Movie Review - Dead Over Heels: An Aurora Teagarden Mystery

Dead Over Heels

An Aurora Teagarden Mystery

2017

The Cast

Aurora (Bure) is having plumbing problems and with the help of her friend, Sally (Doig) they set about fixing it.  While checking out the well's pump in the garden, the body of Chief Of Police, Captain Burns (March), falls from an aeroplane... at their feet.  Being the compulsively curious amateur sleuth she is, Aurora sets out to track down the cop killer...

Storywise, this isn't as solid as previous instalments of the enthusiast crime solver.  In a few scenes, it feels especially contrived.  Specifically where the two sisters are concerned.  The reaction of Bess Burns' (Cairns) reaction to her husband's death is kind of unbelievable.  She doesn't appear to mourn him and at times even sees a bright side to his death.  Then there's her sister, Lillian Tibbit (Harvie), who has an episode where she's the complete opposite of her normal personality,  This would have been okay had Bess been more realistic.  But to have two strange personalities in one story is one too much.  This does pull the audiences attention away and out of the story and film.

This though is pretty much the only downside to the movie.  The rest of the story is strong and sound.  Filled with red herrings and false suspects.  Though it shouldn't be too hard for you figure out whodunnit... though you may find yourself changing your mind a couple of times.

There's nothing too interesting in the direction, it's pretty standard stuff.  Also, the special effect of the falling body looks cheap and nasty.  Luckily it's at the start of the film and over in a couple of seconds.

It's the acting along with the story that will keep the attention of the audience.  Just like the previous episodes, the acting is above average and nobody stands out more than anyone else.  Everybody has the limelight, allowing the story to take precedence and helps to extend the mystery (there's nothing worse than having some actor or actress walk on screen and you know they're the bad guy or gal).

If you're a fan of the Aurora Teagarden Mysteries you will like this chapter of her life.  You needn't have watched the previous episodes to enjoy this film, though you would probably get more enjoyment if you had.

I give this a Free Falling Murder of 6.5 out of 10.

The Trailer

Movie Review - Deadly Attraction

Deadly Attraction

2017

The Cast

Everything about this film screams averageness.  From the story:  A woman abused by her first husband vows never to be a target again for any man.  After fighting back and killing her abuser Ruby Asher (Hartley) finds herself on the road of greed.  Lying to herself that she's doing this not just for herself but for her daughter, Amanda (Deveaux), as well, she starts to drain all the men in her life of their money.  Though as time goes on, she finds she has to go further to get what she's owed by these undeserving men... so she results to taking their lives as well as their money.  However, her latest victim leaves most of his fortune to his daughter, Teresa (Wilson), so now she will have to pay for taking the Black Widows hard-earned dues.  The hardest thing to swallow is that Amanda doesn't know the truth about her mother... though the new Step-Daughter cottons on about one second after hearing her daddy's dead.

This is your basic Black Widow tale with a slight twist.  Though, it's not a big enough twist to take the story or film out of its mediocrity.

To the acting: which on the whole, isn't anything special.  I like Gary Chalk, who briefly appears in this film... and it's so quick that his skills have little effect on the proceedings.  I first saw Sebastian Spence in Ceder Cove and thought he was brilliant with his character in that.  Even in other films and series, he's been a decent actor and I have enjoyed his performance.  Here he starts off well and even has a little in common with his Ceder Cove character...  however when he changes character, I found him a little flat in emotion and personality.  Even Hartley fluctuates in her portrayal of Ruby.  Though I have to say, when she's in tough and devious mode she's at her best.  She doesn't appear concerning enough when she's playing at doting wife and mother.  So it's unbelievable that neither her husbands and daughter don't know her plans... or at least question her noticeable mood swings.  The two that stood out to me was Jim Shield as rancher husband, Daniel Nash, and step-daughter Teresa Landon played well by Brittany Wilson.

Once again, as is the case with many a TV Movie the direction is pretty basic and standard for a thriller.  More tension and atmosphere would be welcome, as would a change of pace, and a few nice camera shots.  Come on guy's, let's show some artistic film-making temperament once in a while.  When the story is average at least try to keep the audience interested with the directing.

This is a one watch movie... preferable when all other entertainment is exhausted and it's bad weather outside or you're laid up ill.

I give this Black Widow Tale an average bite of 5 out of 10.

