Ties
That Bind (2006, dir:
Terry
Ingram; writer: Andy Callahan; cast: Nicole de Boer,
Brian Krause, Sonya Salomaa)
This
is a typical shot-in-Canada, made-for-cable TV suspense movie.
(It was made for Lifetime.) It's low budget, with B-list or unknown actors.
Even so, I found it enjoyable. For while this film's story is
mostly typical, it takes some unexpected turns.
The story concerns a typically perfect, yuppie couple. They're
attractive, smart, successful, thirtysomething, and in love. Hubby
is an intern at a hospital. He doesn't make much money yet, but
his future is bright. Wife is a corporate attorney, who pays most
of the bills.
Together, this Perfect Couple buys a Perfect House. It even has a
pool, hot tub, and guest house.
In order to help pay the mortgage, they rent the guest house to a
seemingly nice nurse from the husband's hospital. A nurse who
turns out to be the Psycho Bitch From Hell. (Think of the "other
woman" from
Fatal Attraction, only crazier.)
As a guy, I liked
Ties
That Bind because, unlike many films of this
genre, it doesn't demonize men. The Pyscho Nurse tries to seduce
the husband, yet he stays loyal to his wife. (One of those
unexpected turns I was talking about.)
The Psycho Nurse also tries to seduce the wife, but she stays true
to her husband as well.
The Psycho Nurse does more than try to seduce the couple. She's a
whole boatload of crazy, with tons of dark secrets in her past,
and she commits lots of nasty and downright evil deeds during the
course of the film.
The DVD's cover is misleading. It shows a cold-blooded Nicole de
Boer holding a gun, and suggests that she's the film's evil femme
fatale. NOT. De Boer plays the Good Wife. She's never cold-blooded
in the film, nor is she ever comfortable with a gun.
I guess de Boer is the film's biggest star, so the distributor
thought they'd invent a shot of her looking femme fatalish with a
gun, but the shot misrepresents the film's contents.
Even so,
Ties
That Bind is an enjoyable suspense film about a
nice couple who are unfortunately saddled with a crazy tenant in
their guest house (whom they can't easily get rid of, due to the
lease). Yes, there is gunplay, and a whole lot more crazy, nasty
stuff before the film's end.
It's not a great film, but it's one of the better
made-in-Canada/cable TV suspense films out there.
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This
is a typical shot-in-Canada, made-for-cable TV suspense movie.
(It was made for Lifetime.) It's low budget, with B-list or unknown actors.