm Room’ Tackles Toxic Male Entitlement [Review] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

With Murder at the Lighthouse, writer Shawn Riopelle tackles a quintessentially Lifetime subject – domestic abuse – albeit in an extremely grounded way. Or at least initially.

The film opens on the cusp of a storm. Jess (Skye Coyne) is a harried, desperately anxious woman who has recruited her friend Rory (Brandon Brooks) to sneak her across the Canadian border via the Great Lakes in his boat. The pronounced bruise on the side of her face and her fear about who and what Rory has told his brother (and anyone else for that matter) confirms that she’s on the run. The fact that she’s willing to drive a boat across a massive body of water during a lightning storm is a pretty significant indicator of how desperate she is to get away from her husband Colton (Mark Justice).

It’s not a spoiler to confirm that Colton is a police officer (this fact is revealed early on when he identifies himself as such to Rory’s brother Anthony). Later he tries to use his position of authority to pry information out of Deputy Foster (Rod Kasai) and lighthouse recluse Adeline (Shelli Manzoline), though nearly everyone he meets seems apprehensive of his intentions. This is because Justice plays the character with menace: every interaction carries the threat of violence, even when he’s “just” playing the role of worried husband searching for his missing wife.

When Jess winds up waylaid at Adeline’s cottage in the woods with a severely sprained ankle, the opportunity to hide is offset by her paranoia of being discovered. Since Jess can’t easily escape with her injury, she’s forced to rely on the mercy of Adeline.

The first act of Murder at the Lighthouse is positioned as the Lifetime version of Sleeping with the Enemy or Enough. A desperate woman finally finds the strength to escape her abusive husband and reinvent herself, but not before he tracks her down and she has to fight back.

Riopelle’s script is fast paced, shifting the action from escape to isolation to cat and mouse. Along the way Jess discovers something of a kindred spirit in Adeline, a woman who understands her situation, but who has her own motives for seeking solitude in the woods. The relationship between the two women is actually more significant that Jess’ flight from Colt, which helps to ground the film even when it threatens to become too sensational (which it absolutely does in the back half).

There’s a vital scene early on: Jess and Adeline stay up late, standing guard and keeping a look out for Colton. With their backs to each other, Jess peers out the backdoor while Adeline stares out the window; they’re facing opposite directions, but caught in a communal moment. Their whispers seem weighed down by the darkness of the cabin, but their faces are exposed in the soft light of the moon.

Director Eric D. Howell and cinematographer Bo Hakala expertly shoot this scene: there’s beauty in the way they have each other’s back, despite the terrible nature of Jess’s confession as she outlines the emotional and physical abuse she suffered under Colton’s tyranny.

The very deliberate framing. It’s a classic thriller set-up to feature a character hiding in the foreground while action unfolds in the background, but a key moment finds Colt questioning Adeline outside the cottage while Jess listens inside. A pot threatens to boil over on the stove as Jess waits with baited breath to discover if Adeline will sell her out, or if Colt will be appeased with her lies. It’s a great scene that’s filled with tension.

Murder at the Lighthouse shifts gears shortly after this and while the back half of the film has its share of twists and turns, it never rises to the same heights as its opening 45 minutes.

Coyne anchors the proceedings with a quiet desperation. Jess is running scared initially, but over the course of the film the character rises to the challenge: she discovers a strength that she didn’t know she had as she negotiates new and different threats and begins to fight back. It’s a powerful and necessary portrayal of a survivor and the film tellingly ends with the statistic that it takes partners of domestic abuse on average 7 times to escape their abuser.

Manzoline has the more challenging role, but the actor proves to be an excellent fit for Adeline. Her backstory is a mystery and Adeline’s motivations become increasingly murky as Murder at the Lighthouse progresses, but Manzoline is always excellent. Even when Riopelle complicates the narrative to such a degree that it’s not entirely clear what the audience is meant to feel by the end, watching Adeline struggle with her competing desires is still compelling.

Still, it’s hard not to yearn for the initial (simpler) story of a battered woman seeking refuge with an older, protective mother figure, in part because everything in the first half of the film works so well. Despite Coyne and Manzoline’s best efforts to negotiate the twists and reveals, the back half is over plotted and less successful. It’s not bad, but definitely not as good.

Murder at the Lighthouse airs Monday, February 24 on Lifetime.

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On the cusp of releasing of their new album ‘Phoenix’, Lupita (Melyssa Ford) – the older, more seasoned performer – asks her boyfriend Marcel (Romaine Waite) to leak a story that Luscious is parting ways. This comes after Lupita sees younger member Neveah (Monique Coleman, who also executive produces) drinking to excess and making out with their manager Lenny (Glen Michael Grant) right before they take the stage.

With this slight bit of context, Lupita pulls the plug on not just the event, but the whole act. Just like that, Luscious is over.

The action picks up 15 years later: Lupita has retired from singing and has started a family with Marcel that includes pre-teen daughter Simone (Eden Cupid). Neveah, meanwhile, is still struggling to relaunch her music career, which means taking auditioning with up and coming producers like Quentin (Scott Cavalheiro), who dismisses her as a has-been the moment she walks in the door.

After Quentin and Neveah’s angry clash goes viral on social media, she’s called back in for a late-night meeting. Before Neveah can even react, however, she’s drugged by an unknown assailant and, less than ten minutes into Trapped in the Spotlight, she wakes up in a glass cage, shackled and imprisoned with Lupita.

Writers Derick Ackerley, Jag Gill and Alberto Halfeld waste no time establishing the conflicts in the film before circling back to flesh out the characters. This new environment, which looks like it was designed by YOU’s Joe Goldberg, is actually a recording studio and it’s here that the majority of the film takes place.

In short order, it’s revealed that the two women have been abducted by Lenny’s adult son Izaak (Emmanuel Kabongo), a passionate fan of Luscious who pledges to keep them locked up until they write and record the three missing tracks from ‘Phoenix’ in time for its fifteenth anniversary in a few days’ time.

The remainder of the film follows the two women hashing out their complicated past, working on the new tracks, and plotting their escape. Izaak uses a variety of physically and emotionally abusive tools to motivate them, including shock collars around their necks and threatening to hurt Lupita’s family, as well as positive reinforcement in the form of exuberant fan reactions on YouTube where he uploads the new material.

Considering the lengthy periods in between violent set-pieces, Trapped in the Spotlight could be stilted and boring, but Coleman and Ford’s chemistry is the film’s main selling point. Lupita and Neveah’s have very different personalities: the former has a weary motherly vibe compared to the latter’s more volatile, emotionally fragile nature.

The film gets a lot of mileage exploring what went unsaid and their respective motivations at the time of the break-up, which is surprisingly emotional and often extremely compelling to watch. In this capacity, the sisterhood is the backbone of the narrative and the two actresses sell these moments just as well as the film’s more conventional thriller aspects.

This comes into play when Lupita’s family make note of her absence. This brings Marcel and Lenny into the physical mix, as well as Simone and babysitter Roxanne (Sammy Jo Higgins), who are tasked with deciphering the clues that Lupita and Neveah have embedded in the new songs that reveal their location.

For the most part, though, the action often centers around the film’s male characters, including an early intervention by Marcel and Lenny. The former is well-meaning, but bland while the latter is an ogre, which means their rescue efforts are far less interesting than what the women are doing. The scenes in which Lenny and Marcel try to mount a rescue ultimately don’t carry a great deal of tension, because a) it’s early in the film and b) the women are clearly the heroes of the text, which means the responsibility for escaping will naturally fall to them.

The other factor in this equation is the film’s antagonist, Izaak. Alas Kabongo isn’t always believable as a threat. This is, in part, because the character is often beaten up or thwarted by the women, but also because of his tortured backstory, which presents Izaak in a sympathetic light that often contrasts his more violent moments.

Ackerley, Gill and Halfeld are caught between presenting Izaak as both a victim and a villain, which in theory should make him more complicated. Because Trapped in the Spotlight is less interested in him than Lupita and Neveah, however, the result is an uneven character whose role in the film is a bit murky.

Kabongo is better suited to the scenes when Izaak is trying to seduce Neveah to go along with his plan (after all her career stands to profit from the renewed interest in Luscious, even if she adamantly resents being associated with Lupita after being abandoned by her).

Thankfully the human drama within the glass cage is still plenty entertaining. Director Nicole G. Leir and editor Angelina Falco keep the film visually engaging, so even during the long stretches when the women are composing and singing, there are plenty of music video-esque sequences and montages to keep the film’s energy up.

It doesn’t hurt that the original songs – “One Life”, “Phoenix”, and “Angel Shot” – are believably catchy and well-produced (think early Destiny’s Child). It should be noted that the actresses are not singing (vocals are performed by Kibra Tesfaye and Vaness Alegacy) which means Coleman and Ford are lip-synching and not always believably. Still, both of them sell the musical sequences with their enthusiasm.

Overall, Trapped in the Spotlight is worth a watch. The thriller aspects are slight compared to some other Lifetime films, but that’s arguably to the film’s benefit because the narrative is fully invested in the human drama.

Trapped in the Spotlight is at its best when it is exploring Lupita and Neveah’s complicated relationship; the imprisonment, murder and mayhem is there to compliment and reinforce what’s important in the film. And that’s sisterhood forever.

Trapped in the Spotlight airs Saturday, February 15 on Lifetime.

The post Lifetime’s ‘Trapped in the Spotlight’ Finds Music in Sisterhood [Review] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

In Violence, Viggo Mortensen’s character Tom was <spoilers for a ~20 year old film> a hit-man who left a life of crime life behind. In Don’t Let Him Find You, Alex McDowell (Brianna Cohen) has a similarly violent past, captured by director Christine Conradt in slightly hazy, washed-out flashbacks.

Alex is plagued by nightmares of a battle with a woman, eventually revealed to be her sister Ashley (Ella Frazee). The outcome was deadly and Alex fled, changing her name, cutting ties with her powerful mother, and spending the ensuing 15 years flying under the radar. During that time, she has settled down with husband Robert (Phillip Boyd) and raised daughter Charlie (Audrey Lynn-Marie) in a protective (ie: slightly overbearing) bubble.

Everything changes when the family goes to the park on Alex’s birthday and she saves the life of Mary Woodhouse (Annie Cook) when the older woman suffers a heart attack. Alex’s humanitarian measures are captured on dozens of cell phones and, in the blink of an eye, local reporter Jane Chance (Courtney Grace) is harassing her for an interview and featuring her on TV without Alex’s consent.

The exposure is enough to lure in shady True Crime blogger Stuart Jones (Bryan Frank), who picks up the scent and begins digging. Blackmail and murder soon follow.

Don’t Let Him Find You has plenty of potential in its first act. This is when the mystery Alex’s backstory is at its peak and the story can feasibly go in any number of directions. Alex’s insistence on protecting her anonymity also seems counter-intuitive to her desire to protect her family, and there’s some genuine conflict in Robert’s desire to come clean to both the police and the media in order to control the narrative and spare upsetting Charlie. In a wise move, Robert isn’t completely in the dark about his wife’s past, though it’s clear that he doesn’t know the whole truth, either.

This is also when the murders occur (in retrospect, they both occur too early and too close together). Conradt isn’t particularly showy, but both homicides are filmed in a kind of classic murder mystery style with a black gloved figure shooting and strangling the victims. It’s all relatively exciting.

As the film shifts into its back half, though, Romano’s story quickly runs out of steam. Alex’s refusal to involve the police, headed up by Detective DeAngelis (Brittney Q. Hill), kind of makes sense, but also feels like a minor narrative contrivance.

Sadly, this is where it is evident that Cohen’s performance is relatively static and one note. This is especially evident in Alex’s interactions with Robert as the narrative falls into a rinse/lather/repeat formula wherein Alex begs him to a) trust her b) stay silent, and c) plot a covert escape.

If the film’s first half centers on unpacking the mystery of what prompted Alex to reinvent herself, the back half is all about facing the consequences of fleeing. Alas the reveal – of both the masked murderer, as well as the person pulling the strings – is unsurprising, especially if viewers have been paying any attention.

What’s worst is that the finale is bland. After watching Alex unravel for the better part of 45 minutes, the last act features Alex going on the run, a kidnapping, and a dramatic confrontation with the villains. It should be very exciting and tense, but the result is merely ho-hum.

This is in no small part due to the understated performances by John Castle and Sallie Glaner, both of whom fail to project malice, violent intent, and/or lunacy. Neither character really pops or makes an impression, which is fatal for generating suspense or tension considering how talky the climax is (my kingdom for an outrageous villain monologue!).

The situation is also far too easily resolved, with virtually no violence. This makes Alex’s fears feel blown out of proportion and makes the fate of the murdered characters feel like it occurred in a completely different film. Ironically, this finale also tracks directly onto A History of Violence: Alex is forced to walk into the lion’s den and confront the past that she thought she had escaped.

The difference is that there are legitimate stakes in Cronenberg’s film. As the credits roll on Don’t Let Him Find You, the only feeling is one of missed opportunities.

Don’t Let Him Find You airs Friday, November 29 on Lifetime.

