Nurse Laura Harriman (Lisa Zane) is out to get revenge on Bob Martin (Michael Fairman) and his family. See Laura's dad was so distraught over an embezzlement charge that he killed himself and the rest of the family, leaving poor Laura alone, confused and mentally unstable. Fortunately for her, Bob has a stroke, leaving him completely incapacitated (his fully alert self inside an expressionless body), so he's in need of full time care, so Laura quits her job at the hospital and signs on as the live-in nurse. She seduces the son (John Stockwell), arouses suspicion in the daughter (Janet Gunn) and starts to do away with everyone (often right before the father's eyes). Good acting, particularly from the deliciously wicked Zane, and an overall air of nastiness save this oft-clichéd bitch-from-hell flick (with a rather poor ending) from boredom.
17 Reviews
Once again...
palmwild22 October 1999
We've have seen it all before. A person, often a female, gets angry about something that stands in her way of success or plain satisfaction. We saw that in for example "The Temp", "The Secretary", "Daddy's Girl" and "Fatal Attraction" by naming a few.
This time it's a nurse who infiltrates herself into a family where she holds the dad responsible for her own family's death. He has ended up in a wheelchair, totally invalid, still understands everything, but can't make himself heard. She plans how to kill his whole family right in front of him.
The main stars of the movie is Lisa Zane (Billy's sister) who plays the psycho-nurse. Beautiful Janet Gunn is the daughter who is the first to sense that things isn't alright with the new nurse. John Stockwell is the son who becomes attracted to the new nurse.
Even if I've seen everything before I think the movie is both exciting and fun to watch. Not a masterpiece, but also far from the opposite. An entertaining little movie.
This time it's a nurse who infiltrates herself into a family where she holds the dad responsible for her own family's death. He has ended up in a wheelchair, totally invalid, still understands everything, but can't make himself heard. She plans how to kill his whole family right in front of him.
The main stars of the movie is Lisa Zane (Billy's sister) who plays the psycho-nurse. Beautiful Janet Gunn is the daughter who is the first to sense that things isn't alright with the new nurse. John Stockwell is the son who becomes attracted to the new nurse.
Even if I've seen everything before I think the movie is both exciting and fun to watch. Not a masterpiece, but also far from the opposite. An entertaining little movie.
Pretty compelling revenge thriller.
RatedVforVinny8 October 2019
The story has been done before (of course) but 'The Nurse' without being entirely original hits a few high notes and certainly keeps you gripped into the watchable, yet predictable series of events. Lisa Zane is fantastic as the black widow, typed nurse, out for the complete revenge.
Unintentionally funny
twisted_sista3 July 2002
Lisa Zane is great as the nurse out to get revenge on the man she holds responsible for her familys death. I like this movie as it doesnt take itself too seriously and their are a few unintentional funny parts. Its no blockbuster but its definately worth watching.
There are worse thrillers out there... Better ones too.
beckett-6965820 January 2022
Let's start by saying this. It's not going to leave you guessing.
The plotline is as deep as your average puddle but it's well shot and, for the most part, well acted. It's one of those "stock" mid 90s movies with pretty people doing bad things. At no point do you feel for the protagonist and likewise the antagonist.
You get what you pay for really (assuming you paid which you really shouldn't) which is a slick production of a clunky script with no surprises.
The plotline is as deep as your average puddle but it's well shot and, for the most part, well acted. It's one of those "stock" mid 90s movies with pretty people doing bad things. At no point do you feel for the protagonist and likewise the antagonist.
You get what you pay for really (assuming you paid which you really shouldn't) which is a slick production of a clunky script with no surprises.