The Trailer

Movie Review - My Daughter Is Innocent

My Daughter Is Innocent

2017

The Cast

When two high school friends realise they're going out with the same guy it puts a strain on their relationship.  One of the girls, Amber (Sarah Fisher) is happy to walk away from Alex.  While Kelly (Hannah Vandenbygaart) decides he's preferable to her best friend.  Upset and wanting to understand why he'd do such a thing, Amber sneaks out of the house for a meeting.  The next morning Alex is found injured at their meeting place.  With his future looking bleak the girls are questioned by Detective Grayson (John Koensgen).  Unfortunately, when he dies, Amber is charged with his murder and her mother, Lisa (Victoria Pratt), takes it upon herself to solve the murder.  With the help of her friend and Kelly's mother, Heather (Christina Cox), they start to delve into the man's sordid life.

This is a nice little film that probes into the relationships between mothers and daughters, between best friends, and their lovers.  This adds quite a few contrasts and gives more depths to the story, which in turn, keeps it interesting.  

Then you have the characters themselves.  For the most part, the characterisations are perfect and everybody has their own traits and their way of doing things and coping with stressful situations.  Though I do feel a little sad for Vandenbygaart.  Kelly should be one of the major characters though she gets overlooked too much.  Had their been more between her and her mother it could have only strengthened the story and film.

You could also use this movie to warn girls about the perverts that troll the internet.  Both Amber and Kelly meet Alex online first, though he's using aliases (another twist that could have been utilised more).  The thing that made me uneasy was the age of the boyfriend.  This guy was no boy.  He even worked at a bar and picked up whomsoever was around.  With the number of victories he could get from the bar alone why does he need schoolgirls?  Pervert.  I can understand somebody wanting to knock him off.  The list should be endless.

The actresses and actors are good in their portrayals and Max McGuire directs well.  Even though the twist in the tale is quite obvious it shouldn't detract from the enjoyment of the film.  I'd recommend this tale of murder and mystery to all Armchair Detectives everywhere.

I give this one night stand gigolo a 6.25 out of 10.

The Trailer

Movie Review - Escaping Dad

Escaping Dad

AKA:  Amber Alert

2017

The Cast

This is the story of an abused wife, Erin (Mabrey) on the run from her violent husband, Darren (Wiles).  As soon as he realises what's happening, she's picked up the children, Amy (Van Dien) and Charlie (Walken), and has hit the road on the way to the safety of her friend.  Being the DA, Darren pulls a few strings and tells a few lies and has an Amber Alert put on his runaway family.

To be truthful, there's not much new in this story.  However, it's well scripted and structured which helps to keep it interesting.  There is a slight twist to the tale, though it feels like it's an add-on to make things more engaging.  For me, this second story arc wasn't required as the story itself is fine.  Along with the directing and acting you have a decent and above average TV Thriller.

The only thing in the story that's a little weak is Erin's steadfastness at not telling her daughter the truth.  I can understand not letting her young son in on the awfulness of life and marriage but Amy is in her late teens and should be able to handle it.  However, I did like that Amy still stuck by her mother, even though she hadn't been told the facts and constantly moaned about going home.

Even though Kohn doesn't add anything new to the direction of the movie, he still brings across a tension, which appears to creep through the film.  It's always there, though at times it becomes more evident.  He also uses light to subtly create atmosphere.  For example, he adds lens flare and haze to make the day look brighter while the runaways are driving.  While in the car there's the air of unease, especially on Erin's face.

In fact, Sunny Mabrey is brilliant in the portrayal of Erin.  In most of her scenes, she has that air of nervousness.  You can believe she's constantly worrying about what could happen... what will Darren do next to find her?  How far will he go?  Jason Wiles is good at adding menace to the film as Darren.  He's a strong single-minded man who wants everything his way and will do anything to make that happen, and Wiles gets this across in every scene.  Even the supporting cast get into their characterisations, there's a trucker who appears a little creepy and untrustworthy; his name is Trucker Pete and David Ury portrays this well, though he's only on screen a few seconds.

This is one of those TV Thrillers I'd watch again.  It was enjoyable and passed an hour and a half so I didn't have to go out in the snow.  So if it's a bad day or a lazy Sunday, then this film is a good way to spend your time.

I give this a runaway 6 out of 10.

The Trailer

Movie Review - Jigsaw

Jigsaw

2017

The Cast

Friday Night Is Fright Night so I was happy to see that two of the better fright films have new Chapters to their stories.  Therefore, I was looking forward to watching both this movie and the new Horror chapter to Jeepers Creepers...  How wrong I was.

Since they ended the SAW series on a high there was expectations for this movie to be good.  The trailer was brilliant and atmospheric.  I wanted to see this film, as I've always loved the concept I just thought most of the stories needed handling better, both story and film-wise.  Though, as most cases prove nowadays, the trailer was much better than the movie.

