Legacy of Fear (2006)

In 1977 Springfield, Mass., police detective Don Joyce is investigating a serial killer known as BPS (Bound, Photographed, Strangled) killer. The killer murders Don's wife in front of their daughter Jeanne. Thirty years later, Jeanne 'JJ' Joyce (Teri Polo) is herself a homicide detective. Don had committed suicide. The killer was never caught but suddenly, the killings are happening again after a 30 years break. Her best friend reporter Kathleen Coyne is pulled into the case.I am a little surprised by the nudity in this Lifetime movie. Teri Polo is perfectly fine. It does need a better director and production value. With more graphic violence and darker movie moves, this has a chance. Instead, it is never better than its Lifetime construction. That only makes this a sad shadow of an actual film.

Such software has existed for quite some time, believe it or not. That's why we see the same 'suspense' scenes over & over again (a killer attacks, but the hero is just having a DREAM SEQUENCE! the hero chases the killer into a forest but gets struck from behind {you'd think the cameraman would say something} etc.) and hear the same clichéd lines repeated that we've heard before in these tiresome retreads. Matt Damon calls such dialogue 'derivative'.In LOF, the acting is respectable, especially by our lead, Teri Polo. I confess I tuned in to it since the Canadian Football game I was watching was dreadful and LOF was a better time-waster. However, the premise--that a clever 'serial killer' can outfox detectives while leaving them taunting clues and also read their every move in advance--is only slightly less ridiculous than a film about sharks stalking humans (well, that worked the first time!). It does, however, show how screenplay-software can turn out a barebones script for a TV movie: I can just see the 'writer' flipping through the menus "Flashback Scenes" "Arguments with Police Boss" "Fun Scenes to Flesh out Hero" "Eerie Searches for Clues" etc.You could produce a decent 'B' suspense flick with a little imagination: a few bizarre characters; some nifty dialogue that moves the plot along, but says things in a new way; or a hero that is complex but compelling (Dr House, Sherlock Holmes, Monk). I'm afraid the Cast here just isn't given too much to work with. Contrast an old sleeper such as 'Plain Clothes'.6/10 generous rating just for being more fun than a CFL game in which one QB couldn't pass the salt..

I've seen worse, but I've definitely seen Lifetime do better with its movies. It seems like so many recent LMN flicks suffer from unoriginal, filler plots. Legacy of Fear is no different, and it's a shame. You have a cast of good actors and you give them crap dialog and silly scenes, and it makes it all the more boring to watch. Oh well. There are a few redeeming moments in the flick, particularly the fight scene **potential spoiler** between the detective and serial killer, it's just, well, amusing... in an otherwise try-so-hard-to-take-me-serious movie. It's what I like to call a 'nothing but a paycheck' film. But like I said, I've seen much worse. It's a step above watching Survivor.

True Story: I stumbled on the movie early this morning, missing the first 35 minutes or so, and still figured out who the killer was within the first 2 minutes, and I'm not that smart. Crappy T.V. movie that follows typical cheesy serial killer formula. Pretty cop with a nice life, studies kick boxing, as a child involved in serial killer attack who killed mother, killer comes back 30 years later, and blah blah blah. My brain is too numb after watching this crap to try and sort out each of the rehashed segments. How does Teri Polo agree to make a stinker like this? I am always puzzled how the decision was made. Did she read the script first before agreeing? Does she read the script cuddled up in her nice house with a glass of wine thinking that this could be the next Silence of the Lambs? Was she nuts? This is a filler movie, the kind that only appears at 3 a.m. on the dish. Forget this one, and watch the infomercial on juicers instead.