Stalked at 17

"Inspired by true events," this story begins with a young mother being "Stalked at 17" by a hooded young man. He pulls a gun on her and orders Taylor Spreitler (as Angela Curson) to get the baby and go somewhere… One year earlier, we flashback to how the stalker met the stalked. Academically very smart, Ms. Spreitler is touring her prospective college. There, she meets the young man from the opening teaser. Without the gun and hood, Chuck Hittinger (as Chad Bruning) looks cute and charming. Invited to his party, Spreitler is quickly carrying Mr. Hittinger's baby...

While effectively engaging the audience, the opening gives away most of the story. This is a common way for TV Movies to grab your attention and help you decide to watch their movie. It can be intriguing, but not when the plot falls into place so quickly. An hour is spent going through what we pretty much know is going to happen. A mysterious bit of background involving imprisoned Jamie Luner (as Toni Marshall) is likewise easy to predict. Although the "adopted" Hittinger and Spreitler have similar features, they are not brother and sister. That would be too complicated.

*** Stalked at 17 (2012-10-27) Doug Campbell ~ Taylor Spreitler, Chuck Hittinger, Linda Purl, Amy Pietz

Who had the temerity to call this a thriller? There are so many things wrong with this film, or rather with the way the male lead is portrayed. Okay, Chad was a jerk, but a 21 year old who has sex with a 16 year old is not a paedophile, or pedofile in American-English, and rather than pump and dump his catch as a total jerk would have done, he wanted to be part of his son's life. What is so wrong about that? Some monsters are born, others are made, and he had a terrible start in life as it was. Not a whit of sympathy or empathy for this unfortunate dude. Okay, you wouldn't want him in your daughter's life, but if he'd been offered visitation rights or at the very least if they'd given him a hearing, things wouldn't have turned out half so tragic. Cry for the bad man; you made him that way.

If you are a fan of a good Lifetime thriller, then this is the movie for you. It is filled to the brim with enough paternity drama, kidnapping, unexpected pregnancy, mother/daughter bonding, and adoption issues to keep you thoroughly entertained for it's brief 90 minutes. Stalked At 17, naturally based on true events, tells the story of high school student Angela who falls for 21-year-old Chad.

Chad, abandoned by his drug-addict mother, when he was four years old, has a great deal of family issues to sort out, and is clearly in no position to be starting a family of his own. When Angela becomes pregnant with Chad's child, all hell breaks loose, as Chad's aggression begins to show. Angela's parents naturally pull her away from him, only making matters worse. Will Angela and her infant son survive this disturbing affair? You'll have to check out Stalked At 17 to find out.

While the film may not be perfect in every regard, it is certainly an entertaining hour and a half, with very good performances throughout. Taylor Spreitler, who plays Angela, gives a very authentic feel to her adolescent angst, and is a very likable heroine. My favorite characters in the film however were Angela's mom, played by Amy Pietz, and Chad's adopted mom, played by Linda Purl. The films best moments are shared between these two women interacting in the hopes of protecting their children. Chuck Hittinger plays Chad's level of crazy obsession very well, although occasionally he goes a bit overboard. But this certainly does not take away from the enjoyment of the film.

Overall, Stalked At 17, is an engaging tale of regret, obsession, and deceit, with Angela and Chad both playing for keeps. If you're a fan of suspenseful Lifetime movies, you will definitely enjoy this one.

I liked this movie for it's good topic I was interested in in the first place. To learn what is legal, permissible, healthy, when the time is right and what is love. I liked seeing what would actors experience if they break the law or limits. Rather than experiencing consequences ourselves we could see actors do that. It was interesting to see different reactions and opinions from different people about the couple's love. As I expected, opinions were different and interesting. While some made me accepting and understanding, other opinions made me angry and not understanding or accepting their ideas.

There were few funny behaviors of few characters, and even few extreme ones like fight, police getting involved, revenge, and threats.

Girl's behavior was too weak, diminished, unresponsive, nonresponsible, and neutral. If she just took more responsibility and did some action by herself instead of waiting for parents or boyfriend, so we could see more of her character this movie would get much better rating by me.

The acting of boyfriend and girl's father was the best. These moments were filled with most surprise, emotions, and unpredictability.

For someone who is stalked, and then basically kidnapped at gunpoint, the young actress Taylor Spreitler was not ready for this role. Her performance was wooden.

The writing for this movie was really not that good. The Stalker gave a decent performance, as well as his adoptive mother and biological mother.

This movie would have been much better with a stronger lead actress in the role.

Overall, another basic nothing movie by Lifetime. Though lately, Lifetime Movies have got some hits in the Anna Nicole movie, and the Jodi Arias movie.