Thrill of the Kill

Dumbest female protags I've ever seen in a movie. Unbelievably so. Cheesy horror movie dumb. I didn't realize this movie was so old as I'd caught it during first weekend of lockdown on either NF or AMZPrime. I only watched it bc of Shiri and Chris Potter. Two faces I recognized. This chick is DUMB and it just got worse as the movie progressed. I found myself getting mad at her throughout the film and wanted to turn it off, but past a certain minute mark, I felt compelled to finish.

I won't spoil anything because the movie is not worth rehashing in that way. What would have been a surprise is if the villain turned out to not be the villain, but Kelly was such an idiot that it had to be on purpose and would have made no sense for her to not be playing right into the villain's hands. The parts with the politician were cringe and it was like she was in denial over not knowing what her sister was involved in. But as I said, she does a lot of things that irked me. There were so many signs practically hitting her over head that the only thing more obvious would be a cartoon DANGER sign flashing in her face.

This was a disappointing movie, and I think I napped afterwards. That's how bored I was. I will give the movie kudos for some of the creep factor. No matter how bad the movie, a person home alone and unknowingly at the mercy of the villain always gets to me. But Kelly was hard to root for because she lacked all common sense.

Kelly Holden (Shiri Appleby) is still haunted by her sister Alison's murder a year ago. She reads Graydon Jennings (Chris Potter)'s latest murder mystery and is shock to see so many similarities with her sister's murder. When she talks to Graydon, he reveals that the murder is based on another murder. They go off together to investigate Alison's murder. Kelly discovers Alison's diary with the name Cicero. The code name alluding to the Roman senator leading them to the modern day Senator Darren Hartford (Matt Cooke). Also there is Alison's former boyfriend Hank (Paul Hopkins) who could be a suspect.

This is a Lifetime TV movie in every ways especially the production value. Shiri Appleby does really well as the damsel in distress. However there is just a few nagging plot points that is never addressed. When Graydon mentions the other girl, there is an obvious serial killer angle that is missed. Also Graydon as a suspect is dismissed almost immediately. These need to be explained much better. The plot has some possibilities as a standard murder mystery, but it's not quite good enough to recommend.

as made for TV movies go,this one is not bad.not great,but not bad.to be honest,i don't mind most TV movies.true,they are very predictable,and most so called plot twists can be figured out by a 3 year old.having said,they can be entertaining.that pretty much describes "Thrill of the Kill".here's the basic plot outline.Kelly Holden(Shiri Appleby-Swim Fan,The TV series Roswel)can not let go of her sister's murder,which happened a year ago.She believes she can find out who the killer is.She enlists the help of murder mystery novelist Graydon Jennings(Chris Pottter-Kung Fu:the Legend Continues,Silk Stalkings(10 episodes)who happens to be in her town for a book signing.Because all of his novels are written from the point of view of the killer,she believes he may have some valuable insight.Naturally,there are more than a few suspects,but it is pretty easy to figure out the killer,way before the movie ends.Both Appleby and Potter are decent actors who do well with what they have.the movie is an entertaining 88 min diversion,which is probably all it sets out to be.Many people are critical of TV movies,sometimes referred to as the "movie of the weak".they are criticized for having basically the same plot,just different actors.this is true,but it is also true of much of the crap that is churned out for the big screen by Hollywood.there is certainly very little creativity there.the only difference may be bigger budget,big name actors and sometimes special effects,all designed to woo the viewer into thinking they're seeing something new.in other words,disguising the fact that they are watching the same old thing each time(yes,there are exceptions).add to that the fact that these big screen movies are actually trying to be creative or at least think they are.now,with the so called movies of the week,the filmmakers and actors know what their product is and don't try to make it anything more than it is.so,the above criticisms of TV movies are not valid.generally a movie of this sort deserves a 6/10 unless it is woefully worse than any other movie. since Thrill of the Kill is no worse than other TV movie and as good as some of the drivel that the big Machine spews out,this one also gets a 6/10

'Twas the night before Christmas and all that was on TV was … dreck. There was the usual complement of the usual Christmas movies that I've seen dozens of times before. We had a few rented DVDs to watch but I needed something to amuse me that didn't require my full attention while I prepared Christmas Eve dinner for the wife and me.

I checked out our cable on-demand station and found more dreck. When I saw "Thrill Of The Kill" starred Shiri Appleby I figured that it might prove interesting and, if nothing else, provide a little eye candy. I haven't noticed Ms Appleby in anything since Roswell where I thought she did a very capable job of portraying Liz. And, here in TOTK, she does an admirable job of playing Kelly Helms whose sister, Allison, was brutally murdered several months ago. The police have no leads and the murder is a cold case.

Kelly reads the titular book written by crime fiction novelist Graydon Jennings (Chris Potter) which describes a murder with striking similarities to that of Allison's. Kelly contacts Jennings and asks for his help in solving Allison's murder. Reading Allison's diary makes it apparent she would crawl into bed with nearly any guy but was actually in love with someone she referred to as "Cicero". With some more sleuthing, the pair determines that Cicero was a US senator. After confronting the senator, the usual sort of bad stuff starts to happen around Kelly.

Plot starting to sound familiar ? It should – this things pulls up almost every stupid heroine cliché. Kelly doesn't call the cops when she should, several times. There is a jealous admirer whom everyone ignores. Who, in their right mind in the 21st century, confronts a politician about an affair and possible murder without wearing some kind of recording device ? I guessed the ending about ten minutes into it. My wife paid attention for about ten minutes in the middle of it and knew the ending. Potter's acting was no great shakes ( I kept expecting Zoe Busiek to pop up) and, apart from the sisters, the characters could have been played by mannequins – I think some of then actually were ! ;-) If you want to turn your brain off for a couple of hours, this is your movie. Otherwise, bypass it widely.

Thrill of the Kill began ok, and most of the movie was adequate. It seemed puzzling that it looked like her and him practically moved in together. It went downhill when the senator spilled his guts to the girl. Why would he do that? Do what senators always do....lie! It was nice and convenient he was even there too. But biggest shark jump came with about 10 minutes to go. That was when the real murderer made his confession, pointlessly. The gun shot heard from the kitchen was a really stupid scene. Then, run to the barn, climb the ladder. Good idea since there's no way out then. Or is there??? This is not my spoiler but my cliffhanger!!!