It Was Him or Us (TV 1995)

Peggy Wilson and her daughter Carrie escape Carrie's father who is Peggy's abusive and obsessive husband. Many years later Peggy remarries to Walter Pomeroy and they have two sons Stevie ... See full summary »

Director:

Robert Iscove

Writer:

Richard Lawton

Stars:

Ann Jillian, Richard Grieco, Monique Lanier

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ann Jillian	...	Peggy Pomeroy
Richard Grieco	...	Gene Shepard
Monique Lanier	...	Carrie Wilson
Wil Wheaton	...	Scottie
Lorraine Toussaint	...	Lt. Washington
Bette Ford	...	Maggie Shepard
Richard Masur	...	Walter Pomeroy
Star Herrmann	...	Louise Salinger
Brooke Ashley	...	Jenna Wilson
Spencer Treat Clark	...	Jesse Pomeroy
David Gallagher	...	Stevie Pomeroy
Thomasyn Harlow
Elizabeth Hansen
Leo Geter
Scott Wilkinson

Storyline

Peggy Wilson and her daughter Carrie escape Carrie's father who is Peggy's abusive and obsessive husband. Many years later Peggy remarries to Walter Pomeroy and they have two sons Stevie and Jesse but when her daughter Carrie, a single mother to a 5 year old daughter Jenna begins dating Gene Shepard, a handsome construction worker Peggy soon learns that the man has a history of violence and tries to warn Carrie but Carrie doesn't believe it and thinks her Mom is crazy until Gene takes out his violent anger on her when she tries to break up with him and gets arrested but soon Gene breaks out of jail and takes the family hostage inside their own house to which Peggy must use all the powers in her body to protect her family from her daughter's abusive boyfriend.

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 November 1995 (USA)

Also Known As:

Love and Terror

Filming Locations:

Salt Lake City, Utah, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

MDT Productions, Warner Bros. Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

During one of the scenes, when Gene first enters Carrie's house with a gun, he holds Carrie and her mother at gunpoint on the couch. During this particular scene, a black item appears on Carrie's chest which most likely a microphone.

User Reviews

Effective in shedding light on the victim mentality

Either Him or Us, a 1995 t.v. movie, is most effective in shedding light on the victim mentality, specifically, how easy it is for women to fall prey to seemingly well meaning men who are nothing more than wife beaters. Ann Jillian plays a woman, herself a victim of wife abuse, who battles the obsessive, violent boyfriend of her granddaughter, played by Monique Lanier. The film works in showing Lanier's belief that her boyfriend's passion for her is what is also responsible for his violent ways, and director Iscove succeeds in creating this conflict.

All performances are strong, especially Richard Grieco's, who is terrific in portraying the subtlety of his character's obsession.

Unfortunately, his character, and performance, go over the top in the last third of the film, as he gets even more deranged and the film lapses into too familiar territory. Thus, much interest and psychology are lost to a more derivative format typical of many movies about obsessive love.

Worth seeing, nonetheless, for the performances.