I know it's a SAW film by a different name so there's gonna be gore... which there was but nowhere near that of the other movies.  The things which let the film and story down was the direction and the writing.  There were plot holes big enough to pilot an armada of cruise liners through.  The main one being the detective work... there wasn't any.  For some unfathomable reason, both cops on the case decided that the coroner, Logan (Passmore) and his assistant, Eleanor (Anderson), were the main suspects.  I could understand Eleanor, a little, as she posted to a website based on John Kramer (Bell) and his killings.  However, they totally ignored everybody else on the site.  Ludacris.  As for the cops themselves, it wasn't a case of good cop and bad cop but rather a bad cop and poser cop.  At least Cle Bennett (Detective Keith Hunt) looked good in this movie - not for his acting skills, but for his dress sense - and boy can he pose like a supermodel!

Then there's the whole timeline thing.  SAW has tried this scenario before and made a complete hash of it... and has once again.  Though it's not as confusing as it's predecessor, there are still many oversights.

All this is a shame as they finally had the chance to make a decent movie from a good premise.  At least they had a good cast.  On the whole, the acting is above par and all the actors give the best performances they can - I can't fault them at all.  It would have been nice to have more emotion, which the writers chose not to pursue even though they had a great character to do it with and a good actress to pull it off.  I'm talking about Anna (Vandervoort).  On the surface, her backstory is that of a woman who has lost her child to an accident.  This opens up a myriad of possible emotional scenes.  Then when the twist in her story is revealed it gives a chance for a different depiction.  This would make the character relatable to the viewers; bringing them into the story a tad more.  The same can be said for most of the characters, though you only need to expand on the main ones.

As for the gruesome special effects, they've been toned down for this film, which isn't a bad thing as they were starting to get too graphic (never thought I'd say that... but when you see a face get ripped off by a car tyre... well).  However, there could, and should, have been more of the human claret flowing, especially in the leg scene.

This really could and should have been a better film.  A statement that can nearly be said for the all the films in the series... so this suffers as the majority of the SAW films did.  Therefore, I'd only recommend this to followers of the series.  As for newbies, then I'd recommend watching the originals over this, at least, for a while, there's a feeling of freshness about them.

I give this insipid three-wheeler reboot a 5 out of 10.

The Trailer

Movie Review - A Life Of Deception

A Life Of Deception

AKA:  Washed Away

2017

 The Cast 

Here we have the well-worn story of a dead husband and the wife who won't believe he's dead.  While out on a vacation celebrating their anniversary Parker (Sirow) is supposedly killed in a whitewater canoeing accident.  However, during a visit to San Francisco a few months later his wife, Gabrielle (Vaugier), swears she see's him in a busy market.  But of course, he disappears before she can get to him.  This and a few other strange events prompt her to start her own investigation into his death.  The twists are well woven into the story though they're nothing new and you can figure them out quite quickly.  That though is pretty much the only issue I had with the story.

Emmanuelle Vaugier gives another solid performance as a wife thrown into a broiling situation.  She handles the many emotions the story calls for in her stride.  Doubt over their marriage, fear over her missing husband, sadness at the wake, the awareness that something isn't right, understanding at the outcome.  I know why this actress gets hired.  Shame it's the rest of the cast which lets the acting down.  Cameron Bancroft as Detective Asher is so blank and emotionless, somebody should take his pulse to make sure he's still alive.  At times the same can be said about Kristen Harris' portrayal of Genna, though she does have a few scene's where she comes alive.  The trouble is you just don't care for her.  When she comes to Gabrielle with the story of being beaten up by her drunken husband, she just doesn't sell it enough.  Had this character come across better then the film would have been stronger for it.  I thought it might have been the writing or direction that was the cause of the characters problems, but then Adam Hurtig comes along as Travis.  Travis is irascible, greaving, angry, and blames his sister in law for his brother's death.  Most of the time this can be seen in his demeanour and on his face.  Hurtig is an actor to watch.

As for the direction, Jeff Beasley does a good job and tries to add different camera shots to show mood.  There's a scene after Parker's death where Gabrielle is laying on her bed thinking, mourning, and remembering him.  Beasley tries to show her feelings at this time by a series of steady near still shots as she shifts about the bed.  Five seconds of her laid on her back, head on pillows.  Five seconds of her laid on her front, head towards the foot of the bed.  Five seconds of her sat on the edge at the foot of the bed.  Though this didn't work for me, I have to appreciate that he tried to add something different to keep the story and film interesting to the viewers.  His whitewater shot at the beginning was very good, though not really tied to the film... unless it's Gabrielle's accident we learn about later.

I enjoyed this film and would recommend it to all armchair detectives, whodunnit pundits, and mystery and thriller fans everywhere for at least one viewing.  It doesn't even have to be raining outside.  Though I would say it's a lazy day film... so a good one to watch in bed on a Sunday morning or after a pleasant and filling Sunday dinner.

I give this disappearing husband a 5.75 out of 10.

The Trailer