You May Now Kill the Bride

For a lifetime movie this is quite good. Well acted, creepy and the cinematography was top notch. Recommended! And the sister is a great actress!!!

What a load of crap! We have a clueless bride to be and an incestous sister in law??!! Gimme a break for Chrissake!!!!!!

YOU MAY NOW KILL THE BRIDE (TV Movie 2016) 5.5 stars out of 10 Time to read: 2:38 min

BASIC PLOT: Nicole (Ashley Newbrough) and Mark (Rocky Myers) are a happy young couple, with everything to look forward to. In fact, Mark is planning to propose to Nicole at her surprise thirtieth birthday party. But there's an unexpected guest at the celebration, one with hidden desires. Audrey (Tammin Sursok) is Mark's stepsister, and unbeknownst to Mark, she has no intention of letting his wedding go forward. Nicole, who has never met Audrey before, accepts her, and invites her to stay in their home. Audrey's offered to help Nicole prepare the wedding, as they are under a deadline. They only have two weeks, because Nicole's dream wedding location is soon closing down permanently. But as the planning begins, disasters soon follow. Nicole's dress measurements are sabotaged, causing her to abandon her first choice. At her bridal shower, her sex tape "accidentally" gets shown, and Mark has "strippers" at his bachelor party, after he promised he wouldn't. Slowly but surely, Audrey's machinations sow the seeds of dissention into Mark and Nicole's relationship. Will they realize what Audrey's true motives are, or will their union crumble under the weight of her encroaching madness?

WHAT WORKS: *THE SET-UPS AND SHOTS ARE FANTASTIC This movie, for the most part, is very well shot. The suspenseful scenes are set up to create tension, and the rest are eye candy. It's very well done by Kohl Glass and Wes Johnson, the director and cinematographer.

*THE WARDROBE OF THE PRIMARY ACTORS IS A SUCCESSFUL VISUAL METAPHOR Not only is everyone in this movie fairly well dressed, but the wardrobe mistress succeeds in adding a visual layer about the characters. Nicole's clothes start out bright and cheery, and then become drab, it's a nice visual metaphor for her mood.

*THE TRAILER NEEDS A NEW VOICEOVER ARTIST This movie has a decent trailer, but as usual, the voiceover does not match the suspense shown. We used to have trailers that were almost as fun to watch as the movie (I'm talking to you Code of Silence (1985)), but now, the voiceover guys sound like they're selling us toothpaste, instead of suspense. It's another depressing sign of the times, everyone aims at mediocrity.

*THE COVER ART IS EXCELLENT Unlike so many made-for-tv movies, this has great cover art! I wish I could give credit, but alas, our search engines don't actually give out information anymore.

*THIS MOVIE HAS ABOVE AVERAGE MUSIC The music was created for the film, and I believe it's from a fabulously talented studio musician, named Mike Bennett. He also did music for the movie, A Neighbor's Deception (2017). Music adds another layer, and the movies where they splurge for music, are always my favorites.

WHAT DOESN'T WORK: *NICOLE'S DISBELIEF OF CELINE DOESN'T WORK This is a good setup, but it doesn't play as believable. Your best friend wouldn't humiliated you in front of co-workers, by playing your sex tape at your bridal shower. If she was really your best friend, you'd believe her many denials. This needed to play out some other way. Also, when people are terrible to you (as Nicole is to Celine (Aubrey Reynolds)), you don't tend to go out of your way to help them. A quick rethink of this plot device (removing Celine), would have made for smoother viewing.

*IF YOU DON'T WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW YOU'RE ON MEDS PROBABLY DON'T LEAVE THEM ON TOP OF THE TRASH This plot line turns up a lot in made-for-tv movies, and it's always cringe worthy. You don't leave things you're trying to hide, out in the open where others can see them.

*A MAN THAT DEFENDS ANYONE OVER HIS WIFE, IS NOT A MAN Men who don't defend their wives or fiancées, aren't men at all. If you're not willing to forsake all others, you're not ready to be a husband, or a protagonist in a movie I'm watching.