The post Lifetime’s ‘Don’t Let Him Find You’ Is ‘A History of Violence’-Lite [Review] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The opening of the film is particularly efficient in how it quickly and easily introduces its characters and the source of the conflict. Initially we’re introduced to Nurse Sharon (Kristina Clifford) as she tends to a young boy (Carter Hurst) with a broken arm. It’s clear that she’s compassionate, not just in her ability to administer care, but also to empathize with her patients. “The young ones are easy” she remarks to Dr. Park (Michael Whang) with a smile.

Then a group of teens are rushed in. There’s been a car accident (glimpsed in brief flashes) and though the kids in the car are scraped up, they’re mostly okay. One girl, Cassie (Carissa Murray) desperately enquires about the teen boy they hit; alas, when Sharon checks on Cassie’s behalf, it’s revealed that the victim died.

This instigates an immediate change in Nurse Sharon’s personality and tone. Suddenly her responses are clipped, her tone is curt, and when the kids are being discharged the next day, Sharon deliberately goes out of her way to nudge Braden (Joe Sterry)’s broken arm, admonishing him to watch where he’s going when he cries out in pain.

Clearly Nurse Sharon has a connection to the dead boy and, while this is the film’s main mystery, there is never any doubt that she is the one exacting revenge.

Of course, since Cassie is the main protagonist, there can be no doubt as to her character and she is presented as completely pure. The teen girl lives with her single mother Diane (Tammy-Anne Fortuin); she’s applying for College scholarships because they’re “poor” (they do, of course, live in a giant Lifetime house, though) and unlike her friends, Cassie believes that they deserve to be held responsible for the boy’s death.

Cassie’s early reactions come off as too altruistic. While West’s screenplay makes it clear that the teens were speeding, there’s never any question that Todd Alcott (Julian Moser)’s death was accidental. There’s even repeated dialogue that no drugs or alcohol were involved. So Cassie’s insistence that they be held accountable when the judge rules in their favour and their sole punishment is 200 hours of community service is a bit odd.

In this capacity, Cassie is too “movie perfect.” Thankfully any qualms about the character are partially offset by how winsome Murray is in the role. The actor is extremely watchable, which helps to make some of the film’s clunky dialogue exchanges and plot developments go down a little easier.

Cassie’s friend’s don’t entirely agree with her guilty perspective. Her boyfriend Scott (Shea Pritchard) is the most aligned with her point of view, though he’s not much of a character in the film. Her best friend, Tamara (Noémi VanSlyke), is vaguely sympathetic, but she’s also content to move on. And then there’s Braden, who was driving the car, may have a history of infractions and whose father is a successful lawyer. Both father and son are adamant that Braden, and by extension the others, don’t deserve to face any repercussions for their actions (not even community service); this immediately paints Braden as the secondary villain of the piece.

The plot kicks into gear when, after sentencing, Sharon volunteers her services as Cassie’s private nurse to assist the girl recover from a leg fracture. This grants Sharon easy access to Cassie’s injury (which she aggressively manipulates in physio), as well as her meds and her phone.

Here A Nurse’s Revenge wisely plays on its villain’s professional expertise, as well as a concerned parent’s doubts. In other films it’s annoying when parents disbelieve their children, but Diane is fed a steady stream of lies by Sharon that are just believable enough. And because Sharon’s attacks on Cassie are often petty and small scale, including loosening a bolt in her crutches so the girl falls or deleting her College scholarship essay, it’s understandable that Diane would believe Sharon’s claims that Cassie is addicted to her pain meds and is becoming paranoid.

By comparison, Sharon’s antics against the other teens is far more severe. Because Todd was killed by a car, Sharon’s murders all involve vehicles (it’s a kind of poetic justice). One victim is strangled to death when a seatbelt is thrown into a running motor, while another is asphyxiated in their garage after being sedated. Naturally Sheriff Atkins (Eric Lee) and Diane dismiss Cassie’s belief that the teens are being systematically eliminated, setting the stage for an exciting climactic set piece set in a junk yard once everyone finally accepts what is going on. It’s brief, but surprisingly exciting.

Director David Benullo stages the action fairly well. There are two early fake-outs as Sharon fantasizes about her revenge that don’t play convincingly, but when the murders and the mayhem actually kick in, everything but a late-in-the-film poorly staged punch lands. With that said, Clifford is better at playing empathy rather than outrage, and Sharon’s big moments in the last act feel somewhat muted as a result.

Ultimately A Nurse’s Revenge is entertaining in a “classic Lifetime movie” kind of way. Murray is a great lead, even if the character of Cassie is occasionally too unbelievably pure of heart, and the film gets a lot of mileage out of having a nurse as a villain. While it’s not the most remarkable entry in Lifetime’s slate, A Nurse’s Revenge is a solid, reliable choice for a casual Thursday night watch.

A Nurse’s Revenge aired Thursday, October 24 on Lifetime.

The post ‘A Nurse’s Revenge’ Is a Classic Lifetime Thriller [Review] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Months have passed when the film proper begins: Natalie Johnston (Brittany Underworld) and her teen daughter Gwen (Eva Igo) are trying to get their lives back in order after the loss of their home and the death of the family’s patriarch. Gwen is also grieving the loss of her former best friend, Lauren McCain (Julia Zook), who is missing and presumed dead in a separate incident.

Naturally over the course of the film, the details of these events will be revealed to be in conversation with one another. Unlike some of the brand’s other mysteries, The Book Club Murders does a reasonable job of baiting the hook and settling in for a mostly satisfying mystery that isn’t as obvious as other Lifetime titles.

Written and directed by Logan Giese, the film follows Natalie as she joins a weekly book club run out of Back Forty Books, the local bookstore. She’s encouraged by bibliophile shop owner Wendy (Ainsley Burch) when the latter spots Natalie checking out a popular mystery novel and Gwen demands her mother socialize more.

From there Natalie is introduced to the rest of the group. First and foremost is Wendy’s best friend Meredith (Kate Dailey), who has a husband named Jeff (Deven Bromme) with a wandering eye. Intriguingly, Natalie already shares a connection with several other members, including Anita (Ebony Ramquist), the mother of Tori (Kiki Yellam), Gwen’s studious best friend, as well as Gwen’s guidance counsellor April (Joy Ford).

Then there’s gossipy Sadie (Nicole Weber), who also happens to be the mother of Gwen’s boyfriend, Tony (Aaron Goehle) and the wife of Detective Chandler (Mike Bredon), the cop we investigated Lauren’s disappearance and is still clearly suspicious of Natalie.

Mystery fans will immediately note that there are plenty of connections between the characters, so when blackmail letters in expensive black envelopes and sealed with crimson red wax begin circulating, it’s only a matter of time before tongues wag, fingers point, and bodies drop. It appears that someone knows all of the Book Club’s secrets, and everyone is a target.

If there’s one challenge with the central premise, it is that blackmail secrets and the subsequent attacks vary widely from person to person. The first victim is Tori, whose mother and counsellor are implicated in a College cheating scandal. It’s pretty low stakes; so is the revelation that Wendy had an affair with Jeff before he got together with Meredith.

Then someone gets suffocated with a plastic bag after a break and enter, and another individual is strangled with a scarf. The escalation from gentle “I Know…” notes to multiple bodies occurs pretty quickly. There’s also a few passing comments that suggest nearly everyone at Gwen’s school has been receiving threatening letters, though none of these are actually seen.

Considering the way that the danger seems to involve Natalie, Gwen and the period just before the fire, the film’s killer reveal makes sense, although the motivation is admittedly a little messy. Unlike many other Lifetime titles, though, The Book Club Murders knows enough to let its villain deliver an over-the-top histrionic monologue, in addition to placing multiple characters in danger.

It’s hard not to critique Giese’s busy screenplay, however. With so many interweaving subplots, The Book Club Murders struggles to balance its attention between the parents and the teens. This means that the clues, the suspicions, and the red herrings are all spread thin, and not all of it pays off satisfactorily by the time the credits roll.

The film’s action is also underwhelming, particularly the slightly amateurish fight choreography. This is especially disappointing considering that the majority of the violence occurs in close proximity to the villain reveal and pales in comparison to the killer’s scenery-chewing dialogue.

Arguably the strongest direction occurs with the asphyxiation murder. When the scene begins, the crime has been committed and the police are already working the  scene. Then – without an edit or a transition – the murder is shown as the camera pans over to reveal the disguised killer sneaking in through the window. It’s a nice visual flourish that stands out from Giese’s otherwise straightforward direction.

There’s good stuff here, including Natalie’s fast friendship with Wendy, who is lovely and has her own tragic backstory. Burch is particularly skilled at infusing her mildly kooky shopkeeper with personality and the actor is as adept at invoking empathy as she is at delivering a quippy one-liner. For example: it’s immediately endearing when Wendy introduces the group to Natalie before whispering “I know that they look like a bunch of gossipy bitches, but that’s only because they are.” Is it the kind of tired line that male screenwriters employ too frequently? Yes, but Burch sells it – and by extension – the character in that moment.

Naturally the central relationship between Natalie and Gwen is the one that receives the most focus. As the lead, Johnston anchors the film well. She is convincing as both a burgeoning sleuth and a protective mother, although the age disparity between mother and daughter appears so slight that it might have been more believable if they were actually sisters.

Ultimately The Book Club Murders is another solidly entertaining Lifetime movie. The likeable cast understands the assignment and the script, while overstuffed, still manages to stick the landing with its killer reveal and subsequent over the top monologue.

The Book Club Murders airs Thursday, October 3 on Lifetime Movie Network.

The post Lifetime’s ‘The Book Club Murders’ Features a Great Over the Top Killer [Review] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Much like Stepmom from Hell, however, co-writers Geoffrey D. Calhoun and David Y. Chung’s The Past Comes Knocking is presented as a genuine mystery. Following the usual cold open in which teaching assistant Jane (Bella Chadwick) is attacked and bludgeoned with a shovel in the woods, the rest of the film follows her College professor Dr. Susan Shaw (Marem Hassler) as she tries to unravel what happened.

The problem is that the mystery is so obvious to anyone paying even casual attention that The Past Comes Knocking contains very few surprises.

Dr. Shaw is a renowned journalist-turned-teacher who became famous after writing a best-selling book about crooked millionaire Vincent Darte (Stephen Blackwell). Darte is only glimpsed in flashback because the man died by suicide before he could be sent to prison, but the case gave Shaw enough clout – and guilt about his death – to prompt a change of career.

After Jane’s disappearance, Shaw stumbles onto a replacement in Zoe (Marlee Carpenter), a waitress at a local diner. Zoe is a fan-girl: she’s read Shaw’s book, desperately wants to sit in on her class, and jumps at every opportunity to get close to her idol. After only a few days, Shaw has already invited the excitable girl to become her TA, and even leaves her unattended in her house while Shaw goes on a date with colleague, Thomas (Karl E. Landler).

Alas, when Shaw returns, she finds her office ransacked, Zoe missing, and blood on the floor. When she calls on the police, Detective Marissa Sharpe (Leanne Johnson) has no patience or empathy for her, citing the colleagues who lost their job over the Darte case. In fact the police woman appears to have an active vendetta, so it comes as no surprise when Shaw is suspected of playing a role in not just Jane and Zoe’s disappearances, but also the string of murders that follow.

The truth of who and what is going on is confirmed at the hour mark of the film, at which point The Past Comes Knocking becomes more of a kidnapping drama as Shaw desperately searches for her College-aged daughter, Autumn (Tessa Briney). But viewers will have figured out the killer’s identity and motive well before then, meaning a substantial middle section of the film is watching Shaw, a supposedly great journalist, slooooowly piece together the very obvious details.

It’s watchable because there are enough entertaining elements to distract from the obvious mechanics of the plot. Writer Chung co-directs with Brandon Villano and they imbue the Lifetime film with a surprising amount of visual flair – from gorgeous wooded aerial shots of Shaw and Thomas driving to innumerable dutch angles as Shaw’s life is turned upside down.

The professor is a bit of a perplexing character: she’s a workaholic single mother who comes off awkward in social situations and helicopter-parents Autumn (until she conveniently doesn’t). Hassler does a good job of making the character relatable, though, even when Shaw is forced into familiar beats like the frantic mother or the dogged reporter. Shaw’s former colleagues, Brandon (Paris Jones) and Donald (Grover McGants), show up sporadically but neither actor is given anything to do; these thankless roles exist solely to remind Shaw that the Darte case nearly ruined her life.

The film’s best character is Thomas, in large part because he’s a weird, but amiable guy. When he asks Shaw out, it’s adorably awkward, but Thomas quickly becomes her most staunch defender, bantering with her in the car and calling the police about the dead body they find on her door step.

Thomas’ likeability is helped greatly by costume designer Jacqueline Decosmo who promptly abandons his traditional College professor attire for brightly coloured flower print button ups and a straw hat. It’s weirdly off-brand for the character to such an extent that audiences may ask themselves if he’s wandered in from a beach-set murder mystery, but it makes for a very distinct and memorable character trait.

Ditto Zoe’s utterly ridiculous wig, though it’s less clear if this is a deliberate styling choice or just a truly atrocious mop. The schwoopy bang has to be seen to be believed, in part because it’s so utterly distracting. Credit to Carpenter for even pulling off a performance beneath the appliance.

