View of Terror (2003)

***SPOILERS*** Young and pretty magazine illustrator Celeste, Shannen Doherty, is stalked throughout the movie "Nightlight" by this shadowy and threatening phone caller who seems to know every move that she makes.It soon becomes obvious to Celeste that the person calling her lives across he street from her apartment building and tries to catch him in the act by spying, with a telescope, on him herself. With the help of the buildings-where the caller supposedly resides- doorman Derrek, Sean Tucker, Celeste finds in his apartment not only a telescope but a number of photos of herself, mostly scantly dressed, that the suspect David Jacobsen, Charles Edwin Powell, took of her with a telephoto lens.As it turns out David, who was arrested by the police, did have a large porno collection of DVD's and video tapes, which wasn't a crime, but swore that the photo's of Celeste found in his apartment weren't his. Later with David behind bars the caller continued to hearses Celeste proving that David, as he said all along, was innocent of the charges against him. Things got even more bizarre when Celeste's boyfriend, whom she earlier dumped, out of work actor Brent, Michal Francoeur, stating showing up around Celeste's apartment dressed in a jogging suit, with a hood, in order to protect her from her stalker. As it later turned out Brent needed Celeste, not the other way around, to not only protect him but save his life.Nothing really surprising her with both Canadian cities Montreal and Quebec subbing for New York City with Celeste's stalker, and threatening caller, being so obvious that he stuck out like a sore thumb before he even reveled himself. The movie's ending was a bit too contrived in that the so careful stalker, who had since graduated from just being an unwanted caller, completely blew his cover by coming out in the open and getting his hands on an unsuspecting Celeste.***SPOILERS***Not that surprising of an ending with the threatening phone caller and now kidnapper, of not only Celeste but her pet parrot Kiddy, coming out of the shadows and surprising almost no one but the very naive Celeste to who he really is. We get this big speech, in the phone calling psycho trying to explain his off-the-wall actions, from the deranged phone caller himself, in person not on the telephone. The guy goes on and on in how he's looked down upon by the rich and famous and treated like dirt by them and this, what he's doing to Celeste, is payback time! This in his unstable and warped mind is the reason that he made Celeste's life a living hell on earth! What I couldn't quite understand is why he picked on a working girl, who's having trouble paying her rent, like Celeste who didn't quite fit into that category?

I saw this film last night on Lifetime under the title "View Of Terror." I thought it was great! Shannen is amazing here, she really delivers in this role! This movie has so many twists, and it will keep you guessing until the end, at least it kept me guessing until the end! I would have never guessed in a million years what was going to happen! The film also seemed to have a good budget, and looked a lot better that regular TV-fare! I WILL watch it again if I ever see it on, and I wish it would be released on DVD. Sure, there are a VERY FEW things that, if changed, would make it better, but it is great! Do not think twice before watching this wonderful movie! You won't regret it!

Okay, who ever said that Shannen Doherty is only a television movie actress was wrong when they said that, but they were even more wrong when they said that the movies she made were bad. Sure television movies are kind of tacky, but this one was an exception. Shannen Doherty portrays Celeste, a resturante owner who moves to a posh New York apartment and immediatly falls prey to a stalker. As usual, Shannen Donherty gives a powerhouse performance and the rest of the cast is equally fine. The music keeps you on the edge while suprisingly good camera work draws your emotions in. Set in a standard tone, this film does not let up, but what would you expect from a Shannendo film!

i found the beggining of this film particularly moving as the performance given by shannon was excellent if anything that made up for the somewhat dubiouse story line and directing.also this film itself at times held the viewers only because of the presence of suspence and acting that took place by about 2 good actors in the whole film.