guilfisher

Okay, so here we have yet another Crystal Bernard vehicle in which our heroine is disfigured (does some fairly good acting in the early part of film) who gets framed by her husband and sent to prison. Prison toughens her up and she gets into fights with fellow inmates and, you got it, gets even more disfigured. But, alas, our heroine gets that plastic surgery and a new face and after prison release goes after her husband who has since re-married. From there on it goes downhill and Miss Bernard turns in some bad acting. Typical story? You got it. Nothing new here. The horses look beautiful.

Unfortunately, Miss Bernard continues to wear these short skirts, that make her look cheap, and still sports that mop of hair that is annoying to look at. Won't someone suggest that she get a haircut? Is this lion's mane look supposed to be attractive? It went out in the 40s when the likes of Rita Hayworth and Veronica Lake held the glamor department. The one redeeming value in this soap opera is the appearance of Doug Savant. I wonder why he always gets the villain roles? He's a good looking guy, who I remember did another villain in MASQUERADE even opposite the handsome Rob Lowe. This is not the best in TV drama. Saw this on Lifetime TV. But worth watching Savant. Even though there's a bad torture scene upon some of the horses.

I don't see the thrill in watching Crystal Bernard on screen. In this vehicle she impersonates a sex-pot. Her clothes alone, what there is of them, look like they shrunk on her in the wash. Her makeup is over the hill and she has this mop of hair that belongs in THE LION KING. Sorry, I just don't get it. Judge Reinhold has the male lead and I wonder why he did this loser. He's too good for this kind of trite written and directed by Larry Cohen. Then there's Traci Lords, the porn star which is why I wanted to watch it in the first place. However, she's only in the first part and sadly we are forced to watch Bernard the rest of the time. From 1-10 in TV movies I give it a 2.

In 2003 it was DEADLY BETRAYAL and in 2004 it was DEADLY VISIONS. The same leading actress, Nicolette Sheriden. The same boring performance. First of all, she plays the victim. In BETRAYAL she sleeps around while hubby is away fighting a war, and expects us to understand how vulnerable she was. Tough. You make your bed, you lie in it. It just so happens the guy she slept with is a common thief and turns out to be a murderer. In the second film , she plays the receiver of someone else's eyes, yes a transplant. Here she sees visions of past murders by someone. Once again our heroine decides to become detective.

What bothered me most, aside from the bad acting, was the perfectly coiffed Miss Sheriden, the overly made-up Miss Sheriden (she even goes to be in full makeup) and the obvious sexpot clothes she wore, revealing her form. She comes across a bit on the cheap side. Here are two films where I wanted the villain to win. BETRAYAL directed by Jason Hreno at least had believable performances by Andrew Jackson as the thief; Robert Seeliger as the hubby and Leni Parker, who I though quite good, as the best friend who told our heroine to forget it. VISIONS, directed by Michael Scott had an assorted pick of actors supporting our heroine, none of them outstanding in my book.