Ultimately The Past Comes Knocking is too self-serious to be a top tier Lifetime. Its best qualities, aside from the solid direction and committed performance by Hassler, are its weird outliers like Thomas’ shirts and Detective Sharpe’s hilariously unprofessional and brusque treatment of Shaw. Revealing the twist/culprit earlier would have helped to sell Shaw as an expert reporter and allowed the narrative to lean into its wackier elements, but as it stands, this is perfectly fine.

The Past Comes Knocking airs on Lifetime on September 5.

The post Lifetime’s ‘The Past Comes Knocking’ Takes Itself a Bit Too Seriously [Review] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

It’s frustrating then, that Stepmom from Hell fully spoils its own ending with a completely on the nose title. As written by Hamish Briggs, Daniel Kautz, Nathanael Lirio and Elizabeth Snoderly, the embezzling-turned-murder mystery film definitely features a number of red herrings and twists en route to its climax, so the dead obvious title betrays the writers’ intentions (my screener featured a different title, Shattered Ties, which is bland and non-specific, but at least it doesn’t spoil anything).

As directed by Corbin Timbrook, the film follows Izzy Thompson (Lexi Giovagnoli), a hyper competent businesswoman struggling to launch a dog-related app in the shadow of her famous businessman. Jack Thompson (Lorenzo Lamas) has a thirty year legacy and he would much prefer that Izzy inherit his realty business rather than his harried step-daughter Dana (Bri Ana Wagner) or financial officer Terry (Milli M).

Dana is the daughter of Catherine (Shelby Janes), Jack’s second wife, who insists on monitoring Jack’s health with a near-religious devotion. But his memory appears to be slipping, a fact that starts rather innocuously at a company party before getting so severe that Jack struggles to remember when his first wife died or what school Izzy went to.

This health scare occurs at the same time that Izzy discovers a damning document in the Archive room: a receipt confirming that $700K has been moved from the company’s account to a credence account. That’s information worth killing for, as evidenced by the fact that nearly everyone who sees or knows about the receipt is attacked or killed by an intruder in black.

Much like When Mom Becomes A Murderer, the film clearly intends to surprise the audience with the details of the mystery. Dana is abrasive to Izzy, but is she responsible for moving the money? Perhaps she’s just a compulsive workaholic trying to modernize the company. Or what about Terry, the woman who spends her Sunday shredding documents (a significant red flag)? And considering the alarming decline in Jack’s facilities, shouldn’t he be seeing someone other than family doctor Jeffrey Nichols (Boz Wells), who doesn’t seem overly worried?

Ordinarily audiences would be well within their rights to ask these questions, but the identity behind the culprit is quite literally in the title. By the time Catherine’s nefarious intentions are revealed in the last act, Stepmom from Hell feels overly drawn out, though in hindsight it’s only because we know she’s the villain from the jump.

Thankfully by this time the writers and performers have begun to lean into the silly. It’s unclear if certain lines and narrative developments are intentionally comedic, but it’s hard not to chuckle when Izzy and Catherine share an outrageous verbal exchange at the hospital after Izzy is served a restraining order. When Catherine insists she can’t be there, Izzy angrily retorts “Just shut up! I doubt that restraining order carries any weight” to which Catherine coldly clarifies that she has power of attorney because “Wife trumps daughter.”

It’s a great line and as soon as she’s unmasked Janes really bites into Catherine’s villainy. The climax, set at the Thompson’s palatial house, is a surprisingly sustained chase/fight sequence involving knives and multiple punches (several people get dropped and one even flops over a couch in delightful fashion).

Giovagnoli is the MVP here. Izzy is incredibly resourceful and, in true Lifetime fashion, forced to do most of the investigative grunt work because the police are completely ineffectual. Giovagnoli is especially watchable when Izzy is cut out of her father’s life; one scene of her screaming/crying in the car is surprisingly affecting.

Giovagnoli also has really solid chemistry with childhood friend-turned-Detective, Brian Roman (Andrew Fultz) – although Fultz is a much more believable as a romantic lead than as an officer of the law. At one point he reminds Izzy that her accusations are baseless without evidence, encouraging her to obtain a recorded confession, when that a) should be his job and b) ignores that doing so requires her to break the restraining order.

Good thing Detective Roman has a great smile and makes a mean pancake because otherwise he’d be useless!

Technically Stepmom from Hell also benefits from several well shot, tense sequences. In addition to the action-heavy climax, there’s a startling moment when a lightning strike illuminates an intruder waiting for Izzy at home. Later, while planting a recording device in Catherine’s house, Izzy is forced to hide in a closet and Timbrook shoots her in profile in the dark with only a sliver of light shining across her terrified eyes.

Alas there are other areas where the polish isn’t quite there. Several key conversations in the Thompson house have a distracting audio echo, the lighting and/or make-up on Janes in the climax makes her face look a garish mustard yellow, and – in true cheap Lifetime fashion – several of the locations have a bland, undecorated visual aesthetic (where is all of the art?!).

Overall, however, there are some surprisingly emotional beats (courtesy of Giovagnoli), at least two tense sequences, and a touch of comedy (intended or not) that make Stepmom from Hell a pleasant distraction.

If only someone had paused to rethink that title!

Stepmom from Hell premieres Thursday, August 8 at 8/7c on Lifetime.

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It’s obviously a ridiculous title that initially seems to reveal all of the movie’s cards, which is frustrating considering that the first two acts treats everything as a mystery. Thankfully writers Declan Dineen, Lucy Foster and Victoria Saxton have a few additional surprises up their sleeves.

Unlike many other recent Lifetime films, there’s an earnest straightforwardness to When Mom Becomes A Murderer. The film opens with recent high school graduate Ellie (Matreya Scarrwener) securing the win for her debate team, much to the delight of her principal father Nathan (Roark Critchlow) and high school counsellor mother Marion (Lauren K. Robek).

Almost immediately, however, Ellie’s good girl status is put in question when she locks eyes with a cute boy post-debate and secretly plans to go clubbing with “bad girl” Nancy (Emily Giannozio) against the wishes of her best friend Isla (Khamisa Wilsher). Despite being exceedingly bad at sneaking out of the house and disobeying her parents in general, it’s understandable why Ellie wants to break out: Marion is the embodiment of a helicopter parent and she is smothering her daughter (figuratively).

The plot kicks into gear when Nancy, who has borrowed Ellie’s jacket, is pushed over Gib’s cliff by an unseen assailant. And while Ellie immediately catches her mother in a lie, it takes several more developments, including the reveal that Nancy lodged a complaint against Marion that got the counsellor put on administrative leave, that Ellie starts investigating her mother’s shady past.

The summary of suspicious behavor includes: Why is Marion so averse to having her picture taken and why does she insist on having no social media presence? Why do they never visit family or talk about the past? Why is Marion so intent on infantilizing Ellie? And why does she lie to Chief Jones (Byron Wilson) about taking the car out on the night of Nancy’s murder?

In true Lifetime fashion, there’s both a convoluted explanation and more than a few twists, but aside from the seemingly spoiler-y title, all of these developments are treated as a genuine mystery. By withholding the identity of the killer, Dineen, Foster and Saxton spend most of the film exploring red herrings, including Isla’s complicated relationship with Nancy, while also turning Ellie into an amateur sleuth who connects with journalist Simon (Spencer Borgeson) and librarian Carla (Beth Fotheringham) to piece together her mother’s secrets. Naturally, in true mystery form, everyone seemingly has their own secret agenda.

While the mystery is treated 90% seriously, there are still moments of silliness that teeter dangerously close to camp. First and foremost is Robek’s performance, which walks a razor’s edge of utter ridiculousness. The mother’s reactions to every single one of her daughter’s infractions is outsized to the point of parody. Marion is terrified when her daughter dares to speak to a boy in the film’s opening scene, and her response only grow in intensity as Ellie’s rebellious acts escalate.

Then there’s the idea of a girl in 2024 who is on the cusp of going away to College who has never a) had a drink, b) dated, or c) done something other than debate and get good grades. It’s so quaint that the film might as well be set in the 50s.

Ditto Isla, a goody-two shoes whose concern over Ellie’s investigation would be appropriate for a middle school girl, but makes no sense for a teenager. Certainly there are girls who want to savour a final pre-College summer with their girl friend, but Isla’s definition of friendship lives and dies on ice cream and slumber parties.

The other extremely silly (and very late-90s) element is When Mom Becomes a Murderer‘s reliance on asthma attacks. The film features no less than five different instances that hinge on Ellie’s (in)ability to breathe, so each time the girl gets into a scrape, out comes Scarrwener’s frantic eye-acting, plus the requisite gasping and sucking on an inhaler. The use of debilitating asthma as a narrative crutch truly feels like something from a bygone era; it’s both hilarious and apt to induce plenty of eye-rolls.

Despite this, Scarrwener is winsome in the lead role. As Ellie’s paranoia about her mother escalates, the screenwriters manage to tow the line between satisfying red herrings and ludicrous developments, and Scarrwener holds it all together capably.

The film is admittedly light on moments of violence and director Paula Elle is hit and miss when it comes to the tension. For every sequence that works (like the final killer reveal at the site of Nancy’s death), there’s another that doesn’t (like a mother/daughter hiking trip that relies on bad cell service and a rocky quarry).

Still, When Mom Becomes a Murderer works decently well as a mystery. Thankfully it is more than its very obvious title, and there’s enough silliness here that it’s clear that, despite all of heightened teen drama, the film doesn’t take itself too seriously. That’s enough to recommend.

When Mom Becomes a Murderer debuts on Lifetime Movie Network Thursday, July 18 at 8pm EST.

The post Lifetime’s ‘When Mom Becomes a Murderer’ Is Equal Parts Mystery and Silly [Review] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

This is a brief (unnecessary) in media res opening before writer Audrey C. Marie jumps the action back to earlier in the day. It’s the day of the wedding, Malorie is preparing to wed Jon (David Alexander) and there’s a whirlwind introduction of wedding guests, many of whom are either family, work associates from Jon’s legal firm, or both.

Most of these relationships aren’t clear until after Jon’s death (this isn’t a spoiler; his death is heavily telegraphed by director Roxanne Boisvert). Only after the murder does it become clear that Death Down The Aisle is primarily interested in exploring red herrings, gossipy busy bodies, and characters making A LOT of phone calls.

Let’s rewind: Malorie is marrying Jon, an older man with an adult daughter, Bridget (Anna Kopacek), who looks nearly the same age as her. Jon works at Stone Legal Services with his brother Zach (Scott Gibson), as well as Malorie’s mother, Pamela (Jayne Heitmeyer) and Zach’s younger girlfriend, Amy (Gracie Callahan).

Each of these characters hand Jon a drink before the wedding begins – Zach – a Scotch, Amy – a coffee, and Pamela – an energy drink. There’s also a mysterious glass of champagne delivered to Malorie’s room that Jon drinks and Boisvert ensures that the audience keeps track of each of them by zooming in each time. This is why it’s no surprise when Jon keels over mid-ceremony, coughs up blood on Malorie’s dress, and immediately croaks.

Naturally it turns out that nearly everyone had a motive to see him dead. Pamela recently quit the firm because Jon wouldn’t confirm her salary; Zach was pushing for a merger with rival Miles (Colin Price) that Jon was unsure about, and the dead man fretted that Amy was a gold digger, so Jon wouldn’t support her promotion, either.

Adding to the too plentiful number of suspects is Malorie’s ex-husband Ryan (Frank Fiola), a recovering addict. Even Jon’s own daughter ends up on the list when it’s revealed that they were fighting in the weeks leading up to his death.

The only one who doesn’t have a motive to kill Jon is Malorie’s best friend Francesca (JaNae Armogan), who works at the wedding venue and thinks she saw something fishy. Naturally she’s killed off before the end of the first act.

What follows is a lot of conversation between characters about the firm, the merger, Malorie and Jon’s relationship, and how everyone is lying to everyone else. The problem is that 90% of these conversations happen via phone or text and few of them are interesting. Marie’s script fails to develop the characters beyond their motive, which means that the majority of the plot developments aren’t particularly engaging because the characters are so shallow.

With so many people and interweaving relationships involved, it’s hard to zero in and identify with anyone. Malorie is clearly meant to be the protagonist because, like most Lifetime films, she assumes the role of investigator, despite the presence of Detective Levine (Christian Paul) on the periphery.

But even she is kept at a distance from the audience. Because we only see a few moments of her relationship with Jon, secrets that the pair were keeping from friends and family don’t carry any emotional resonance when they come to light later in the film. One in  particular seems to come out of left field and seemingly only exists to introduce another red herring in order to prolong the mystery for another 20 minutes.

Alas none of the characters get much to do, so none of the performances pop. Kopacek and Callahan look too similar and are styled identically, which sometimes makes it hard to distinguish one from the other. Further issues with casting is that the age disparity between Malorie & Jon and Zach & Amy is never mentioned (neither is Jon’s paternity of Bridget). This may be an ageist observation, but even the fact that Pamela never comments that her daughter was marrying her (Pamela’s) boss seems unusual, especially when Death Down the Aisle regularly suggests that one or more character is a gold digger.

Arguably the film’s biggest issue is that everything circles around the business dealings of the firm, none of which is engaging or interesting (hilariously it’s never even made clear what kind of law they practice!) Without more distinct characters, there’s very little to hang the narrative on.

