Shadow of a Stranger (1992) (TV)

Director:

Richard Friedman

Writer (WGA):

Richard Friedman (written by)

Release Date:

7 December 1992 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Thriller

Plot:

Ted and Sarah Clinton notice a boat being violently hurled around by a storm just off their beach-house and go out to help the occupants...

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Beautiful Woman | Husband Wife Relationship

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)

Emma Samms	...	Sarah Clinton
Parker Stevenson	...	Ted Clinton
Michael Easton	...	Shawn
John Pyper-Ferguson	...	Robert Logan
Joan Chen	...	Vanessa
Deryl Hayes	...	Gus
Colleen Winton	...	Karen
Stephen E. Miller	...	Coroner
Anthony Harrison	...	Cop
June B. Wilde	...	Nurse (as June Pentyliuk)
John Scott	...	Mr. Lester
Brenda McConnell	...	Mrs. Lester
Lovie Eli	...	Waitress

Runtime:

Germany:88 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

UK:15 (video rating)

Filming Locations:

British Columbia, Canada

Company:

Doris Keating Productions

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Visible or bright sunlight (and once a shot of bright blue sky) during all daytime scenes when there is an ongoing thunder and lightning storm with constant rainfall.

Execrable

When a lawyer and his hot model wife head off to their beach house for some much needed time together, things start getting spooky. On screen two different things are happening for the viewer. What's going on is a nice little mystery/suspense story but what we actually see with our eyes is a mess. Mr. Stevenson, Ms. Samms, and especially Ms. Chen all played their parts well enough, probably about as best they could. There was a serious problem, though, with the kinda long-haired shooter dude. It seemed to me as if the director asked him to be like Keanu Reeves only more stupid with a tinge of psycho thrown in for added ridiculousness. The result: an absolutely ludicrous character that brought this movie down... and considering this is a Made-for-TV movie the only place it likely could go was down. The budget was so small I think real models spend more per week on shoes than the amount that went into this production. Fake rain with sunlight all around was constant and totally pathetic. The fact the finale of the movie occurred precisely during the 4th of July fireworks was just too much of a coincidence. The beautiful coastal British Columbia scenery and the Porsche 911 are the only stars here. The story had potential, was a little predictable but not overly so. Unfortunately the mega-small budget, some bad acting, and incompetent directing just ruined this. It is completely beyond me how on Earth anyone could watch this and decide it's a great movie and worth a vote of `10.' Not even close. This is not an A grade movie by any stretch unless perhaps the viewer is quite mentally incapable of rational decision making. This deserves more like a grade of: D-