Mediocre at best revenge flick...
dwpollar17 October 2011
1st watched 10/16/2011 – 3 out of 10(Dir-Rob Malenfant): Mediocre at best revenge flick that although premiered as a theatrical release comes across like a "B" television production with sub-par acting, bad editing including a left-in scene that made no sense, and is also predictable from the beginning to the end. The movie starts out as a man is being charged with embezzlement and being trashed by the local media. The company's boss and family are shown not intending for this to get out, but it does. Distraught, the man charged shoots his wife, child and himself. His daughter, played by Lisa Zane, gets wind of this at her place of work where she is a nurse and blames the company and the boss who let this out to the media. The boss, has a stroke, after he finds out from a reporter about the murderous man's actions and becomes paralyzed to the point where he can only hear what's going on but can't respond. The revengeful nurse then takes on the persona of a former employee, becomes his nurse, and plots to kill him and his entire family. Zane is kind of hammy in her role, but OK as the deviant nurse and the other actors are OK as well. But that's the problem with the entire movie, it's just OK. This obviously was meant for television but apparently was too rough, so they added a couple curse words to get the R rating and released it in the theatres. It was advertised on the DVD I watched as a horror movie, but it isn't a horror movie, and it's not very enjoyable either – so skip this one if at all possible.
I was hoping that the nurse would put ME out of my misery
movieman_kev29 December 2008
Warning: Spoilers
Laura Harriman is a nurse that gets so distraught that her embezzling father shot her mother & brother before killing herself that she jumps at the chance to be caregiver to Bob Martin (Michael Fairman, who ironically does the best acting in the film), the man who gave her father up & had a stroke leaving him paralyzed but fully aware. She kills the first nurse, takes her place, then...well nothing, lots and lots of talk, about the fifth time she talked to bob about what she'd do to his family out of revenge I was about ready to put myself out of my misery & when something DOES finally happen late in the movie I found myself way too bored to care. A complete boring, predictable, anti-climatic mess of a film.
My Grade: F
My Grade: F
plain vanilla ice cream, the store brand
jeffa12318 September 2015
Warning: Spoilers
this showed up in one of those $5 horror movie sets you can get a wal- mart
it smacks of lifetime movie of the week, other than a couple of 'f' words here and there
totally vanilla horror/thriller. it's like a betty crocker cake mix version of a movie: 1. open with cursory detail-devoid back story 2. token scene to show villain started out normal, but was driven to kill by actions of others, who become the target 3. misdirected murder/suicide (why the wife and son???) 4. deus ex machina (contrived plot device) event to disable the culprit 5. materialize convenient opportunity for revenge 6. preposterous hiring/back ground checking 7. suspicious daughter, heightened by repeated gaffs from killer 8. love triangles 9. dramatic showdown where killer gets whats coming to her 10. everyone lives happily ever after
the only thing missing was the false death where they think the killer is dead and then pops back up. but other than that this follows a tried and true recipe for 'generic thriller'. you'll forget everything about it 10 minutes later
next
it smacks of lifetime movie of the week, other than a couple of 'f' words here and there
totally vanilla horror/thriller. it's like a betty crocker cake mix version of a movie: 1. open with cursory detail-devoid back story 2. token scene to show villain started out normal, but was driven to kill by actions of others, who become the target 3. misdirected murder/suicide (why the wife and son???) 4. deus ex machina (contrived plot device) event to disable the culprit 5. materialize convenient opportunity for revenge 6. preposterous hiring/back ground checking 7. suspicious daughter, heightened by repeated gaffs from killer 8. love triangles 9. dramatic showdown where killer gets whats coming to her 10. everyone lives happily ever after
the only thing missing was the false death where they think the killer is dead and then pops back up. but other than that this follows a tried and true recipe for 'generic thriller'. you'll forget everything about it 10 minutes later
next
Predictable and average
sauravjoshi8528 June 2019
Warning: Spoilers
The movie is a murder mystery in which a nurse revenge the murder and suicide of her family.
To start with the movie is quite predictable from it's start and you can easily guess the next scene. At one point the film starts getting boring and it looks that it is loosing it's plot. The director tries to bring the movie back on track but since the movie is very predictable it doesn't even matter.
The acting of all the characters is just ok but the father was looking overwhelmed as we can see expressions on his face while he is paralysed. His recovery was also a magic but since this is a film we should give this much freedom to the director to show his creativity.
The end of the movie is also quite predictable and since some scenes are nicely executed still you will miss something.
An average movie to watch.