Unfortunately after a solid opening, Death Down the Aisle gets stuck spinning its wheels, endlessly recycling its red herrings and interminable phone calls between characters. The suspect list is long, but the film’s energy lags through the saggy middle section and the climax can’t bring Death Down the Aisle back to life.

This one could have easily been called “Business Phone Calls”…and that’s not great.

Death Down the Aisle premiered on Lifetime Thursday, June 13.

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What makes Daddy’s Deadly Secret so pleasurable is that writer Leo McGuigan still employs many of the familiar hallmarks, but he packs the film so full that by the time the end credits roll, there’s been upwards of four or five reveals, instead of the more predictable one to two.

Directed by Sean Cisterna, Daddy’s Deadly Secret begins laying the foundation for its mystery early. The opening scene introduces married couple Richard (Steve Byers) and Caroline (Sarah Allen) as they discuss his estranged sister Darla, against whom he took out a restraining order. There’s a pre-teen child in the mix – Abby (Maya Misaljevic) – with whom Richard shares parenting duties with his ex, pill popping Ellie (Andréa Grant) and her charming new husband, Doug (Steve Belford).

We learn that Abby has fallen in with an older group of girls who are mean when Caroline chats with crossing guard, Marianne (Ferelith Young). It’s revealed that Caroline and Richard are struggling to conceive a baby of their own. And then there’s the odd moment when someone takes a photograph of Caroline late at night through her office window.

Literally every single one of these details becomes important when Abby goes missing after school one day. Initially it seems as though McGuigan is crafting a missing person’s drama, but then Caroline receives a call from the fertility doctor, Chen, who informs her that they can’t conceive because Richard has a low sperm count…which means he can’t be Abby’s father.

These kinds of reveals happen approximately every fifteen minutes throughout Daddy’s Deadly Secret. At times it seems as though McGuigan is trying to balance too many plates in an effort to maintain the film’s breakneck speed and constant twists. There appears to be a surplus of adult female characters…but then each and every one of them is folded into the mystery and plays a vital role.

And while, yes, some of the revelations are predictable (it is immediately obvious that psychiatrist Caroline’s emotionally volatile new patient Beth isn’t who she says she is), more often than not, the narrative zigs when audiences expect it to zag. Even when that’s not the case, an obvious reveal tends to take the story in an unexpected direction.

Cisterna does a solid job of keeping the film’s many characters, including Detective Parker (the ineffectual cop), and the seemingly unconnected plot points, which includes an unsolved murder case seen briefly on TV, organized. This proves vital to Daddy’s Deadly Secret’s success. The film boasts what is by far the most convoluted plot I’ve seen in a Lifetime film to date; this is a film that requires more than casual laundry-folding attention.

As Caroline, Allen holds the film together. The character becomes an intrepid investigator when her step-daughter goes missing: tracking down leads, clapping back at Detective Parker, and, in the last act, frequently winding up in danger. Caroline is empathetic and understanding, aside from a grating character trait wherein she devalues step-parenting (and, by extension, adoption) – although even that is addressed in the film’s coda.

The other actors all do well in fairly stock roles. Byers and Belford are the other standouts; both men deliver carefully calibrated performances that ensure their characters are alternately believable as loving, dutiful husbands and lying, deceitful manipulators (depending on the needs of the plot at any given time).

Cisterna’s direction is mostly unobtrusive, though there are occasionally flourishes of personality, including a fun, albeit brief POV shot in the climax from the perspective of a knife. One fairly glaring detractor, however, is the laughable stunt choreography in the fight scenes. At one point Caroline is knocked out from a punch that looks thrown from around three feet away.

Other technical stand-outs including the usual opulent McMansions that both of the central couples live in. The lifestyles are predictably wealthy and the interiors are well-decorated and look like real people live there (this is sometimes an issue in these films).

Overall, Daddy’s Deadly Secret is the rare Lifetime success that doesn’t rely on camp; it stands on its own merits as an honest to goodness thriller. With more twists than a pretzel, the film manages to shake up the Lifetime formula without disregarding what makes these movies so enjoyable in the first place.

Daddy’s Deadly Secret premieres on Lifetime Thursday, May 30.

The post ‘Daddy’s Deadly Secret’ Is One of the Year’s Best Lifetime Thrillers [Review] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Lani McCall (Joanne Jansen) is a food vlogger on the rise. She’s on the cusp of signing a major network contract, thanks to love interest Zack (Brendan Morgan), but her recent divorce from unreliable husband Darren (Jamaal Grant) has left her in a precarious child care situation.

Lani tends to rely on assistant/producer Mercedes (Hailey Summer), but it’s not a sustainable situation. What she really needs is a nanny for her son, Jaylen (Ashton Ayres); ideally as soon as possible.

Enter Morgan (Michael Evans Behling), a hunky 23 year old who cooks, cleans, and dotes on Lani. He’s too good to be true, which – in Lifetime films – is code for “he’s a completely homicidal wacko.”

The joy of these thrillers isn’t piecing together who the villain is; that’s usually obvious from the opening scene (that applies here: The Manny opens with Morgan putting away notepads on his previous “families” and starting a fresh one with a picture of Lani and Jaylen on the cover).

Instead the fun comes from watching the ridiculous gaslighting the villains do before they get their inevitable comeuppance. And, in the case of The Manny, Halpern and Mullen understand that silly is often better than serious.

Which is why when Morgan begins disposing of Lani’s closest friends and confidants to secure his position in the household and her heart, his technique is hilariously unusual. For example, Lani’s sex-positive neighbor Shannon (Jenny Itwaru) is first painted as a gossip before Morgan poisons her smoothie with (get this) expired prosciutto in order to give her a stomach bug.

Morgan’s psychotic behavior quickly escalates to include identity theft, catfishing, and eventually murder, albeit even the latter action is sublimely silly. I can’t honestly say I’ve ever seen asphyxiation by Murphy bed in a thriller before, but I hope to again!

Considering Morgan ingratiates himself into Lani’s life partially via cooking, it’s amusing how many of his violent acts involve kitchen items. Mercedes is removed temporarily from the equation when she breaks a leg falling down cooking oil-greased stairs and, in the kitchen-set climax, Morgan even threatens to tip a pot of boiling water on top of Jaylen’s head.

In different hands, this could be genuinely scary, but Campbell’s directorial approach tends to lean into camp territory. Halpern and Mullen’s screenplay adopts a similar approach, peppering Zack’s dialogue with affirmations of the Manny’s model good looks, including the observation that his “lips are distracting.” Even serious moments, such as when Morgan alleviates Lani’s stress by rubbing peppermint oil on her neck, is accompanied by the double entendre “Yeah, you are pretty tight.”

Evans Behling is having a great time as the perpetrator, striking the right balance between unhinged and doe-eyed innocent. Not unlike The Stepfather films, Morgan is basically a family annihilator in search of the perfect pair, though the traumatic origin of his obsession feels slightly at odds tonally with the goofiness of the rest of the plot.

As the gaslit protagonist, Jansen is saddled with the least interesting role, though Lani’s struggle to balance her career while dating and single parenting is relatable content. Secondary characters are enjoyable enough, particularly when they are given opportunities to be suspicious of Morgan.

At its core, The Manny is a silly and entertaining entry in Lifetime’s catalogue of thrillers. Any film that ends with a battle in the woods and features a ski pole as a weapon is alright by me.

The Manny premieres on Lifetime Thursday, May 9.

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In Fatal Fixer Upper, Vivian (Jasmine Aivaliotis) and Ryan (Philip McElroy) are a young married couple preparing to purchase their dream home. Just like in Million Dollar Lethal Listing, the deal is too good to be true: the house is wildly underpriced, the owner is looking for a quick sale, and they’re asked to make a hefty cash deposit.

Unlike the former title, though, there’s no mystery about who the villain is in Fatal Fixer Upper. The film opens with a classic Lifetime cold open that immediately establishes that there is a bad man keeping an eye on things. His identity is quickly revealed as Josh Thomas (Duke Van Patten), the home’s original owner and the person spying on Vivian when she checks out the property with her father, Roger Fields (an underused Dorian Gregory).

Alas there’s no room for subtlety in Van Patten’s performance as he immediately goes from spying on Vivian to snapping at realtor Sandy (Eliza Roberts) and neighbour Jill (Grisselle Escotto). Considering how easily he flies off the handle, it’s a surprise that Josh stays calm long enough to ingratiate himself into Vivian and Ryan’s lives by doing repairs around the house.

Because Josh is revealed as the villain early on, Fatal Fixer Upper is an exercise in patience. The audience is always one to two steps ahead of Vivian and Ryan, which requires the screenplay, co-written with Jeffrey Schenck and Peter Sullivan, to find entertaining ways to fill the time until the characters catch up in the last act.

Unfortunately the film relies too heavily on clichéd characters and formulaic developments. Naturally there’s a concerned therapist, Dr. Shaw (Diane Robin), who questions if Josh is taking his meds. There’s also Ryan’s cousin, Casey (Randy Jay Burrell), a police officer-turned-PI who investigates Josh after the homeowner explodes at a BBQ in front of everyone. And you know that Sandy’s in danger the moment she confirms to Vivian that Josh lied about where he’s living (sidebar: the film treats this as a reveal, but anyone who has ever seen a horror film will immediately call it).

The fact that danger and injury befalls anyone who questions or gets in Josh’s way is inevitable, though the way DeCoteau shoots action leaves something to be desired. Characters tend to die easily in Lifetime films, and Fatal Fixer Upper is no different: one person is briefly strangled before they’re dragged off screen and another is struck in the back of the head. Considering a third act hit and run looks far worse, but the victim barely uses crutches a day later, the impact of violence in the film feels wildly inconsistent.

Another Lifetime trait is the presence of ineffectual police officers. Here the role is played by Detective Jones (Rachel Wong) who does believes the couple about Josh’s increasingly unhinged behaviour, but doesn’t assign a police guard outside their home until after dark (perhaps she believes Josh is a vampire?).

While Fatal Fixer Upper rarely surprises, there are a few notable moments of inspiration. Like Million Dollar Lethal Listing before it, this Lifetime film’s secret strength is interrogating the integrity of the central couple’s marriage. As the film progresses, it’s revealed that Vivian and Ryan aren’t as solid as they initially appeared to be, and their doubts about the other help to sustain the film until its violent climax.

In terms of performances, Aivaliotis is a sympathetic lead with a decent amount of agency. It’s nice that she refuses to take crap from Ryan when he questions her about Josh’s continued presence around the house. McElroy is likewise solid as the suspicious husband, though Ryan makes some questionable decisions in the finale that seem more motivated by plot than by character.

That leaves Van Patten, who has arguably the trickiest role. He’s best when Josh is awkwardly trying to flirt with Vivian, even going so far as to initiate a rom-com moment when he’s sprayed by water and has to change shirts in front of her. Unfortunately when Josh loses his cool, Van Patten always plays him at a 10, so there’s no range or escalation. The performance needed to be dialed back to give it levels.

Fatal Fixer Upper‘s other fatal quality is that there are simply too many characters. Jill and her husband exist solely to offer vague exposition at convenient moments, but because they’re new parents, they’re equipped with plot armour.

Then there’s Josh’s ex-wife, Michelle (Savoy Bailey), who only returns after the cold open to diagnose Josh with a ridiculously laughable (and highly fabricated) disease that “explains” his behaviour. Fatal Fixer Upper has its share of deaths, but there are a few too many red shirts wandering around by the time the credits roll whose deaths might have helped to make the film more memorable.

Overall, this is pretty standard Lifetime fare. Fans of DeCoteau and Rockoff’s previous collaborations will undoubtedly appreciate it, but for the uninitiated, Fatal Fixer Upper is solidly mid-tier.

Fatal Fixer Upper premieres on Lifetime Thursday, April 25 at 8/7c.

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It’s clear early on that engaged couple Becca (Morgan Bradley) and Tom (Jon Briddell) don’t have a great relationship. She’s taken it upon herself to find them a home in between working “freelance” (in what field? It’s unclear) while he spends long hours at his law firm in an effort to make partner.

Becca’s friend Annie (Ciarra Carter) and her lawyer Meghan (Jackée Harry) are both wary of Tom. Meghan is pressing Becca to get a pre-nup because it makes financial sense to protect her sizeable half a million-dollar inheritance in the event of a divorce. Annie, meanwhile, doesn’t like how Becca loses her agency around her betrothed or how responsible she is for matters that both partners should be involved in, like, say, house hunting.

When Becca stumbles on a perfect property whose sale requires an “unusual” financing model, she rationalizes the decision to leverage her entire $500K over both Annie and Meghan’s objections. But as Lighthouse Realty employee Samantha Ryan (Jamie Bernadette) reminds her: at such a discounted price, the palatial home won’t stay on the market long. Plus: homeowner Riley King (Robert Brian Wilson) is very candid about needing a quick infusion of cash, so it must all be above board, right?

Obviously, because this is a Lifetime film, the answer is no.

In no time at all, Becca and Tom’s “too good to be true” home is revealed to be another man’s property, and the money, the realtor, and the OG homeowner have all disappeared into the wind. And if that weren’t bad enough, Tom refuses to involve the police for fear of looking foolish professionally and jeopardizing his promotion.

