The defining moment in Detective Karen Mitchell's life was when she realized that her father was a serial killer. But with her youth and inexperience, the traumatized young woman was slow in reporting him to the police, allowing the father to murder two more victims. Now, the pendulum has swung to the other side where Karen is so obsessed with her work that she lives a monastic life dedicated solely to her homicide cases.

When a clone of the Hades killer resurfaces in Boston, Karen establishes phone contact with the killer. Dr. Aaron Kade, the police psychiatrist, is even envious of how effective Karen has bonded with the killer during the conversations. It slowly dawns on Karen that she is the link between the current serial killer and the case that brought down her father.

The screenplay for "Willed to Kill" was well-constructed, and it included lively dialogue among the police officers and the people interacting with Karen. There was a good set of possible suspects emerging as Karen worked the case with her partner and ex-fiancé, Gavin McNabb.

Actress Sarah Jane Morris was terrific as Karen. She conveyed the manic energy of the detective who is so quick on the trigger that she has been labeled a serial killer herself. There was a good romantic connection between Karen and media specialist Mark Hanson, who is subject to Karen's quick-thinking mind when, in a heart beat, she has him in handcuffs and under arrest when she finds his behavior suspicious.

This was a carefully crafted thriller with a strong central character who never questioned her choices in pursuing the truth at all odds and all costs.

She is a police detective whose father killed people as a serial killer until she turned him in at 16. Her fiancé was her partner, and now he is about to marry a gal he impregnated. She has killed 3 serial killers. Her new boyfriend is suspicious and his assistant is the killer! The psychologist in the Boston Police Department has an apparent agenda of his own.

The ex-boyfriend is killed, a reporter threatening to expose her past meets a similar fate.

While we enjoy a rich plot in any story, this goes way above and beyond the normal call of plot manufacturing.

More than anything I dislike when I commit two (2) hours of my time only to find out that the suspect was the most obvious and that this so called "mystery film" was no mystery at all. The main character in this film is the gun toting Boston detective Karyn Mitchell, played with so little character by actress Sarah Jane Morris. I really wanted to enjoy a mystery/thriller that focuses in on a two decade old serial killer named the Hades serial killer. Unfortunately, as the potential suspects kept increasing the actual mystery of the film kept waning.

I appreciate that generally speaking, made for TV movies are made within limited time constraints and limited budgets. But why does this type of made for TV serial killer themed film(s) have to not only come with limited intrigue, but also limited acting?

I can only imagine how much more interesting this film would have been if someone like Maria Bello, or Kate Beckinsale had accepted the role of lead detective Karyn Mitchell. I can't blame the poor performance all on Sarah Jane Morris. There were other weak acting performances such as with the police forces psychiatrist Doctor Aaron Kade played boringly by actor Michael Riley, and also her love interest what's his name Mark Hanson (hard to remember what scenes he was in as they were the most boring......yaaaaaawwwn) played by Dylan Bruce.

Oh, and then came the silly ending when the brilliant detective Karyn Mitchell breaks the case wide open and she brazenly (they say brazen, I would say stupid) approaches her number one suspect without any backup and gets caught with her proverbial pants down (her gun is taken away from her) so we are supposed to be on the edge of our seat. I actually fell off of my chair and my fall woke me up, thus my applying to the Guinness book of records for the longest yawn.

The film Willed to Kill has a catchy title, and not much more going for it. I give it a 4/10 for at least trying to create some level of suspense but unfortunately it does not pass the mustard test.