Kept Woman

Alrighty then! This is a glossy, well-made gem of a film about the psychopath next door. Who has a basement dungeon a-la 'Fifties-style and a fetish for pretty young ladies drawn - rather irrationally - from his inner social circle. Which makes him a suspect after each disappearance.

Fortunately for our goody-goody bad guy - Shaun Benson (as Simon) - he's super smart, super slick and super nerdy. It's the nerdy part that throws you. 'Cause, you know, nerds are supposed to be weird but meek.

This guy is weird and potentially murderous. So, when Courtney Ford (as Jessica Crowder) and Andrew W. Walker as (Evan Crowder) move next door, they have no idea that their skippy little bowtie-wearing neighbor has had Rachel Wilson (as Robin Simmons) imprisoned in his basement for years! Enjoy Troy Blundell (playing Tyler Haynes) as a thoroughly professional and equally menacing policeman-friend who, in cahoots with Jessica's rotund detective-wannabe pal - Jesse Camacho (as Oscar Garrett) - will ultimately... well... just watch!

Dig the 'Fifties stokes, y'all and try not to see Ted Bundy in Mr. Benson's fine performance. That way, you won't see him coming! Redrum! Redrum! Redrum!

A couple have their flat broken into. They go inside BEFORE phoning the police, and promptly get more stuff stolen by the homeless guy still there, who holds them at gunpoint. Deciding to move house, they end up living next door to a weirdo who dresses like a throwback to the 50's. He abducts the female to keep as his own personal slave in an underground shelter, making her a 'kept woman'. Will she ever escape? Can she ever rid herself of the awful dresses she's forced to wear? And who'd thought the police force could be so stupid?

Yes, I KNOW this is supposed to be a Made For TV Movie, but c'mon... the creep in the dapper suits and bow tie has been linked to the disappearances of students and has even been questioned by the police... So why isn't he linked to the investigation? Who knows. And the fact the husband believes his wife left him permanently after the most minor of arguments, leaving behind her phone and various other possessions... Hear that creaking noise? That's credibility being stretched to breaking point.

Still, it's not all bad. The movie paints a picture of a claustrophobic environment well, where Stockholm Syndrome can easily set in and your old life could soon fade to a distant memory. The acting is of a higher calibre than usual for this kind of production, and the intense moments scattered throughout will probably have you watching until the end. Until the climax, that is... When all the subtlety and understatement goes out the window in favour of a brainless violent confrontation, not to mention the cheesiest of 'uplifting' messages tacked on as an addendum. Yawn.

Still, seen much worse. Oh, yes I have... 5/10

There are some annoying plot holes, but the good acting made up for it. The ostensibly polite and helpful neighbour was a convincingly creepy villain. Less your out and out bloodthirsty sadist and more of a delusional but clever incel determined to bend women to his will. There was tension as we saw the heroine under Stepford wife indoctrination and I really wanted Simon to get his comeuppance.

Of course there have been tens of thousands of real women who have been held captive against their will. As an example there were the three (3) young ladies that were held captive against their will for almost ten (10) years in Cleveland by the serial predator and rapist Ariel Castro. The 2015 film titled Cleveland Abduction documented in detail what these three women went through and how they eventually escaped Castro's in-house prison. (You can read my IMDB review on this film dated May 05th, 2015.)

This Lifetime film was deeply unrealistic by how blatantly neglectful both the local police and newspapers were in not covering the abduction story of missing women if it really did occur. This is a very much exaggerated "women held prisoner" by a neat and tidy wacko neighbor. Although the story line is an interesting concept in which the captor is still living in the 1950's based on his physical appearance, the car he drives, and how is basement prison is decorated with retro 1950's furniture and appliances, there doesn't seem to be any Dick Tracy around to solve the case of these missing women.

As in many other films, the ending leaves a lot to be desired and was a letdown for me. I give the film a 6 out of 10 rating.

It's a B movie for sure and at first it might seems like a Hallmark quality flick but the storyline is decent. The ending is predictable but it's fine.