The biggest struggle in the first half of Million Dollar Lethal Listing is that it’s not clear why Becca is with Tom. As an audience we never see the positives in their relationship, so it’s hard to empathize with Becca’s decision to side with Tom when he essentially tells her that they’re going to keep the theft silent. He rationalizes that once he makes partner, he’ll make the money back in a year. When she encourages him to show more concern about her money, they get into repeated arguments about the semantics. To be fair to Becca, though: Tom’s proposal is completely wild and unreasonable.

But Becca goes along with it because she loves him (Allegedly. The film really needed to do more work here).

Before long, however, the financial scheme expands into conspiracy territory. At Annie’s urging, Becca begins her investigating on her own, tracking down Samantha and turning information over to Detective Ross (Meredith Thomas), the police officer working the case, as she uncovers more scheming.

But then there’s a murder, and Becca is not only implicated, but at the center of things.

While the film asked us to invest in Becca and Tom’s relationship too quickly, the last act similarly hits the accelerator too hard, too fast. Becca begins making increasingly unhinged (and frankly unrealistic) decisions that compromise her own safety. The same is true of Detective Ross, whose reactions too often feel motivated by the necessities of the plot. In both cases, the results, including the violent climax that is both predictable and unearned, wind up feeling cartoony and foolish rather than believable.

It’s disappointing because the initial conflict was grounded in relatable relationship issues of trust and financial insecurity. And while the complicated reality of who makes more money in a relationship and sharing resources may not be sexy enough for a Lifetime thriller, Million Dollar Lethal Listing generates plenty of fascinating fodder when Becca and Tom are simply fighting about his inferiority complex over her inheritance.

The film is perfectly serviceable, but it never truly finds itself. The plot is convoluted, but not enough silly enough to be a guilty pleasure. The violence in the first two acts feels out of place until it becomes over the top in the climax. Becca and Tom have relatable relationship woes until he begins acting like a maniacal control freak. And the continued use of POC actors in supporting roles without any depth or characterization beyond “best friend” or “lawyer” is disconcerting.

There’s a stronger, tighter film with something to say about money and marriage in here somewhere, but the film doesn’t trust its audience to care about a more grounded story. As a result, Million Dollar Lethal Listing lands firmly in the middle of realistic and sensational; the finished product doesn’t disappoint, but it doesn’t entirely satisfy, either.

Million Dollar Lethal Listing aired April 4 on Lifetime.

The post Lifetime’s ‘Million Dollar Lethal Listing’ Is a Sensational Exploration of Money and Marriage [Review] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

It’s immediately clear that something unusual is afoot when Mel visits the police station and unhelpful Detective Alex Hurley dismisses her suspicions. Georgia’s body was found on the beach with her wallet, but her phone and passport are missing. Later, as Mel begins to investigate, frightened local Kaya (Mia Rose) insists that Georgia was wearing a bathing suit when she was pulled from the water, so where was she keeping her wallet?

Clearly something is amiss and seemingly everyone knows it, including Wayward hostel owner Keaton (Adam Harper) and his manager Paula (Kate Dailey). The pair act friendly to Mel, but in a very facile, surface-level way. As Mel pokes around, she learns that local dive bar owner Jever (James Bobo) has an illegal side hustle, and Kaya insinuates that Georgia isn’t the first girl to disappear: their friend Faye (Mackenzie Thompson) is also gone and missing posters frequent bulletin boards wherever Mel goes.

The first act of Danger on Party Island is the film’s best because of where it might go. Writer Hannah Maryse Robinson’s screenplay wisely never pretends something bizarre isn’t going on, which allows the narrative to focus on who is involved and what are they covering up.

While the film wastes no time establishing its premise, Danger on Party Island does struggle to sustain its mystery. This is, in part, because it has no interest in developing its characters outside of their relationship to Georgia’s death. None of the characters are provided any depth or development; they’re all either informants, suspects, and/or red herrings.

Sadly this lack of characterization includes Mel, who is defined first and foremost by her dogged tenacity. There are a few moments that interrogate how her grief and the investigation are affecting her job, but the timeline of the film is only a few days, so outside of a pair of phone calls, Mel is in private investigator mode 24/7.

Thankfully Desbach has the personality to carry the film. Mel’s refusal to back down – despite being attacked, chased through the woods, and repeatedly told to leave the island – is always presented as an admirable trait. The audience may not know much about her, but Mel is dogged and smart.

This is never more apparent than a second act development that questions whether Georgia is even dead or simply taking a “digital detox” that has prevented her from reaching out. Mel and her mother Alice (Annie Cook) watch the social media post together and both women immediately identify it as little more than a lie and a distraction. It’s a plot development that confirms that Mel is smart and savvy; it’s not simply a twist to complicate the narrative.

Unfortunately the truth about what is happening on the island is exactly what viewers will expect. As a result, the reveal renders the climax slightly underwhelming and bogs down the pacing of the last act. Direct Danny J Boyle attempts to keep the energy up with a frenetic series of double crosses and chase sequences, but these are hampered by the obvious budgetary constraints.

Not helping matters is the film’s overall lack of geography: whereas the hostel has a gorgeous, spa-like aesthetic with exposed wood beams and a lounging pool below the entrance, Feng Key island never comes together visually. It’s unclear what the proximity of one location is to another and the “tombstoning” cliffs that Georgia purportedly perished over are never even seen.

Then there’s the question of how many people are on the island. While there are a few crowd shots, the island is often conveniently empty, which belies the film’s titular “party” scene. Hell, at one point Mel runs into Jever’s bar to avoid being followed, only to discover the drinking establishment completely empty!

These issues, paired with the underwhelming third act, undermine the film’s strong set-up. Danger on Party Island is a reasonably entertaining diversion, but a more sensational reveal and better character work would have helped to make it more memorable. Instead it’s another middle of the road Lifetime entry.

Danger on Party Island airs Wednesday, March 20 (8pm EST) on Lifetime.

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Lifetime’s new original film Lonely Crime Fanatic opens with the cliché phrase before launching into the story of a recently separated woman who falls for a true crime podcaster. The twist? The man is homicidally intent on turning her into the subject of his next episode.

The film opens with a nightmare as Ashley (Brenna Skalski) dreams of her husband Paul (David Hurt) attacking her in their home. The couple has only recently separated, and Ashley is dragging her feet on securing a divorce lawyer. Instead she’s occupying her time boxing up his stuff, running, and dabbling in her latest “project”: listening to true crime podcasts.

Over the course of the film, her black best friend Lily (Alexandria Ponce) repeatedly admonishes Ashley for using these projects as distractions. Apparently Ashley has a habit of throwing herself into temporary activities, like knitting, rather than doing what she actually needs to do.

Lily is both friend and foe for Ashley’s current obsession. While the bestie cautions Ashley to stop consuming true crime before bed, she also recommends a new title: “Unsolved Files” by David Bryant (Ian Reier Michaels).

Ashley soon learns from a YouTube interview that David is a former federal investigator and criminal profiler turned author and podcaster.

In an effort to cheer herself up, Ashley buys a ticket to David’s book signing, where they meet in person and hit it off. In short order they begin dating and, in exchange for letting her visit his studio, he begins pumping her for information about her struggles with Paul.

That’s when things get stalker-y.

The script, from Bryan Lucas, is simultaneously too serious and too ridiculous; Lonely Crime Fanatic wants to have its cake and eat it, too. Its biggest flaw is that the film seems utterly unclear what, if anything, it is trying to say about women’s obsession with true crime.

Typically in these films, there’s a relatively clear division between good characters and bad ones. Unlike Tall, Dark, and Dangerous, which offered no pretense that its villain was trustworthy, Lonely Crime Fanatic initially suggests that Paul is the abusive and possibly dangerous threat, before confirming he’s just a womanizing lothario; clean cut, straight acting David is the true psychopath.

This initial attempt to morally muddy the film’s male characters is interesting, but as Lonely Crime Fanatic continues, Lucas’ script loses its focus. Is the take-away that Ashley’s interest in true crime is to blame for getting her into this predicament? That every man is a threat? Particularly ironic is the film’s resolution: not only is it too quick/too pat, but the suggestion that society has a responsibility not to turn survivors into celebrities (via things like podcasts and books) is completely undercut by the fact that Ashley is literally saying this on a podcast.

Confused screenplay aside, director Kaila York has fun staging the cat and mouse mind games in the film’s early to middle sections. Michaels’ performance as the antagonist isn’t very showy until David becomes completely unhinged for the finale, but watching the podcaster make copies of Ashley’s keys, plant microphones all over her house, and even leave Paul’s sunglasses and a knife lying around is creepy fun.

As per usual, there’s the requisite filing of the restraining order, an ineffectual police interview, and breakdowns from Ashley as she tries to cope with the stalking. Skalski does her best to make Ashley an interesting protagonist, but unfortunately the character is a relatively stock damsel in distress.

Overall, Lonely Crime Fanatic is watchable, but it’s not particularly innovative or memorable. Lucas’ confused screenplay, particularly the rushed climax and unsatisfying denouement, ends things on a low note, although fans of Lifetime films will find familiar comfort in Ashley’s true crime interests and her struggle.

This is fine, but it could have been better.

Lonely Crime Fanatic airs Thursday, February 29 (8pm EST) on Lifetime.

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The film opens with the usual attention-grabbing set piece. On their 19^th wedding anniversary, Mason (Zach De Nardi) discovers his wife Violet (Alissa Filoramo) looking at pictures of her high school sweetheart Garrett (played by Matt Pholkamp in the present, and Sam Wasylenko in hazy flashbacks). When Mason confronts Violet, ripping her beloved picture in the process, she strangles him with his own tie.

While it is disappointing to learn later that this isn’t a murder (though it does result in divorce), it’s a very amusing way to begin the film. What is even more delightful is that She’s Obsessed with My Husband keeps up this kind of outrageous energy throughout most of its runtime.

Now free to do as she pleases, the film jumps ahead a year to find Violet moving in next door to Garrett. He’s happily married to Daisy (Arye Campos), a book editor, and they have a teenage daughter Allison (Taylor Castro) who has just been accepted to a prestigious French fashion school that they can’t afford.

From her first moments on the suburban street, Violet seeks to drive a wedge between the couple. She exploits Daisy’s feelings of insecurity about her clothes and make-up, capitalizes on the family’s financial difficulties, and even turns Allison against her mom at one point.

These are fairly standard developments, but Violet quickly escalates her plan of attack by bringing in con artist Oliver (Andrew Ghai), who defrauds Daisy out of Allison’s $75K College fund. She also poisons Daisy’s boss, Claudia (Julia A. Harris) to get her fired. Murder, imprisonment and knife fights on the front lawn soon follow in this wild, unhinged tale of obsessive love.

If these events were delivered in a straight forward fashion, She’s Obsessed with My Husband would still be enjoyable. But the film rises into all-timer territory thanks to several tongue-in-cheek elements, including Filoramo’s committed performance as the central antagonist.

For example: Chester’s script frequently has Violet verbalize her intentions, almost as though she’s speaking aloud to the audience. When Daisy confronts Violet about the ingredients of Claudia’s poisoned pie, Violet immediately gaslights her into apologizing. As Daisy says sorry and walks away, Violet answers “Not as sorry as you’re going to be.” This happens numerous times throughout the film, including the moment when Violet injects the mystery poison into the pie with a literal wink at the camera.

This kind of self-awareness is woven throughout the screenplay. At multiple points, Violet is framed in her bedroom window, wearing lingerie and drinking red wine while she watches/listens to Daisy and Garrett have sex or fight. At another point, there’s a music video-style montage of Violet masturbating as she watches Garrett swim in his backyard pool, the camera lingering over Pholkamp’s bare torso that implicates the audience in her voyeurism.

There are also delightfully silly moments, such as when Violet gains access to the Hawkins’ bank accounts via a folder labelled “Passwords” that is conveniently laying out on Daisy’s desk. There’s the giant vision board Violet makes of her and Garrett that she leaves lying around her house. And there are recurring tight tracking shots of Violet (and later Allison) half jogging from one house to the other, on their way to commit a B&E. It’s utterly ridiculous, but also so much fun.

Which is what makes the last act something of a letdown. With Violet’s plan in overdrive and Daisy temporarily taken off the board, the film relies on Allison to carry the narrative. While Castro is fine in the role, Allison is easily the film’s most boring character, and shifting the focus away from Violet is a mistake. It’s a narrative requirement that allows characters to catch up on the plot, but the film loses steam until the bonkers climax. Thankfully the ending is just as silly, ridiculous, and entertaining as it needs to be.

She’s Obsessed with My Husband is the perfect blend of ridiculous plot, campy dialogue, and outrageous suburban stalker drama. Featuring inspired direction, a self-aware screenplay, and one hell of a dedicated performance from Filoramo, I’m already chomping at the bit for a sequel.

She’s Obsessed with My Husband premieres on Lifetime February 15 at 8pm EST.

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Following an underwhelming opening sequence in which Mercedes (Griselle Escotto) is menaced by a man on the phone before her house is broken into, the main narrative introduces quintessential Lifetime protagonist Alice Miles (Jamie Bernadette).

