Kept Woman

I almost bailed before the opening credits had started. A NYPD cop shows up to a burglary dressed in a uniform that looked like a five year olds Halloween costume. I know it was filmed in Canada but the could have ordered an authentic uniform on eBay. Then the kidnapper's occupation: professor of Men's Studies. It Couldn't get more ridiculous than that. After that it gets slightly better. It's nothing you haven't seen a hundred times. Okay if you need to kill an hour and a half.

I support all things Canadian so I gave this movie a go. Of course we all know that Canada doesn't have the huge Hollywood budgets. So if you go in knowing that, then you'll enjoy this movie.

A bit far fetched at times, even a bit surreal. But overall a nice flowing story. Acting was solid, again considering the cast isn't Hollywood A listers.

I recommend this movie to any true movie fan.

A good b grade level thriller which holds you until the end . The villain Simon is well played by Shaun Benson . The film has a few twists : it did remind me of a few real life cases where someone was kept in the basement against their will.

Alrighty then! This is a glossy, well-made gem of a film about the psychopath next door. Who has a basement dungeon a-la 'Fifties-style and a fetish for pretty young ladies drawn - rather irrationally - from his inner social circle. Which makes him a suspect after each disappearance.

Fortunately for our goody-goody bad guy - Shaun Benson (as Simon) - he's super smart, super slick and super nerdy. It's the nerdy part that throws you. 'Cause, you know, nerds are supposed to be weird but meek.

This guy is weird and potentially murderous. So, when Courtney Ford (as Jessica Crowder) and Andrew W. Walker as (Evan Crowder) move next door, they have no idea that their skippy little bowtie-wearing neighbor has had Rachel Wilson (as Robin Simmons) imprisoned in his basement for years! Enjoy Troy Blundell (playing Tyler Haynes) as a thoroughly professional and equally menacing policeman-friend who, in cahoots with Jessica's rotund detective-wannabe pal - Jesse Camacho (as Oscar Garrett) - will ultimately... well... just watch!

Dig the 'Fifties stokes, y'all and try not to see Ted Bundy in Mr. Benson's fine performance. That way, you won't see him coming! Redrum! Redrum! Redrum!

A couple have their flat broken into. They go inside BEFORE phoning the police, and promptly get more stuff stolen by the homeless guy still there, who holds them at gunpoint. Deciding to move house, they end up living next door to a weirdo who dresses like a throwback to the 50's. He abducts the female to keep as his own personal slave in an underground shelter, making her a 'kept woman'. Will she ever escape? Can she ever rid herself of the awful dresses she's forced to wear? And who'd thought the police force could be so stupid?

Yes, I KNOW this is supposed to be a Made For TV Movie, but c'mon... the creep in the dapper suits and bow tie has been linked to the disappearances of students and has even been questioned by the police... So why isn't he linked to the investigation? Who knows. And the fact the husband believes his wife left him permanently after the most minor of arguments, leaving behind her phone and various other possessions... Hear that creaking noise? That's credibility being stretched to breaking point.

Still, it's not all bad. The movie paints a picture of a claustrophobic environment well, where Stockholm Syndrome can easily set in and your old life could soon fade to a distant memory. The acting is of a higher calibre than usual for this kind of production, and the intense moments scattered throughout will probably have you watching until the end. Until the climax, that is... When all the subtlety and understatement goes out the window in favour of a brainless violent confrontation, not to mention the cheesiest of 'uplifting' messages tacked on as an addendum. Yawn.

Still, seen much worse. Oh, yes I have... 5/10