Murder 101: The Locked Room Mystery

MURDER 101: NEW AGE is the 4th and so far last in the HALLMARK CHANNEL Mystery series of TV Thrillers,

I say it's in the vein of 'DIAGNOSIS MURDER' the Doctor solving TV Mystery Series which ran from 1993-2001 because the stars of that show, Father and Son DICK & BARRY VAN DYKE return in this - DICK isn't a Doctor but a College Professor of Criminology and BARRY isn't a Cop, but a Private Eye, who USED to be a Cop and they aren't Father and son, but close Friends who have known each other for decades, But to be honest having seen a couple of these now - their characters aren't a World away from their 'DM' counterparts.

NEW AGE has Jonathan (Dick) and Mike (Barry) investigating a seemingly impossible Murder at a New Age/Spiritualist retreat where its Leader is killed in a locked room surrounded by a handful of people in a deep trance.

Co-Starring SHANE VAN DYKE & CAREY VAN DYKE (Barry's sons - This episode is a family affair)

Yes It's undemanding stuff, but it's played with such enthusiasm by the Van Dyke's it's thoroughly enjoyable.

It used to be that movie stars who could no longer draw a crowd in large enough to justify a big studio contract would end their days in B movies, movies made to fill out a double bill, where they could still attract some people, and perhaps fill out the tail end of their contracts. Nowadays they go into TV series or even into made-for-TV movies, like this series of murder mysteries that Dick Van Dyke has been starring in for the Hallmark Channel.

Dick stars as a professor of criminology at a fictitious college; his son plays his nephew, a private investigator and his grandson his nephew's son, so the whole thing is a real family affair. The movie is a fine, old-fashioned locked-room murder, with a very nice twist and an interesting background, filled out with a New Age retreat, plenty of red herrings and some fine supporting players, particularly Susan Blakely.

This is not a great movie, of course. There isn't enough of a budget to hire talent enough to do something novel and expensive, but these old pros provide a pretty good couple of hours.