A Noiva Assassina

Mysterious poisoning deaths of five successful, newly married men occur over a number of years in such a manner that the FBI is sure they must be connected.

The prime suspect is a beautiful woman (Seymour) who is adept at dramatically altering superficial aspects of her appearance. She goes by so many aliases ('Linda' for most of the duration of this) that she probably can't even remember how many people she has been and has her eye on her sixth victim (Bostwick).

Her men are so driven in their careers that access to them beyond the confines of offices and work-related travel is limited. A gold-digger might view them as prime targets but never put in the work to find out where these guys can be approached, what they like, what they lack etc.

She actually adores her victims. It isn't work for her to find out about them. But she isn't really a gold-digger. Her motive is more complex.

The right questions aren't asked by the lonely, overworked GQ coverboys she captivates. She pushes all the right buttons when she meets them. Good things are just assumed and they feel loved by her after whirlwind courtships.

She has serious game when it comes to guys. Prettier or younger rivals will not only never be able to compete, they won't even know where to begin. Many won't want to because she just seems so nice. They can find another man and would hate to lose her as a friend. Those not dissuaded by that tend to have fatal accidents.

In any alias she is extremely camera shy - good thinking for a serial murderer but it goes deeper than that for her. She genuinely dreads her own image no matter how many times she changes her hair, make-up, wardrobe etc.

Far from taking pride in and feeling confident about her ability to beguile men this individual has an intense self-loathing. Looking at her reflection in a mirror she rants aloud (the voice inside her head is seemingly not quite loud enough or harsh enough) about how stupid and ugly and desperate she thinks she is or appears.

This is her true perceived self image and that cruel voice she subjects herself to speaks with a disdain she dreads hearing from men enough to murder them at precisely the high point of the relationships - the honeymoons, before things even get a chance to deteriorate.

This particular monster in the guise of a human being has neither a proper understanding of death nor a full connection with real life. Her childhood with extremely abusive parents remains the defining issue of her psyche though it is comprised of bad memories made decades earlier.

Killing or even dying if it comes to that are preferable to feeling unworthy of love. Her psychosis is that severe and Jane Seymour is very convincing in portraying it.

This is such an underrated film made for TV. A villain bride prays on men with the purpose to marry them and kills them. Okay without going into too much spoilers, the dresses and jewels are beautiful, the food looks appetising and the rest is classy. Jane Seymour plays the killer and she does it really well.

Jane Seymour plays a woman who marries men and kills them on their wedding night for reasons that only become somewhat clear by the end and, even then, they're not all that well articulated.

It's fun to see Seymour go nuts even if the material itself never rises to the occasion and plays things pretty safe. The rest of the cast is good, including dependable actors such as Barry Bostwick, Frances Fisher, and Chad Allen.

Despite an FBI investigation subplot could have been deleted altogether, it's a pretty tight and mindless 90 minutes.

I got to watch this one without commercial interruption, and let me tell you, even for a TV movie it was pretty predictable. The actors did a workmanlike job with what they had, and the cast was pretty accomplished -- Barry Bostwick, Jane Seymour, Frances Fisher, etc. However, the script was not only predictable (except for the last scene), but the dialogue was treacly and sounded as if it was lifted from a third-rate romance novel. Jane Seymour's psychotic monologues were laughable. I'm sorry, but I find it hard to believe that anyone that creepy would arouse no suspicions whatsoever. As bad as Theresa Russell was in "Black Widow" -- and she sure stunk it up -- she at least had the sense to play her pseudo-characters somewhat straight. Seymour is a much better actress but didn't overcome the material here.

Lastly, the musical score is incredibly cheesy. It's almost a satire of its genre, like a Kenny G meltdown. A movie with such a lackluster and derivative script really should have gone for something edgier.

PRAYING MANTIS stars Jane Seymour in the role of Linda Crandell, who follows up her very lovely wedding with a very short honeymoon, poisoning her new groom, and leaving him dead on the hotel room floor!

Linda's been at this sort of thing for a while.

Enter handsome, eligible widower, Don McAndrews (Barry Bostwick). Don's a great guy, the perfect type for Linda's plans.

Oh No!

He's got company, with his son and sister in-law, Betty (Frances Fisher) living with him! Of course, we know from early on that Linda's a ball of seething rage, out to ensnare and terminate every rich. Male boob she can dupe! She's not going to let a couple of pests stop her.

Ms. Seymour is fantastic in her lethally looney role, devouring the scenery only when necessary. Much of this movie's enjoyment is derived from watching her play such a blatantly wicked role. Linda is sort of the anti-Dr. Quinn!

One of the better films in its sub-genre...