Movie

Fallen Angel (2000)

Another direct-to-video movie with Alexandra Paul as a tough police officer, but while Daphne Zuniga in Prey of the Chameleon (1992) ranks just outside the top forty, Michelle Johnson’s revenge-seeking psycho makes it into the upper tier. Vicky commits murder in disguise and stages elaborate crimes, so she’s a more interesting foe than the average nutcase.

Detective Laura Underwood is unorthodox (“normal” cops don’t exist in these movies). In the prologue, she sides with a woman holding her husband hostage and promises to kill the guy. In her defence, the “victim” is violent and abusive, but the cowgirl approach wouldn’t be tolerated in real life. The villainess appears shortly after, and a duel of wits begins between the cop and the killer.

The murderess elicits a lot of sympathy, as her killing spree stems from an attack she suffered from a group of boys when she was a teenager. However, Vicky is crazy enough to be classified as a villain, and her victims become more sympathetic as we progress. It turns out Laura went to the same school as the dead guys, and there’s an inconvenient past relationship with classmate Brian (Anthony Michael Hall). There just had to be an ex involved.

The other men in Laura’s life are her father, Dan (Vlasta Vrana) – also a detective – and a charming rookie named Jimmy (Andrew Simms). He ends up as bait during a potentially deadly high school reunion. It’s dangerous to know Laura.

Villainess

Vicky Mayerson (Michelle Johnson)

The villainess claims her first two victims within the opening twenty minutes. Not one to waste any time, is she? Vicky seduces the first man on a nightclub roof, acts daredevil by standing on a ledge, and then delivers her catchphrase: “Never trust a man after midnight”. This links back to an assault on an elevated freeway years earlier that we’re shown several times in flashback. Once she’s spoken the line – which terrifies the man – Vicky pushes him off the roof.

It’s hazardous to be in skyscrapers when Vicky is roaming around. For victim #2, she dresses as a maid and enters a hotel room. Pretty soon she has the sole male occupant at knifepoint and directs him to the balcony. Then comes the midnight phrase, and the panicked man protests his innocence. Vicky isn’t big on remorse, so she slits his throat and pushes him over the edge. She casually wipes down the knife and leaves it behind, which puzzles the police.

It doesn’t take long for Laura to realise she knew the victim at school, and they’re dealing with a serial killer. After some scenes with Brian that thankfully don’t slow the momentum, the killer calls the detective at the police station. The snappy dresser has changed into a bright outfit, cap and sunglasses to pose as a courier, and gives Laura a cryptic hint. This is clearly a woman with a vendetta who hasn’t finished yet.

Vicky’s third victim is the most unsympathetic: an aggressive male named Ron with no remorse or desire to co-operate with the police. The killer bluffs her way past the receptionist, takes him hostage at gunpoint and escorts him to… you guessed it – the roof. The police trace Vicky’s call and arrive in time to save Ron. A tense chase scene through the deserted building ends with a brief shootout, and the killer escapes on a bicycle.

Things get more complicated after the police place Ron in protective custody, and Vicky phones Laura at her home. Brian listens in and, to Laura’s frustration, speaks to the killer. It’s clear they have a history, and he’s a target. Ron is next up, though. Laura goes to warn him, only for the ungrateful man to point a gun in her face and force her to handcuff herself to a safe. Terrible decision on his part, because Vicky walks in and there’s nobody to stop her this time.

Laura deciphers Vicky’s cryptic hints and establishes that she dropped out of school (which is why she didn’t recognise her earlier). There’s a whole exposition segment where the police dig up a backstory and question a potential fourth target. Turns out Vicky is copying the MO of what happened to her and using similar props in her murders. Also, her catchphrase was spoken by one boy before the fall, which nearly killed her.

Unlike Ron, the next victim has the sense to co-operate, and Laura devises a plan for Jimmy to impersonate the target at a school reunion and lure the killer out. However, Vicky is too clever to fall for this, deceives the detective on guard duty and does her usual routine of staging a high fall. So much for police protection.

Vicky then turns her attention to Brian. We all saw this coming, right? The finale has Laura confront the murderer on the roof and repeat the prologue “offer to shoot the hostage” trick (which actually works!). Unfortunately, Brian falls for it too, which gives Laura’s plan away, and Vicky pulls out a second weapon. Brian does the hero thing and takes a bullet for his girlfriend. With the police closing in, Vicky commits suicide by jumping off the roof and becomes the Fallen Angel of the title.

Honourable Mentions: Sympathetic Killers / Michelle Johnson

Time of Death (2013) – Megan Welles (Sarah Power)

Another film with a sympathetic killer, this time avenging the rape / murder of her sister. This is a thriller from Canadian producer Incendo, who made a slate of female-driven TV movies before switching genres to romance. As usual, a notable actress plays the lead. Kathleen Robertson is FBI agent Jordan Price, who gets assigned to Baltimore to assist with the murder investigation.

The title refers to the killer’s unusual MO, where victims are killed at exactly 10:44 PM. The first victim is CEO Robert Loring, who gets bumped off in his office with no forced entry. Naturally, the early suspects are his fellow executives and son. But then the assailant kills them at exactly the same time, and Jordan realises someone else is behind the deaths. And that person appears to be an expert climber.

There’s an awkward romance subplot that comes from nowhere, where Jordan hooks up with rookie detective and reluctant partner Elliot Larken (Gianpaolo Venuta). This side angle is utterly pointless and feels tacked on to fill time between the murders. When they get back to work, the duo discover the connection between the victims and a historic case, and that the killer is an ex-Marine named Megan.

The villainess’ background leads to some interesting kill sequences, especially in the finale where she snipes a target and bodyguards with tranquilliser darts. Jordan then confronts Megan at the same waterfall location where her sister was killed. The murderess has her target at gunpoint and threatens to commit suicide by dragging him over the edge. Jordan shoots her dead first, which angered many reviewers. They realise Megan is a cold-blooded killer, and the arrested guy will still be brought to justice, right?

The Donor (1995) – Dr Lucy Flynn (Michelle Johnson)

Jeff Wincott headlines this thriller as stuntman Billy Castle, whose life falls apart after black marketeers steal his kidney. That’s after he sleeps with a beautiful woman who sedates him, but she’s too minor a character to qualify as a villainess.

No loss, because the doctor Billy romances (didn’t he already make that mistake?) is the mastermind behind the illegal organ transplant ring. She plays innocent and supportive, but frames a colleague when her lover gets too close. Positioning the patsy as someone the hero trusts implies he will be the surprise villain, but would they bother introducing Billy’s ex-girlfriend if Lucy was innocent?

An interesting (and surprisingly deep) subplot has the stuntman refuse to accept he’s a victim until he attends a mostly female group of violent crime survivors. The movie reverts to standard thriller fare when Lucy kills off a few loose ends and reveals herself as the evil doctor. For the climax, there’s an above-average chase where the villainess pursues Billy in a car. Then he uses stunt work to fake his death and pull the treacherous woman over a cliff edge.