The American legal system does not have its most shining moment in "Murder in My House." An innocent woman, Mandy Ellis, was convicted of murdering her psychiatrist neighbor, based on flimsy evidence, and the real murderer is still at large and ready to wreak havoc on the new owners of home where the shrink was killed.

The new occupants of the tainted house are Stan Douglas and his daughter Lauren. Stan is a retired prosecutor, who looks at the evidence of the murder case and realizes that there has been a miscarriage of justice. Unfortunately, Stan is slow in recognizing the true perp and will become another casualty of the psychopath.

There was an interesting stylistic touch in bringing back the ghost of Roxanne, another murder victim of the killer. Roxanne returns to taunt the murderer with such delicious lines as, "you're in trouble, Big Boy!" The effect that she has on the killer is the opposite of the ghosts who return to visit Charles Dickens' Scrooge. Instead of resulting in a Scrooge-like repentance, the haunting words of Roxanne goad the perp on to more dastardly deeds as he falls deeper into a psychotic stupor.

If there is a theme or undercurrent to the film, it is the inseparable bonding of a mother and her daughter. Lauren had lost her own daughter in a tragic auto accident. She now writes children's books in honor of her beloved Stephanie.

When Lauren realizes that Mandy has been falsely imprisoned and separated from her little girl Sydney, Lauren studies the notes of her late father and conducts the key interview with Claire that will finally lead to the truth that will free Mandy and return her to Sydney. There was an especially nice human touch in the film's reunion scene.

Welcome, home, Mandy

My Ratings: Story 1.25 : Direction 1.25 : Pace 1.00 : Acting 1.25 : Entertaining 1.25 Total 6.00 out of 10.00.

I find TV Movies can fall into two categories. Bad or Not Too Bad. Very seldom do they encroach into the good and excellent fields. This one lands firmly in the Not Too Bad field.

The only trouble I have with this movie is the fact you know who the killer is at an early stage. This is a shame as it starts as a whodunnit, my favourite type of mystery movie. The casting department falls into its usual routine mistake. They give the role of the bad-guy to an actor or actress who typically plays the villain. So as soon as they appear on the screen you're thinking, Yeah! It's them. Then when that person's mental illness surfaces, you know without a doubt they carried out the dirty deed. It would have been nice if this had been a red herring. It would have elevated the story and film up an extra notch or two.

That said, Robert Malenfant, who wrote and directed the story, along with screenwriter, Christine Conradt, give the audience a well structured, if predictable, story.

Malenfant also does a decent job with the direction. Though a few changes in tempo would have helped with building the required tension at times. Nonetheless, the film kept my attention and amplified my enjoyment. Though it was the actors and actresses portrayals of their characters that pulled me into the story.

In particular, Daniel J. Travanti, as the busy-body ex-lawyer Stan Douglas. He gives a soft and understated performance. However, it's his actions and reactions with the rest of the cast that makes the film. Whoever he shares the scene with their skill appears boosted by his being there. For example, sometimes Barbara Niven, who plays the lead of Lauren Kessler, comes across a tad two dimensional. When she's with Travanti, though, she is more enlivened and realistic. Nearly a woman you could relate to and care about. This, for me, is also one of Gary Hudson's better roles as Brian Ellis.

Like I said at the start, this is a Not Too Bad film. In these days of CoVid lockdown, you could do a lot worse than checking out this film. So if you like your psychological thrillers, and this is on a telly channel near you, flick on the station and waste an hour and a half.

Jog on over to my The Game Is Afoot list and see where this Telly Film landed in my rankings. You may find another tasty morsel for your viewing pleasure.

Take Care and Stay Well.

I recently saw this movie online, and it was OK. Gary Hudson played his role of the next-door neighbor with a dark secret. However, for the most part, Barbara Niven and Daniel J. Travanti's acting was wooden and felt like they were just reading off a script. But it was still a pretty good guilty pleasure movie.

The movie plot was that children's author Lauren Kessler (Niven) moved into a new house with her ex-attorney father, Stan Douglas (Travanti). Their neighbor, Brian Ellis (Hudson) starts to become involved in their lives, developing a relationship with Lauren. But after learning of a murder that occurred in the guest house, Stan starts digging into the case, wanting to clear the man's wife (Lifetime movie veteran Sophie Gendron) of the crime.

If you're like me, you could probably tell who the killer was. And the movie wastes no time revealing it. That's a big complaint I have with the movie. It has almost no suspense. We know who the killer is, and there's no twists or surprises along the way.

If you're looking for a quick movie to watch over the weekend, this is a good choice. But if you're looking for something deeper, then you should to look for another movie.