*NO ONE WOULD APOLOGIZE TO AUDREY, CERTAINLY NOT NICOLE Sick or not, sister or not, when someone treats you this way, you don't apologize to them. Also, the scene feels tacked on, and not needed.

*MOST MEN WHO KEEP FOUR MAJOR SECRETS, RIGHT BEFORE THE WEDDING, WOULDN'T END UP HAVING A WEDDING This guy lies more than he tells the truth, and there's one thing ALL WOMEN HATE more than anything else, and that's LIES! Mark (Rocky Myers) lied about being engaged before, he lied about his last fiancée's demise, he lied about his sister being a dangerous mental patient, and he lied about having strippers at his bachelor party, when he promised he wouldn't. Those are the kinds of lies that would make most women rethink getting married.

*MENTAL PATIENTS AREN'T ALLOWED TO HAVE GLASS full stop.

TO RECOMMEND, OR NOT TO RECOMMEND, THAT IS THE QUESTION: *IF, you understand and appreciate the art form that is melodrama, you'll definitely like this. The characters are good vs evil, they have simple, predictable objectives (you stole my man!), and it is a fun ride. But don't watch if you like deep, intensive characters and storylines, you'll be disappointed.

CLOSING NOTES: *This is a made-for-tv movie, please keep that in mind before you watch\rate it. TV movies have a much lower budget, and so your expectations should be adjusted.

*I have no connection to the film, or production in ANY way. This review was NOT written in ANY way by a bot. I am just an honest viewer, who wishes for more straight forward reviews, and better entertainment. Hope I helped you out.

A terror-stricken bride is bound and gagged. Apparently, she is beaten to death with a hammer. After the credits roll, the mood turns merry. We see still-attractive blonde schoolteacher Ashley Newbrough (as Nicole) celebrate her 30th birthday. Whispers about being "pretty much dried up" don't faze Ms. Newbrough. She is waiting for marriage before having a baby. The surprise birthday party becomes even more of a celebration when handsome, muscular and wealthy Rocky Myers (as Mark) proposes to Newbrough. No fool, Newbrough accepts. But, this being a "Lifetime" TV movie, all does not go well. Sending trouble-making signals, Mr. Myers' zealous stepsister Tammin Sursok (as Audrey) immediately moves in with the happy couple...

This is strictly a formula movie. If Ms. Sursok doesn't send off warning signals, the title "You May Now Kill the Bride" is a dead giveaway. Director Kohl Glass, his cast and crew are competent, but they could just as well be working at a high-class restaurant in Salt Lake City. As you might expect, the best role is essayed by Sursok. She is quite engaging, as Mr. Glass allows the antagonist to go from playfully nefarious to over-the-top evil. Sursok's final scenes show good use of make-up in characterization. In the standard "best friend" role, Aubrey Reynolds (as Celine) does well. Writer Blaine Chiappetta gives the script a few snarky lines, especially in the birthday party and dress fitting scenes, but the violent opening scene is not fully explained.

**** You May Now Kill the Bride (6/4/2016) Kohl Glass ~ Tammin Sursok, Ashley Newbrough, Rocky Myers, Aubrey Reynolds

I watch Lifetime movies for the ridiculous but suspenseful and often deadly plot lines and the faux pas. Some of my reviews consist ONLY of faux pas. 22 is the all-time high. But that only happens when they are so glaring and distracting as to offset interest in the storyline.

This flick, on the other hand, had ZERO faux pas. You may ask yourself, opieandy-1, how could that possibly be? Every other Lifetime Movie for Chicks (LMFC) title you've reviewed had many faux pas. The answer is simple: I don't know. Actually, I was engaged enough with the storyline that I didn't notice the handful of faux pas that were surely in this flick. And that tells you everything you need to know. If I didn't notice faux pas, this LMFC must have been pretty good. It gets one of the highest ratings possible for a LM. 6 stars.