Mystery Woman: Vision of a Murder (2005)

Sam lands a job photographing a new spa in Southern California for their brochure and brings her best friend Cassie along to enjoy some pampering. When one of the guests staying at the ... See full summary »

Director:

Kellie Martin

Writers:

Michael Sloan (creator), Joyce Burditt

Stars:

Kellie Martin, Clarence Williams III, Nina Siemaszko

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kellie Martin	...	Samantha
Clarence Williams III	...	Philby
Nina Siemaszko	...	Cassie
Casey Sander	...	Chief Connors
Charles Shaughnessy	...	Dr. Drummonds
Felicia Day	...	Emily Claire
Lisa Dean Ryan	...	Kate
Allison Smith	...	Debbie Philips
Bess Meyer	...	Alice Robbins
Bellamy Young	...	Tina Moore
Christopher Cousins	...	Adam
Scott Grimes	...	(credit only)
Ylfa Edelstein	...	Kayla
Tess Drake	...	Becky
Claire Malis	...	Mrs. Lowell (as Claire Malis Callaway)

Storyline

Sam lands a job photographing a new spa in Southern California for their brochure and brings her best friend Cassie along to enjoy some pampering. When one of the guests staying at the upscale retreat turns up dead, Sam is once again on the trail of a murderer. As the investigation progresses, Sam uncovers a scam that the spa Dr was testing unapproved drugs on the patrons.. filler implants, etc. without the patients' informed consent.

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Genres:

Mystery

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Details

Official Sites:

Hallmark Entertainment

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 June 2005 (USA)

Also Known As:

Foniko orama

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hallmark Entertainment, MAT IV, Alpine Medien Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

120 min 120 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Goofs

The show's central location, "The Mystery Woman Bookstore", only sells mysteries and thrillers according to its owner. When the camera pans the shelves, the readable titles include, "The Handbook of Practical Psychology", "The Great White Lie", "The Hite Report" and the "The Firestone Story" - all of which are non-fiction. Though you might consider some of those topics thrilling or mysterious, it appears the shelves have been dressed with random used books.

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Connections

Follows Mystery Woman: Sing Me a Murder (2005)

User Reviews

Serviceable daytime television mystery

In order to bring in a bit extra money to cover up for the fact that few people every seem to use her bookstore, Samantha Kinsey takes on a photography assignment at a spa. Despite being cynical about all the new-age talk and hard selling of surgery, Samantha takes along Cassie to enjoy the facilities while she works. At the first meal of the visit, two other guests fall out because it transpires that one of the women (Debbie) has been sleeping with her friend Alice's husband. The next day one of the staff, a weirdly inward girl called Emily, tells Sam that Debbie is dead and leads them to a place in the woods that she claims she has seen in a vision. There they find Debbie's body – putting Emily at the top of the police's suspect list. Samantha however, believes Emily's claims of being psychic and knows that the real killer is still at the resort.

Having seen a couple of the Mystery Woman films I already knew that the films were quite undemanding and glossy mystery fare. So I didn't hope for much from this film otherwise than a bit of movement forward and enough to fill a grey Sunday afternoon. On that level the film does the job with a rather unconvincing plot that is played out pretty well. It is very much daytime television stuff and fans of the other mystery shows that clutter Hallmark will find it easy going and enjoyable.

As director Martin proves that she is as capable as anyone else working on similar material, but she doesn't do anything that made her standout. Likewise in the lead she is cute and has charisma but isn't anything that amazing. Support is the same from Siemaszko, who doesn't really convince in her character but makes a good friend for Samantha. Sander is pretty poor and isn't helped by his character being one big block of wood. Williams continues to take the money for the series in return for doing very little; however he seems to enjoy his "mysterious" character without ever having to do anything to justify it! Overall then a fairly basic mystery tvm but one that does enough to distract and will please fans of the series and other daytime TV movies in the similar vein. Nobody does anything that special and the plot relies heavily on the weak tool of Emily's psychic visions even if it manages to get past it by building the case well.