Alice is smart, wealthy, and, most importantly for Tall, Dark, and Dangerous, bad at relationships. When the film opens, Alice is promoted to partner at her law firm by her boss Ed (Eric Roberts), something her overly invested WOC work bestie Jane (Alana Walker) wants her to celebrate. Considering the rapidly approaching holiday and Alice’s lack of personal life, Jane boldly forces Alice to “shoot an arrow” (aka swipe right) on a cute guy named Jason (Vanderpump Rules’ Tom Sandoval) on ‘Be My Valentine,’ a new dating app.

This is where some of the thriller’s narrative issues arise.

When Alice sets up a date with who she believes in Jason, Jane becomes immediately uncertain, even going so far as to offer to accompany her or give her pepper spray. This change of heart comes out of nowhere and is one of several narrative & character hiccups that screenwriter Adam Rockoff (working from a story by Ryan and Owen Schenck) needed to take an additional pass on.

Naturally the date doesn’t go according to plan and Alice is catfished by Jason’s roommate, Chris (Matthew Pohlkamp). Though Chris is apologetic for lying, his insistence that they finish the date and even meet again is a huge red flag that Alice takes far too long to a) acknowledge and b) walk away from.

The Lifetime film I lead starring Tom Sandoval, “Tall, Dark and Dangerous”, airs this THURSDAY February 8th at 8/7c on Lifetime Movie Network (LMN) & will be available to stream right after. Here’s the trailer! Check out this Catfish Stalker Valentines Day Thriller! :)… pic.twitter.com/VEFY8ajrRF

— Jamie Bernadette (@jamiebernadett) February 7, 2024

This establishes a pattern of behavior of Tall, Dark, and Dangerous will revisit continually: Chris behaves in a highly unusual or vaguely threatening way and Alice fails to react like a normal person. You keep waiting for her to blow up at him or at least tell the people in her life what’s happening (neither of which happens to a remotely satisfying degree).

One strength of Rockoff’s script, however, is that it abandons exposition and jumps straight into full-blown stalker territory. Following their brief first date, Chris immediately becomes obsessed with Alice, barraging her with phone calls, showing up at her office, in addition to crashing a family BBQ and posting deep fake pictures of them together on social media.

Guilt-ridden, Jane insists that Alice go to the police, which is where we’re introduced to Jackée Harry’s Detective Graham. The casting goes a long way: the actress carries a good amount of goodwill, which is helpful because the character is wildly inconsistent and deeply unhelpful.

Initially Detective Graham is very candid about the realities of the police to enforce restraining orders, even going so far as to recommend Alice not fill out the forms. Later, when they become necessary, there’s a whole plot point about Detective Graham’s inability to serve Chris the document, and later – after Chris has slashed Alice’s tires – Detective Graham even chastises her for being scared and wanting to flee the area.

The stalking continues to escalate over the course of the 100-minute film, though audiences looking for a cathartic climactic showdown between Alice and Chris should temper their expectations. Tall, Dark, and Dangerous is 90% rising action with a tepid ending that is both too abrupt and too desperate to set up a sequel.

The other major disappointment is that the film never lets either Chris or Alice fully cut loose. As the straight woman, Bernadette does a reasonably good job of showcasing Alice’s fear, as well as her frustration with how the police handle the situation. It’s hard not to become frustrated with Alice, however, given the character’s refusal to confide in anyone other than Jane – for no apparent reason, Alice holds off on telling both her boss and her parents, Susan (Tracy Nelson) and Bill (Michael Paré). Rockoff’s script needed at least a few lines of dialogue to address why Alice is so reticent to confide in them because her silence is confounding the longer the film goes on.

Pohlkamp manages to balance a nice guy charm with a subtle hint of menace, though he’s best in Chris’ few brief scenes of unhinged lunacy in the third act. These principally involve Chris’ former psychiatrist Doctor Taylor (Caryn Richman) and these interactions are the exact right mix of threat and camp. The film could have benefitted from more of these kinds of over-the-top moments.

Director David DeCoteau (formerly of homoerotic horror films like The Brotherhood and currently a Lifetime mainstay) delivers a competent, workmanlike product. It’s frustrating, however, that after teasing Chris’ escalation for so much of the film, when actual violence occurs, it is both brief and underwhelming. The film features only a single death, but it is so poorly framed that it’s not even clear there’s been a murder until the character is confirmed dead a few scenes later!

Scenes such as this, as well as the mildly repetitive dialogue, and some poor set dressing (Jane’s house, with its sparse furniture, looks like a show home) belies the speed with which Lifetime films are made. Overall, however, Bernadette and Pohlkamp acquit themselves reasonably well in this decent, but not great, Valentine’s Day thriller.

Tall, Dark and Dangerous premieres on Lifetime February 8 at 8pm EST.

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Deadline previews the upcoming thriller, “Inspired by actual events, the movie tells the story of a teenage girl with a history of emotional trauma who is relentlessly cyber-bullied, only to discover the culprit behind the horrific texts is her very own mother.”

The site notes that Hamlin will play Summer, “the friend of the cyber-bullied teen.”

The full synopsis details, “The story follows divorced mother Madelyn (Rinna), who’s always had a tight bond with her daughter Mia (played by Briana Skye). But when Mia starts spending more time with her new boyfriend and is on the verge of leaving for college, Madelyn is panicked by her emerging independence.

“When Mia starts to receive a barrage of degrading texts, as a protective mother, Madelyn is determined to find out who is harassing her daughter and will do anything to help her, bringing them closer together again. As the hundreds of texts become more threatening, Mia begins to wonder if her tormentor is someone closer than she could have ever imagined.”

Greg Beeman (Murdaugh Murders: The Movie) directs from a script written by Gregg McBride (Would You Kill for Me? The Mary Bailey Story), with Lisa Rinna exec producing.

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Single Black Female 2: Simone’s Revenge premieres March 2 at 8pm on Lifetime.

Deadline notes that the first Single Black Female – a fresh twist on the movie Single White Female – “averaged more than 8 million total viewers across linear and digital platforms.” Additionally, the film was Lifetime’s “number one original non-holiday movie of 2022.”

Amber Riley, Raven Goodwin and K. Michelle are all back in Single Black Female 2.

In the sequel, “Three years after narrowly escaping the murderous clutches of her half-sister Simone (Riley), Monica (Goodwin) is ready for a fresh start in Seattle as the host of the city’s #1 primetime investigative television program. With her best friend Bebe (Michelle) by her side and a new love interest, things are looking up for Monica. Secretly nursed back to health and suffering from amnesia, Simone is building a new life when she comes across Monica on TV and her memories come rushing back, leading to a fateful reunion between the sisters.

“Can the two put the past behind them? Or will Simone’s need to get revenge win the day?”

Morgan Alexandria (Line Sisters), Christine Horn (Snowfall) and Kendrick Cross (Ambitions) also star in Single Black Female 2: Simone’s Revenge, directed by Shari Carpenter.

Sa’Rah Jones and Tessa Scott wrote the screenplay.

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Deadline reports on Lifetime’s Quarter 1: 2024 slate of original thrillers this afternoon, which promises fourteen brand new thrillers premiering here in the early months of the year.

Here’s the full lineup of Lifetime thrillers in the first quarter of 2024…

Dying For Fame (January 4 at 8pm ET/PT). Starring Dylan Raine, Amelie Anstett. A career-driven tabloid reporter Anna (Raine) is assigned to write a profile about popular influencer Juliet (Anstett). During their time together, Anna discovers that many of Juliet’s fans aren’t real. After she is confronted, Juliet reveals a different story about a stalker who has been tormenting her for months but Anna ultimately decides to proceed with the fake fans story.

The Wrong Life Coach (January 11 at 8pm ET/PT). Starring Vivica A. Fox, Morgan Bradley, Allison McAtee, Michael Paré, Tracy Nelson, Eric Roberts, Jackeé Harry. When Jordan (Bradley) gets a new boss, Tara (Fox), the job becomes more than she bargained for. Jordan enlists the help of a life coach named Liz (McAtee), but unfortunately, Liz has some sinister plans of her own including sabotaging Jordan’s new job with Mr. Gordon (Roberts). Hybrid produced.

A Party to Die For (January 18 at 8pm ET/PT). Starring Jonetta Kaiser, Kara Royster, Jermaine Rivers. Sadie (Kaiser) works in a luxury boutique store but is ready for a change in her life when she meets socialite Jessica (Kara Royster). They become fast friends but when they attend an after party at a new friend’s house, the night goes terribly wrong, and someone ends up dead. Tubi co-prod.

Crowdsource Murder (January 25 at 8pm ET/PT). Starring Nicole Weber, James Hyde, Francesca Barker McCormick, Clark Moore, Lexi Minetree. After her daughter Shannon (Minetree) is injured in an accident, her mother Monica (Weber) is encouraged by her friend Rebecca (McCormick) to start a crowdsource fund to pay for the hospital bills. But when a handsome stranger, Noah (Hyde), donates more and more money to the fund, she begins to question his motives.

Sabotaging the Squad (February 1 at 8pm ET/PT). Starring Meyon Jacobs, Lauren Mayo, Olivia Buckle, Brittany Goodwin. Missy (Jacobs) is ready to take over as head coach of daughter Arielle’s (Mayo) cheer squad but unfortunately, the other cheer moms are resistant to a change in regime, especially Darlene (Buckle), who has been vying for the top job ever since becoming interim coach. With the help of her friend and assistant coach, Gemma (Brittany Goodwin), Missy focuses on getting her cheerleaders ready for competition. But as strange things begin to happen that sabotage all her efforts and one mom ends up dead, Missy fights to clear her name while keeping her squad competition ready before anyone else dies.

Tall, Dark and Dangerous (February 8 at 8pm ET/PT). Starring Jamie Bernadette, Matthew Pohlkamp, Michael Paré, Tracy Nelson, Tom Sandoval, Eric Roberts and Jackeé Harry. As Valentine’s Day approaches, Alice (Bernadette), a successful real estate attorney, decides to try out the dating app Be My Valentine where she finds her seemingly perfect match, Chris (Pohlkamp).  But Alice soon realizes that her “Valentine” is an imposter who stole the identity of his former roommate Jason (Sandoval) in order to insert himself into her life, fooling her boss Ed (Roberts) and even her parents.

She’s Obsessed with My Husband (February 15 at 8pm ET/PT). Starring Alissa Filoramo, Matthew Pohlkamp, Aryè Campos, Taylor Castro. Violet (Filoramo) has carried a torch for Garrett (Pohlkamp), the love of her life, ever since they dated in high school.  Now twenty years later, Violet has moved in next door to Garrett and is determined to destroy his marriage and take her “rightful” place as his wife.

The Ex-Obsession (February 22 at 8pm ET/PT). Starring Chaley Rose, B. J. Britt, Anthony Dalton II. Happily married to her husband, John (Britt), Kim (Rose) is shocked to learn John’s new co-worker is her ex-boyfriend Grant (Dalton II). Unwilling to spoil John’s excitement, Kim and Grant decide to keep their history a secret. But when John sees Kim and Grant out together one day, he becomes consumed by jealousy and confronts Kim. Co-prod with Tubi.

Lonely Crime Fanatic (February 29 at 8pm ET/PT). Starring Brenna Skalski, Ian Reier Michaels, Alexandra Ponce, David Alan Hurt. Romance sparks when a true crime fan meets her favorite podcast host, but things soon turn strange as his fascination with her turns into obsession.

Danger on Party Island (March 20 at 8pm ET/PT). Starring Lindsey Dresbach, Adam Harper, James Bobo, Kate Dailey. After the death of her sister, Mel (Dresbach) travels to an infamous party island to collect her estranged sister’s body. With the reluctant help from local bar owner Jever (Bobo), Mel begins to unravel the circumstances of her sister’s accident and starts to believe she could be next.

My Father’s Murder in Greece (March 21 at 8pm ET/PT). Starring Cass Huckabay, Maeve Quinlan. When Allie’s (Cass Huckabay) father George takes her on a celebratory trip to Greece to uncover her family’s roots, she never expected her father would be murdered. Allie must uncover long-kept family secrets if she’s going to bring the killer to justice.   

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All produced earlier this year, the lineup includes Lifetime’s milestone 500th original movie, the two-night event Murdaugh Murders: The Movie starring Bill Pullman as Alex Murdaugh who, on the surface is a prominent and respected South Carolina lawyer, loving husband and father but behind closed doors, lived a drug-filled secret life that ultimately led to murder.

The event officially kicked off on September 17, and brand new original movies will debut on Saturdays at 8p/7c from now through October 28, 2023.

Here’s the full “Truly Unbelievable Movies” lineup from Lifetime….

HOW SHE CAUGHT A KILLER – September 16

Inspired by real events, rookie detective Linda Murphy (Sarah Drew) is fresh out of the police academy when she hears her boss, detective David Goodman (Eric Keenleyside) talking about a serial killer in the area who seems to be targeting sex workers. Teaming up with FBI agent Neil Carter (Jamall Johnson), Linda fights to go undercover to help solve the murders and, if all goes accordingly, capture a serial killer. Delilah Hamlin stars as a former sex worker and aspiring nurse who is the killer’s first victim.

