A Fatal Obsession

When it comes to crappy B movies and bad horror, I'm somewhat of a connosoir. I can ignore things like jaunty cameras, bad acting, audio that doesn't line up with the movie, 1960's style special effects and even huge plot holes, as long as the story makes sense or has some sort of original idea.

This movie showed some bad acting, but none of the other things- the reason I couldn't stand it was mainly the bad directing and the poor story layout. I had to rewind it about 3 times to see what had happened the scene before because scene to scene did not flow very well or make much sense. The introduction of new characters was abrupt and largely unexplained, to the point where the audience must inevitably ask, who the hell is this guy?? Some movies might structure that sort of thing into the story- a mysterious character for instance. This is not what I saw in A Fatal Obsession. It was just sloppy all around. Bad camera angles, bad flow, bad emphasis on the wrong things... After rewinding a few times to try to piece together the plot niches, I got bored and said f it.

Skip this one, my horror cohorts, it is not worth the time to even try to find a redeeming quality here.

Popular horror novelist Eric Roberts (as Michael Ryan) is disgruntled at the reception given his latest effort, a non-horrific attempt at serious literature. Fans want more of the old stuff. They give Mr. Roberts a unanimous thumbs down. Drenched in alcohol, Roberts lashes out at his haggard wife Tracy Nelson (as Christie) and their mature-looking teenage daughter Remington Moses (as Miri). Remi looks like her mom. Mother and daughter move out of their Connecticut home and go into hiding, with Ms. Nelson hoping to make it on savings and work as a professional photographer. She takes headshots of swarthy actor David Winning (as Harrison Reese) while Ms. Moses gets chummy with high school senior Colin Chase (as Kyle Lang)...

Mysterious stuff happens and we wonder if psycho papa Roberts has found his runaway family and is causing trouble...

This lugubrious "Lifetime" TV movie misses the mark in several instances, with the most obvious being a plot twist that strains credulity to the breaking point. The plot point in question is something that works best in comic books. If handled differently, it could work in TV movies; it certainly doesn't work in this production. Age inappropriateness ranges from a few years to a few decades. Transitional shots of waterfalls and babbling brooks may symbolize a story unraveling. Of the cast, Roberts is the most convincing. He could probably hit his marks while sleeping. The man has experience. With Roberts in the opening "book signing" scene, director James Camali and photographer Ronnee Swenton get their most intriguing angles.

*** A Fatal Obsession (2015-03-12) James Camali ~ Tracy Nelson, David Winning, Eric Roberts, Remington Moses

OMG, I had to turn this "movie" off after 10 minutes. The voice DID NOT follow what was on screen. Sound terrible. Screen unusually dark. Eric Roberts must be so desperate. Eric, you're acting days are over. Fire your manager. You should consider this your ROCK BOTTOM. I'm sure you have friends who need yardwork done buddy.

I love Eric Roberts and Tracy Nelson and watch them in everything they're in. However, this move is terrible (not their fault). Terrible story line. Just not a believable story line.