Nightmare Tenant

With the current admissions scandal this is timely. This week's wacko is a girl who didn't get in to a prestigious college Vanderton. She finds out a legacy did. She goes to stay with the single mom doctor of the legacy and wreaks havoc. It's a bit naive of the doctor to take her in. She starts stealing her identity and charging stuff to her card and more.

The actresses are pleasant looking and act well and the story is watchable. The title could now be more about the admissions scandal.

...where to begin! I missed the beginning (though other reviewers' observations made me aware of what an appalling dad Nikki had). I started watching when she was finishing her talk with the guidance counsellor. Virginia Tucker was as good as she could have been within the script.

I was less sure about Lauralee Bell's acting, until the utter stupidity of her character's behaviour drowned everything else into insignificance. I mean: a 21st century grown woman who studied and passed medicine being so dumb as to offer a perfect stranger a room because 'I have a good feeling about you'? Neglecting to make the inquiries that her boyfriend later made, which would have discovered the psycho fraud? Let her move into your house when you've known her a couple of hours?

Against my better judgment though, I watched to the end because I *had* to know how it ended! So I'd be a hypocrite to join the "don't bother with this one" people. If it comes your way, have a look, if only to marvel about how one is supposed to feel much concern for an idiot who opened her door to a stranger about whom she had a 'good feeling'!

While I'm a Y&R fan, and I like Lauralee (and the whole Bell dynasty for daytime dramas), I was not impressed with the stilted and stiff acting. The storyline was good, but it was all too weird a setup for these times. No deep research into a renter in the home? It would be better if mom was having trouble making ends meet, instead of wealthy and trusting. Finally, Lauralee, you should be a better actress by now, more natural. And eat something or curl your hair!

The nature of this "psycho" feature is pretty decent. A lonely overachiever feels entitled to earn entrance to a college but fails to get accepted. Somehow, she learns that another girl from her school did get in, and from there, she plots her revenge. Writing Quality: The story is strong, though it would have made sense to show the villain, Nikki, interacting with Lacey at high school so that we could better appreciate the tension between them. Nikki only has her father and we learn how she's apparently a "disappointment" to him because she doesn't get accepted into the college. This aspect comes full circle at the end, but I thought the writers could have played more with this idea and how it interlinks with Nikki's nature. I'm not sure if it was the actors or the director, but all of the stars played their roles with such gravity and monotony. The mom, for instance, displays the same expression for everything, like she would in a soap opera role (apparently she's on The Young & The Restless). But hers and Nikki's flat-faced expressions don't work here. Too bad, because the story is pretty good. Scare factor: Nikki hurts herself in the beginning in a shocking way. Probably what is most scary is how unhinged she is and we are just waiting for all of her deception to culminate into a final vengeful act. Content (sex, language, & violence): No sex or language. Violence is startling but not graphic. Values & Themes: Protecting a family member. Again, the script was well written, but the acting was subpar.

Another classic lifetime stalker movie. If you've seen one, you've seen them all. This one isn't any more or less entertaining than the rest. The acting is solid, and it's entertaining enough.