STOLEN BABY: THE MURDER OF HEIDI BROUSSARD – September 23

Stolen Baby: The Murder of Heidi Broussard is based on a true story of best friends Magen (Emily Osment, Young Sheldon, The Kominsky Method, Hannah Montana) and Heidi (Anna Hopkins, The Expanse) who have known each other for a decade. Pretending to be pregnant at the same time as her friend, Magen makes the journey from Houston to Austin to be by Heidi’s side once she learns she is ready to give birth. However, when Heidi goes missing with her newborn daughter just a few weeks after giving birth, suspicions about Magen’s loyalty and her true intentions are questioned. Authorities begin to suspect that she is hiding a huge secret as they begin to uncover her twisted and elaborate plan. Ian Lake (Locke & Key, Trapped: The Alex Cooper Story) and Briar Nolet also star.

AMISH STUD: THE ELI WEAVER STORY – September 30

Devoted to her husband, kids and faith, Barbara Weaver (Miranda MacDougall, The Flash) was content leading a traditional life in her conservative Ohio Amish community—with no modern conveniences.  Her husband Eli (EP, Luke Macfarlane, Bros), however, wanted the things that were forbidden to him as an Amish man. He gave into the temptations of women and technology, leading a secret life with the online alias “Amish Stud” to meet with women outside of his marriage bed.  Eli found his pick of curious women fascinated by the Amish lifestyle, and often spoke to his mistresses about his desire to kill his wife.  When Barbara is found dead from a shotgun wound, all eyes turn to Eli. But with his rock solid alibi, investigators had nowhere to turn, until they discover Eli had a secret cell phone. Their investigations led them to Barb Raber (Kirsten Vangsness, Criminal Minds), a married Conservative Mennonite who had been having an affair with Eli and who was plotting with him to murder his wife. Ultimately, it is up to the detectives investigating the crime to find justice for Barbara Weaver. Amish Stud is based on the book, “A Killing in Amish Country: Sex, Betrayal and a Cold-Blooded Murder” by bestselling authors Gregg Olsen and Rebecca Morris.

BUYING BACK MY DAUGHTER – October 7

When Dana (Meagan Good) and Curtis’ (Roger Cross) 16-year-old daughter, Alicia (Faith Wright), sneaks out of the house to attend a party, a bout with teenage rebellion quickly escalates into a widespread search party spearheaded by Dana and the police. After almost a year of searching for her missing daughter, mother’s intuition leads Dana to the salacious world of online escort ads where, to her horror, she finds her Alicia listed for sale. Dana and Curtis spring into action and attempt to “buy their daughter back” in order to rescue her from the trafficker who abducted Alicia and subjected her to unspeakable harm. Ariana Madix stars as Karen, a police officer who helps investigate the case and has a personal connection to the story.

MURDAUGH MURDERS: THE MOVIE –Lifetime’s Milestone 500^th Original Movie Two-Part, 4 hour movie – October 14 & 15

Murdaugh Murders: The Movie follows the twisted true story of Alex Murdaugh played by award-winning actor Bill Pullman (The Sinner, Halston), who was found guilty in the double homicide of his wife, Maggie and his son, Paul. For over 100 years, the wealthy and powerful Murdaugh Family were a local dynasty in the South Carolina low country, where they oversaw the prosecution of all criminal cases in the state’s 14th circuit district. But behind all the power, black ties, and fancy dresses Alex had many secrets… Even with all of Alex’s influence, he couldn’t prevent The Murdaugh Family’s legacy from being tarnished after Paul was involved in a boating accident that left a young girl dead. While Maggie was consumed with what was happening with Paul, Alex was hiding his addiction to opioids and stealing insurance settlements from his own clients to fund his habit and the family’s lavish lifestyle. Then in June 2021, Maggie and Paul were found murdered and eyes began to turn to Alex.  The bizarre story continued when Alex was nearly shot in the head and his indiscretions and lies began to surface, leading to the eventual unraveling of Alex Murdaugh’s once charmed life.

BAD ROMANCE: THE VICKY WHITE STORY – October 21

Every day for divorced prison corrections officer Vicky White (Wendi McLendon-Covey) is like the movie Groundhog Day – mundane and every day just like the previous.  But when new prisoner Casey White (Rossif Sutherland) is brought to her facility, the two develop a secret infatuation. Vicky gives Casey special attention, believing he’s the only man to see her the way she wants to be seen. But when Casey’s inevitable transfer to a lengthy prison sentence approaches, Vicky decides to take desperate action. Risking everything, Vicky manages to break Casey out of jail and takes him on the run, eluding authorities on an eleven-day dash for freedom. For Vicky, even the probable tragedy ahead of them is worth the chance to live life fully once more.

WOULD YOU KILL FOR ME? THE MARY BAILEY STORY – October 28

Told through three different perspectives, Would You Kill for Me? The Mary Bailey Story follows the volatile relationship between three generations of women – Ella (Melissa Joan Hart), her daughter Veronica (Olivia Scriven), and her granddaughter Mary (Presley Allard) whom she raises for Veronica. After Veronica becomes deeply entangled with Willard (Connor McMahon) and later marries him, the lives of all three women take a turn for the worse when Willard becomes increasingly abusive.  Veronica suffers a deep betrayal when her best friend Susan (Celina “Spookyboo” Myers), becomes pregnant with Willard’s child, further complicating their toxic relationship, leaving Ella, Mary and her half-brother Sammy at the mercy of Willard’s alcoholic rampages. The family fears for their lives, culminating in one horrific night when Willard is shot dead…but the identity of who pulled the trigger is not revealed till the very end.

The Mary Bailey Story, based on the real-life experiences of Mary Elizabeth Bailey, author of “My Mother’s Soldier,” whom at 11 years-old, was forced to do the unthinkable.

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Grace stars in The Bad Seed Returns, and the young star also co-wrote the script with her father, Ross Burge, and the 2018 film’s writer, Barbara Marshall (Wish Upon).

In The Bad Seed Returns…

“After the murderous events that left her father (Rob Lowe) dead, 15-year-old Emma (Mckenna Grace), a seemingly typical teenaged girl, is now living with aunt Angela (Michelle Morgan) and navigating high school. But the darkness can only be hidden for so long, especially when Angela’s husband Robert (Benjamin Ayres) begins to suspect Emma may not be as innocent as she appears, and a new girl at school seems to know Emma’s secrets from the past. Left with no choice, Emma slips back to her old ways to take care of her enemies by any means necessary. ”

Louise Archambault (Catastrophe, This Life) directed. Grace executive produces along with her father, mother, Crystal Burge, and Mark Wolper, who executive produced the 2018 movie. 

The Bad Seed Returns premieres on Lifetime Monday, May 30, 2022.

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The Wrap details the full slate this week, including the films Dirty Little Secrets (June 11), Suitcase Killer: The Melanie McGuire Story (June 18), He’s Not Worth Dying For (June 25), and Jailbreak Lovers (July 2). They’ll all be premiering at 8pm EST on Lifetime.

Suitcase Killer may be the most intriguing of the bunch, the Lifetime Original based on the true story of Melanie McGuire. Lifetime details, “Melanie (Candice King), an exceptional fertility nurse, is married to her ex-Navy husband Bill (Michael Roark) and doting mother of two boys. When she falls for Brad (Jackson Hurst), a doctor at her clinic, and gets entangled in a steamy love affair, Melanie does the unthinkable. After drugging and murdering Bill, she dismembers him and places the body parts into three suitcases, throwing them into Chesapeake Bay.

“But when the suitcases are found on the shores of Virginia Beach, an investigation is launched leading to Melanie as the prime suspect. Led by the efforts of assistant attorney general Patti Prezioso (Wendie Malick), authorities eventually bring Melanie to justice, who despite being convicted, continues to maintain her innocence.”

Head over to The Wrap to learn more about Suitcase Killer and the other new movies.

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On that note, a new shark attack thriller titled Deep Blue Nightmare is swimming its way onto Lifetime this month, we’ve learned, with the cast including Michael Madsen.

Deep Blue Nightmare premieres Thursday, March 18 at 8/7c. This one previously went by the title Shark Season, and you can find the trailer for that iteration of the movie below.

In the Jared Cohn-directed film, “Having kayaked offshore for a deserted island photo shoot, Sarah, and friend Meghan, become the target of an aggressive great white shark. Now the women must fend off the deadly predator until James, Sarah’s take-charge father, can guide emergency services to their rescue.”

Paige McGarvin, Juliana Destefano, and Jack Pearson also star.

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The site writes that Anthony Jaswinski is writing the pilot episode. Jeff Kwatinetz and Josh Barry are acting as executive producers.

Shakespeare’s original story “A Midsummer’s Night Dream” acts as an inspiration for the first season, which follows, “…two young lovers escape their lives on a romantic getaway into the woods until their journey takes an unexpected twist when their friends arrive trying to lure them back home. Something hiding in the forest has other plans, however, and they are targeted one by one while a thrilling and desperate tale of survival unravels. (Source)”

Additionally, Lifetime has announced that they are adapting Aimee Friedman’s YA novel “Sea Change” and have ordered a two hour pilot.

The series follows a strong 17-year-old girl who, after the death of her father, moves to a small Nantucket-like island to live with her estranged mother. There she is pulled into classic small town rivalries and clashes with her mother, but quickly learns the depth of those conflicts when the island legend about dangerous Sea Walkers appears to be true, presenting a mystery for her and her family.

“Sea Change” will be written by “The Following’s” Liz Sczudlo and produced by MarVista Entertainment.

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The full synopsis for The Murder Pact reads:

After witnessing the accidental death of their classmate Heidi, a group of friends – four rich socialites – flee the scene, not realizing that Heidi’s roommate Lisa witnessed everything. When Lisa starts to drop hints that she knows about the “accident,” the friends decide they can’t trust her to stay quiet, and plot to kill Lisa before she rats them out, burying her body beneath the floorboards in one of their basements. Before long, though, the guilt and paranoia starts to consume them, and they become convinced that Lisa may actually be alive and looking for revenge.

The movie features an analog synth score from composer Matthew Llewellyn, who has written additional music for Far Cry 3 and John Dies At The End. He has also scored Dead Souls and Deep in the Darkness.

We caught up with Llewellyn and asked him five questions about the score to the film. You can check out our exclusive interview below.

Make sure to order the album via iTunes.

The Murder Pact was directed by Colin Theys and stars, Alexa Pena Vega, Beau Mirchoff, Renee Olstead, Michael J. Willett, and Sean Patrick Thomas.

The film is based on Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart”, which is a classic tale of guilt and paranoia. How did you capture those emotions and feelings for the score to ‘The Murder Pact’?

Despite being entirely electronic, this score is very thematic. I always make it a point to write themes for my scores, I feel that they are the film composer’s best tool to make story-telling stronger. Since the the film is an adaptation of “The Tell-Tale Heart”, I knew that I should incorporate a heartbeat-like sound into the score. This was the first thing I focused on and it turned out to be a little trickier than I would’ve thought. The heartbeat, which is mostly percussive, morphs throughout the score as the film progresses. Sometimes it appears as percussion, other times as a synth pulse. I felt that it was important to keep it fresh with each appearance to make sure it’s not intrusive to the audience’s experience. The heartbeat appears mostly with Lisa’s theme as she haunts each character from the afterlife. Some of the other themes you will hear in the score are Camille’s Theme, Will’s Theme, The Relationship Theme, The Remorse Theme, and Poppy’s Theme. The relationship Theme, which only appears once in the movie, strengthens the bond between Camille and Will. Will’s theme is very dark and ominous with an “arch-like” flavor to give him that villainous quality. Camille’s Theme acts like a bookend for the film appearing only at the beginning and at the end as to not give away her true motives.

I’m told that the score is all analog synths, which often have a very warm sound to them. What made you feel that this was the best approach for this film?

The analog synth sound has made a resurgence in music world in the last 5-6 years not only in pop music but in film music as well. In the film scoring world, the tide turned pretty quickly when Trent Reznor won the Oscar for “The Social Network” score. It was a very unique and fresh score; a sound that everyone clawed for after that film. The last few films that I’ve done with Colin have been purely orchestral and we didn’t really think that would be the “right” sound for this film. We went back and forth with various ideas and concepts but ultimately we asked ourselves the question, “What would these characters listen to?” That was the starting point for this score.

The main characters of ‘The Movie Pact’ are rich socialites. What role did their affluence and glamorous lifestyle have on the sound of the music?

Sonically, the score needed to mesh with their lifestyle which only enforced the idea of creating a score that you could imagine the characters listening to. The score needed to be sleek, fresh, with a hint of attitude. One of the most important elements of the score is the drive and overall tense feeling. This was achieved by utilizing synth pulses and echo-ing percussion and manipulating them in such a way that I could have a beat chugging along and then have it slowly deteriorate as the guilt of the killing of their classmate overwhelmed them.

You stated that you approached scoring the film by breaking the analog synths into “distinct electronic sections”. Tell me a bit more about these sections and their roles in creating emotion and heightening the suspense and drama of the movie?

