Offline

I couldn't make it last the first 15 minutes. Terrible acting!!!!

Cyberstalker also known as Offline is a made for cable Lifetime television film starring Mischa Barton who plays Aidan whose parents were murdered 13 years earlier. The killer was never caught which still taxes the detective in charge. Now she spends time as a reclusive artist but it seems the cyberstalker is back to terrorise her.

The film is low budget, quickly shot, formulaic but rather watchable if you switch your brain offline. The culprit could only be the characters we have been introduced to which could be the detective, her new boyfriend, the Svengali gallery owner or the wheelchair bound computer expert newly employed by the police.

I reckon there is no need for Columbo or Sherlock to solve this whodunit. There is plenty of silliness as our cyberstalker can hack into and control traffic lights for example. Still Lifetime know which audience to aim their films at, its female friendly with enough thrills to keep you mildly entertained.

Simple but mildly effective thriller starring Barton as a once carefree young woman stalked by a maniac for thirteen years, struggling to adjust to society whilst her tormentor remains on the loose. Whilst the game's up prematurely, it's still fun finding out how many of those close to Barton will suffer the consequences by association.

Whilst she's perhaps better known for her off-screen exploits, Barton knows how to act and she makes it look effortless as it should; she's timid as the character would be in the circumstances, but doesn't overact the part. Lea playing the dedicated detective is reliable in support, and there's a range of would-be suspects to entice the patient viewer, although the answer isn't especially well disguised, and waiting for a red herring which never appears is disappointing.

Low budget but appropriate for a telemovie, this Canadian thriller lacks logic but achieves its aim of a few cheap thrills and is elevated by Barton's balanced performance.

It is nice. Just nice because it is the good choice after a work day. Three things are good in its case- the splendid predictability- you know the hustler too easy, Mischa Burton and, maybe, the smile and pectorals of Marco grazzini. Low budget, not high ambitions, a comfortable story, absurde, full of cliches, decent. And it is enough for see it out of expectations.

...they telegraphed who the bad guy was. I mean, the instant the person appeared on screen, I knew it was the killer/stalker. That ruined any sense of suspense the movie could have had. So there was nothing else to keep my interest after that. It was especially bad since it happened relatively early in the film.

The technique of always hiding the bad guys' face throughout the movie just affirmed who it was. That was just very poor writing.

Another reviewer here said "The filmmakers kept the audience guessing about his identity". meaning the identity of the bad guy. Are you kidding me? Anyone who didn't know who the bad guy was as soon as they appeared should be ashamed of themselves. Judging by the number of high ratings in some of the reviews here, lots of people share that shame.