Colin Evans (Idris Elba) is denied parole after five years in prison for killing a man in a bar fight. He's also suspected of killing five women. He kills his guards during transport and escapes. He's a possessive psychopath. He kills his girlfriend who had moved on. He crashes his car and seeks help from Terri Granger (Taraji P. Henson) at home with her daughter and baby. The helpful housewife invites him out of the stormy night. They are joined by her flirty best friend Meg (Leslie Bibb).

The echo effect representing his inner voice is kind of annoying. This is such a Lifetime movie on crack. There are no surprises. The movie rolls on in a straight line and there is no drama in it. You can walk out for a break and come back without missing a beat. The two great actors can't bring any real tension to this predictable thriller. There is one good scene with the cop but that's all. This is a movie made for the audience to scream at the screen about the stupidity of the characters.

No Good Deed reunites Idris Elba with his director from the Luther mini series Sam Miller. Now Luther when it was first shown on UK television was a middling, slightly bonkers and implausible thriller. When it returned for a second series they ramped at the bonkers part and made it more frightening and Luther became a runaway hit.

I think trying to transplant the formula in No Good Deed has led to this dud. Elba plays Colin a killer who escapes while being transported from his parole hearing.

He first gets his revenge on his ex-girlfriend and then he crashes his car and ends up in the home of Terri played by Taraji Henson. She is a wife (maybe not happily married) and mother all alone and Colin charms his way into the house but then starts to act creepy especially when a friend of Terri arrives at the house who senses something is not quite right with Colin.

The film has a great opening scene, you think Colin is a reformed man worthy of a second chance until at the parole hearing he is systematically broken down as a narcissistic psychopath.

However you are left wondering what is his motive after that. Why is he loitering around Terri's house and not making good his escape? What is the point in terrorizing Terri and her family? There is a twist and you later realise that this was no random encounter

As a thriller it comes across as half baked because its not well plotted. I felt the cast was left floundering in trying to make sense of a badly written film which lacked guile, invention and thrills.

"No Good Deed" isn't a bad home invasion thriller, but it's completely unremarkable, and merely satisfied with fitting a standard studio woman-in-peril mould. It's not difficult to tell where the events are all leading right from the beginning.

To its credit, the performances from Idris Elba, Taraji P. Henson and Leslie Bibb are decent, and the film manages one strong suspense sequence early on (Elba's first encounter with his ex-girlfriend after he leaves prison). There's also one mildly surprising twist in the final third, but its not enough to save a tepid, predictable middle section.

"Deed" is a film is enjoyed best as mindless entertainment on a rainy, stormy night (like the one in the film),with the proviso that you expect a film that trots along an utterly formulaic, seen-it-before path.