Movie

Killer Dream Home (2020)

Many modern Lifetime movies have female villains, but it’s a case of quantity over quality. Motives are unimaginative (how many jilted lovers are there in America?). Three murders, a low body count in the 1990s, would be a veritable bloodbath today. And the climaxes are weak or nonexistent.

Thankfully, some producers understand what’s expected in these films. Time to champion The Ninth House, a partnership between writer/director Jake Helgren and producer Autumn Federici. Movie titles are typical for the genre: Deadly Matrimony, Psycho Party Planner, Psycho Sister-in-law, Psycho Stripper… Yes, death and psychos abound. What makes them stand out are the unpredictability factor and exciting finales, truly a lost art in the 2020s.

Jake Helgren has a horror background, and that shines through in his final products. Expect darkly lit scenes, creepy supporting characters, red herrings, and a few people to get bumped off before the end credits.

Sourcing these movies in the UK is difficult. With no official Lifetime network, these films often turn up on the free-to-air Channel 5 for afternoon showings. That means censorship of violence, which is a big problem with Ninth House productions. The murder sequences are the best parts, and better shot than most TV movies – if only we could watch them. Killer Dream Home isn’t available in Britain, but I sourced enough footage from online clips to review it.

Villainess

Morgan Dyer (Eve Mauro)

Ninth House varies its casting and includes actors who aren’t known for Lifetime movies. Eve Mauro is a fashion model and an unfamiliar face, which helps to keep things fresh, even if her psycho is suitably over the top.

Morgan really wants her dream home: a lavish mansion with exquisitely decorated rooms, a swimming pool, and even an elevator. As the movie title suggests, she’s prepared to kill for it. So, she breaks in and drowns the owner in her bathtub. Lunatic Morgan wears a red raincoat instead of the traditional black hoodie favoured by Lifetime villains. Points for originality straight from the outset.

When the property comes onto the market, it’s purchased by Josh and Jules Grant (John Deluca and Maiara Walsh) with the help of realtor Renee Rivera. Unfortunately, the happy couple makes the mistake of hiring a psycho woman as their interior designer. As is so often the case, the main characters are a little slow on the uptake, and it’s left to the supporting players to snoop. Best friend Bliss (Brooke Butler) is suspicious from the start, leading to many confrontations with Morgan and a simmering hatred between the two women. Which you know is going to end badly for Bliss, but it’s a while before we get there.

Morgan is physically attractive (she even gets a swimsuit scene) and uses that to her advantage. She seduces her landlord, who thinks he’s onto a winner. Until he wakes up and discovers kinky pictures plastered over the fridge, and a letter from Morgan “suggesting” he ignores a late rent payment. Murder is her solution for those who interfere, and Renee becomes the obligatory mid-movie victim to keep up the pace.

Like any decent Lifetime villainess, Morgan has some crazy chick lines. Her best is when she calls Bliss a lapdog and threatens to bury the mole. This is a preamble to the finale, where Morgan shows up pony-tailed and dressed all in black like an action movie henchwoman. In case Jules and Josh haven’t figured out she’s insane, Morgan delivers a barmy frame-up monologue served with extra ham and cheese.

Ninth House keeps viewers guessing who’ll survive until the end. They do a good job with a minor character who appears to die before he makes a heroic comeback. Being the best friend is usually deadly, so it’s no real surprise Bliss meets a gruesome end. Morgan strangles her in the elevator, though the choice of weapon (a tape measure) is inventive.Far too many Lifetime baddies are arrested or escape justice altogether. Ninth House continues to buck the trend by killing off the villain. Morgan is eliminated with her own nail gun. Not bad, but it would have been nice to add in a stunt double and balcony fall (like Deadly Matrimony) to cap things off.

Honourable Mentions: Ninth House Productions

Babysitter’s Nightmare (2018) – Audra Monrose (Arianne Zucker)

Another Ninth House production, this is arguably a horror movie in disguise. It’s available to stream in the UK, but (to my knowledge) has never aired on TV. The opening murder scene, where a masked killer suffocates a babysitter, is brutal and graphic for afternoon television. Another woman is stabbed with a broken wine bottle – good luck getting that past the censors.

Babysitter’s Nightmare (also known as A Stranger Outside) is a typical female alone in the house scenario. Technically, the main character is not alone, since she has her child and best friend for company. As expected with this production team, there’s a high body count and a bizarre killer guise. The murderer likes to cosplay as Darth Sidious from Star Wars, with the same black robe and face-shadowing hood.

The villainess is a vengeful woman whose own child died, so she targets innocent nurses in retribution. There’s a great ending to look forward to – a prolonged 20-30 minute sequence with the killer defeated after an epic struggle. Lifetime filmmakers, please take note. This is how to shoot a climax.