What makes writing electronic scores especially challenging is that not only are you creating the music but you’re also creating the sound palette of which the music will be extrapolated from. I’m a very traditional composer that relies on melody and harmony so when it came to writing this score I had to first figure out what sounds I was going to use. I spent at least two weeks creating and compiling sounds that I felt would help tell the story that Colin and I wanted to tell. I’ll be the first to admit that sometimes it’s like throwing a bucket of paint at the wall and seeing what sticks. It’s a very fluid process and the sound palette often morphed and grew the further I got into the film. In some cases I went back to cues I had already written and added sounds that I discovered days later. One electronic section that I created called “FX Glue” was comprised mostly of sounds that weren’t necessarily tonal but provided an extra layer of uneasiness and helped glue musical transitions. The most common “FX Glue” sound appears with Lisa’s Theme and almost sounds like electrical power lines swirling around your head.

The theme song features Spelles. Tell me a bit about working with her and how that collaboration came to be.

Kathryn (SPELLES) and I went to Berklee together and we met through a mutual friend around 2005-2006. I always thought she had an incredible voice so when the opportunity arose to write an original song for this film she was my first choice. Her solo work is actually quite different than “Deadly Romance” but I knew she would capture the right tone for this film. She was an absolute pleasure to work with in the studio; I like to say that she’s a “one-taker” often singing parts perfectly the first time. It was a truly collaborative process; I focused mainly on the music while she focused on the vocals and the lyrics. We sent ideas back and forth for a few weeks and then recorded the track with my good friend Bryan Morton.

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Maryann (Natasha Calis) is a recently orphaned pre-teen that just moved in with her grandparents. Already having to deal with the loss of her parents she must now get used to a new environment, new school and attempt to make new friends. Exploring the neighborhood one day she sees Andy (Charlie Tahan), a boy of similar age laying in his bedroom playing Xbox. Maryann knocks on the boy’s window and introduces herself.

Maryann and Andy play Xbox until Andy’s mother, Dr. Katherine Young (Samantha Morton), comes home to find them. She promptly asks Maryann to leave. Katherine is very controlling. She claims Andy is dying and no one can be around him. She even goes through the trouble of visiting Maryann’s grandparents to see to it that Maryann doesn’t come around anymore.

Maryann chooses to ignore Katherine’s request and keeps coming around. Eventually she uncovers some seriously dark secrets being kept by both Katherine and her husband, Richard (Michael Shannon).

The Harvest absolutely shouldn’t work. It shouldn’t be a good movie. The overall premise is quite silly and it goes pretty far over the top in my opinion. This story could easily make for a Lifetime movie. In fact there has probably been Lifetime movies that are very similar to this. A Lifetime exec should be getting McNaughton on the phone right now. If they had him direct all their movies they’d have a bunch of hits on their hands. Come on, Lifetime, get in together!

What lifts The Harvest up and makes it a genuinely creepy and eerie family drama are the performances. Everyone is so damn sincere and earnest. Aside from Peter Fonda, who seemed to only be present to say “far out” and offer strange life advice to his granddaughter, every actor plays the movie completely straight. They treat the material very seriously. This makes it easy for the audience to buy in and enjoy the ride.

Morton in particular is incredible. Her performance reaches so many different peaks of crazy. She’s very frightening at times. Every moment she spends on screen has you nervous because you have no idea what she may do. Morton’s Katherine could give Annie Wilkes a run for her money.

Then you have Shannon in a role that is very different from what I’m accustomed to seeing him in. His portrayal of Richard is at the complete opposite spectrum of Morton. While Morton took things far over the top, Shannon is much more reserved and subtle. Richard is compassionate and tries desperately to remain level headed while Katherine is bonkers from the start. They’re the perfect balance for one another.

If I had one issue with The Harvest, aside from Fonda just being weird, it’s that Maryann doesn’t seem all too bothered by the fact that both her parents died. We never really find out what happened to the parents and it’s not discussed much, but we know it happened very recently because Maryann is just moving in with her grandparents. The grandparents seemed to be much more impacted by the loss. In fact the one good moment with Fonda, and it’s actually quite the sad moment, is when Maryann finds her father’s old baseball gloves in the attic. Ole grandpa Fonda thinks Maryann wants to play catch with him. When he finds out she wants to play with a friend he looks pretty crushed. This is actually a sweet moment. Other this though, Fonda is misused. And Maryann still doesn’t seem too phased by her parents being gone.

The Harvest isn’t a movie everyone will enjoy. The key is buying into what McNaughton and crew are selling early. If you do that you can follow along and enjoy the movie right up to the chilling conclusion.

The Harvest is available now on Blu-ray from IFC Midnight and Scream Factory.

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The site explains that Lisa was working on an archiving project when she stumbled across an unproduced Thanksgiving special created by her father Jim and his writing partner Jerry Juhl. Furthermore, she found the puppets that were meant to be in the film, which led her on the journey to get the special made.

Jim Henson’s Turkey Hollow follows:

…a family who goes on a hunt for a Bigfoot-like creature called the Howling Hoodoo during a visit to the house of their kooky aunt (played by Last Man on Earth’s Mary Steenburgen). The Howling Hoodoo itself is difficult to find, but they come across some other monsters in the woods that they didn’t even know they were looking for.

Lisa has confirmed that the puppets have been slightly updated, having been given the ability to blink as well as other animatronic components.

She comments:

When faced with adversity, a family can find magic and transformation in unexpected places and unexpected ways. At the end of it, I’d like for people to feel that it was a good family experience to watch it together and to see a movie about a family having an adventure together.

Jim Henson’s Turkey Hollow premieres Nov. 21 at 8 p.m. ET

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The show is a direct sequel to the 1976 film and follows Damien Thorn as an adult dealing with his dark past. While it was originally meant to debut this year, the site adds that we should expect it now to air in 2016.

The show’s synopsis reads:

The ten-episode ‘Damien’ follows the adult life of Damien Thorn (James), the mysterious child from the 1976 film who has grown up, seemingly unaware of the satanic forces around him. Haunted by his past, Damien must now come to terms with his true destiny — that he is the Antichrist, the most feared man throughout the ages.

Late last year we reported that Bradley James (“Merlin”) landed the title role as Damien Thorn. The show is being written and executively produced by Glen Mazzara (“The Walking Dead”).

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Tess Thorne (Bello) is a famous writer who is out on the road after a book signing. Despite her best efforts and GPS, she ends up lost. Things go bad when she ends up running over some all too conveniently-placed lumber, leaving her stranded on the side of the road. Fortunately for Tess, a truck driver (Will Harris) happens by a few minutes later and offers his help. Tess accepts his help, but it was all a setup by the driver, who sheds his friendly guise and proceeds to beat and rape Tess, leaving her for dead. Tess awakens later and manages to walk to the next town. Instead of calling for the police, Tess decides to exact revenge in her own way.

Now before anything, yes, this film showed up on Lifetime. Let’s get that out of the way. Next, while the basic premise sounds all-too familiar (I Spit On Your Grave immediately comes to mind), the film does offer more in the form of Richard Christian Matheson’s script. Tess is presented as a normal person with a darker, more violent personality underneath the surface. And it just so happens that after her assault, elements of that personality come to the surface in her “eye for an eye” vengeance. As such, the viewer is offered a glimpse into Tess’s head, including conversations with a character from her book in Aunt Doreen (played humorously by Olympia Dukakis) and her GPS named “Tom”. It might sound kind of hokey, but really, is it that much different from having a character reliving traumatic experiences in other films/television shows? It adds to the flavour of a character out for payback.

The acting front begins and ends with Maria Bello. Bello is amazing as Tess, and fully brings Matheson’s script to life, conveying every bit of underlying sadness and anger in the character, the latter of which really comes out in the second half of the film. Dukakis is another treat of the film, doling out King’s trademark black humour as Tess’s muse and voice of reason…even if that reason involves making sure Tess gets rid of the evidence. Will Harris’s imposing portrayal of the film’s antagonist, Lester, is appropriately intimidating and sleazy (though you wouldn’t want to say it to his face), and really makes you want to see his comeuppance.

Even with the excellent script and equally-excellent acting, there are a few issues that creep up. Aside from the obvious rape revenge motif that really doesn’t differentiate from a lot of other films of this nature, the elements mentioned above involving Tess’s character (interactions with characters from her book and the GPS) that do border on the silly. There’s also the actual act of rape, which despite being restricted by the original format and not glorified, is still not something you’d enjoy watching. And like many revenge rape films, you probably won’t be in a hurry to see it again afterwards. Finally, despite receiving third billing, Joan Jett’s role is really nothing much more than a cameo as a bar owner, and feels more like one of those attempts at attention-grabbing in order for people to take notice. But really, why do that when you already have great talent in the film?

While Big Driver doesn’t reinvent the wheel when it comes to films of this nature, the strength of the script and the quality of the acting really make the film stand out. Bello is amazing in her role, and performances by Harris and Dukakis really sell this one. The film isn’t for everyone (given the obvious content), but for those who are able to stomach this sort of topic will be rewarded with another excellent adaptation of Stephen King’s work.

Video/Audio:

Presented in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen, Big Driver looks great. Colour reproduction is excellent, the overall image is crisp and clear with no imperfections like compression artifacts. There are some instances where details do look a bit flat, but this is easily one of the better-looking DVDs I’ve seen in a while.

As for the audio, the Dolby Digital English 5.1 stereo track is equally-comparable in quality to the video. Use of directional sound is great, with some excellent instances of the sound moving from one channel to the next. Bass output adds a nice punch to select scenes, and doesn’t overpower. Dialogue is clear and free of any distortion.

Extras:

You know those companies that put other films’ trailers on the DVD instead of having actual extras that pertain to the film you’re watching? Lionsgate did it here, and it’s beyond annoying. The “extra” that pertains to the film is the ultraviolet copy.

Also included is a slipcase that replicates the art for the case itself.

The post [Review] Maria Bello Delights and Dispenses Revenge In ‘Big Driver’ appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Home Invasion is basically a thriller in the realm of The Hand That Rocks The Cradle, but, as stated above, made for TV. For the most part, everything that Duff’s Jade does is a wee bit farfetched. Her antics range from poisoning the buffet at Nicole’s newly opened restaurant to burning the place down and planting evidence at Nicole’s house. Sure, hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, but for Jade to pull of everything she does in the movie would take someone a bit more intelligent than the character that is presented.

For a TV movie, and especially one that aired on Lifetime, Home Invasion isn’t particularly horrible, but also isn’t Oscar worthy. For the most part, I actually enjoyed seeing how over the top it would go. However, the most entertaining aspect is watching Haylie Duff’s acting. For 80% of the film, Duff’s expression remains the same – pouty lips and slightly flared nostrils with arched eyebrows (and perfect hair throughout). While Sheridan’s acting might be stiff at times, she at least appears to be the part. Supporting cast varies on their acting abilities, as well. Yes, the script is campy and Howell’s portrayal of Ray, a thug with neck tattoos, is a bit laughable. The worst, sadly, has to be Kyla Dang as foster daughter Abigail. Someone’s parents need to make sure they’re banking this money for college.

MTI Video is releasing Home Invasion and other films like it on DVD. Is it worth buying? No, I can’t say it is. However, if this one shows up on Netflix and you enjoy cheap women based cable station films – plus you like seeing Haylie Duff in bad situations (Did you see her on Sons of Anarchy? This girl can’t win!) – then definitely throw Home Invasion on to watch. At least you can kill an hour and a half.

The post [BD Review] ‘Home Invasion’ Is Rough On Duff appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

“It’s not just a disturbing nursery rhyme! Now the true story of how Lizzie Borden murdered her parents (or did she?) in the summer of 1892 is being brought to Lifetime, with Christina Ricci as the eponymous Lizzie. The true-crime case captured national attention when it first happened, proving that Americans obsession with scandalous and sordid tales is nothing new.”

The film also stars Billy Campbell and Clea DuVall (Zodiac, Argo) as her sister. LBTAX will premiere on Lifetime Jan. 25 at 8 p.m. ET.

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MGM and the Lifetime Network are developing “Clarice”, a show that will follow the character of Clarice Starling as featured in Thomas Harris’ novels ‘The Silence Of The Lambs” and “Hannibal”. I’d expect this show to debut at midseason at the very earlier, if not (more realistically) Fall of 2013. No word on casting but of course Jodie Foster and Julianne Moore are pretty much guaranteed not to star.

Per TV Guide, “Clarice would follow the exploits of a young Clarice Starling soon after she graduates from the FBI academy. The show’s development comes as NBC preps the 13-episode series Hannibal, which also takes place in the world of author Thomas Harris’ Hannibal Lecter series of books. But Hannibal, from Bryan Fuller, won’t include the Clarice character, and instead focuses on the relationship between Hannibal and FBI criminal profiler Will Graham (played by Hugh Dancy).”

This has almost nothing to do with Hannibal (except for taking place in the same universe) in which “One of the most fascinating literary characters comes to life on television for the first time: psychiatrist-turned-serial-killer, Dr. Hannibal Lecter. In this new drama from Bryan Fuller (“Pushing Daisies,” “Heroes”), based on the characters from Thomas Harris’ classic novels, we see where this incredible story began. Will Graham (Hugh Dancy, “The Big C”) is a gifted criminal profiler who is on the hunt for a serial killer with the FBI. Graham’s unique way of thinking gives him the astonishing ability to empathize with anyone – even psychopaths.”

Thanks to BD Reader “James” for the heads up!

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