To start with the movie is quite predictable from it's start and you can easily guess the next scene. At one point the film starts getting boring and it looks that it is loosing it's plot. The director tries to bring the movie back on track but since the movie is very predictable it doesn't even matter.
The acting of all the characters is just ok but the father was looking overwhelmed as we can see expressions on his face while he is paralysed. His recovery was also a magic but since this is a film we should give this much freedom to the director to show his creativity.
The end of the movie is also quite predictable and since some scenes are nicely executed still you will miss something.
An average movie to watch.
Great Slasher Thriller Film
SusieSalmonLikeTheFish1 September 2014
Warning: Spoilers
This little movie isn't the best I've seen, but it does have some very eerie scenes and sad moments, as well as suspense that keeps you watching the entire time. The plot follows a nurse whose father murders her brother, mother and kills himself, leaving the nurse questioning why. When she finds out it has to do with a businessman who has fallen into a catatonic state, she becomes his caretaker and terrorizes him directly, knowing he can't do a thing about it.
The plot was pretty generic and it was pretty obvious what was going to happen the entire way through. The soundtrack is easily forgettable but the acting is great and the film manages to be captivating so if you're a horror or mystery fan, check out The Nurse, you might be surprised that it's halfway decent.
The plot was pretty generic and it was pretty obvious what was going to happen the entire way through. The soundtrack is easily forgettable but the acting is great and the film manages to be captivating so if you're a horror or mystery fan, check out The Nurse, you might be surprised that it's halfway decent.
THE HAND THAT MOCKS THE CRADLE
nogodnomasters13 January 2019
Warning: Spoilers
This film reminded of "The Hand that Rocks the Cradle." George Harriman (Lou Felder) a poorly developed character has been terminated from his fictional movie company for embezzling and to top it all off he might go to prison. Like any white collar criminal faced with "hard" time in a federal pen, he opts to do the honorable thing and shoot his family and himself...except for some reason he omits his daughter who is a nurse (Lisa Zane as Laura Harriman ).
When George's former boss Bob (Michael Fairman) hears about it he goes catatonic, like Ned seeing the Mexican Staring Frog of Southern Sri Lanka (South Park season 2). Laura assumes a new identity to infiltrate the home as a nurse so she can bump off Bob's family in front of him.
The terror and acting were both lame. Except for the rare F-bomb, this could have been a made for TV movie. Perhaps my biggest disappointment was right after I obtained this film I discovered it was available in a multi-film pack for the same price.
Rare F-bomb, no sex or nudity. What this movie really needed was for Demi Moore to play the lead with a token shower scene and a little more success and creativity in killing off relatives.
When George's former boss Bob (Michael Fairman) hears about it he goes catatonic, like Ned seeing the Mexican Staring Frog of Southern Sri Lanka (South Park season 2). Laura assumes a new identity to infiltrate the home as a nurse so she can bump off Bob's family in front of him.
The terror and acting were both lame. Except for the rare F-bomb, this could have been a made for TV movie. Perhaps my biggest disappointment was right after I obtained this film I discovered it was available in a multi-film pack for the same price.
Rare F-bomb, no sex or nudity. What this movie really needed was for Demi Moore to play the lead with a token shower scene and a little more success and creativity in killing off relatives.
A very entertaining thriller
suemartin232643 June 2007
If you're expecting 'The Hand That Rocks The Cradle', please don't watch this, because even if it's got near enough the same plot, it Definitely isn't in the same league. That said, this is still a very gripping, and in places, darkly comical thriller.
Lisa Zane stars as a professional nurse, who gets a call from her father while working, who says that 'she has got to be strong'. However, he implies that he is going to do something terrible to himself, his wife and his son. Sure enough, he picks up a gun, loads it with bullets, and shoots his wife and his son (both whom are asleep). Lisa gets home just in time to see her father shoot himself on the stairs... Lisa blames her father's boss for these terrible events, as he has filed a case against her father for embezzling. When his boss hears about the shootings, he suffers a stroke, which leaves him totally paralysed. On being taken home, Lisa sees her opportunity to get revenge. The man needs a nurse to take care of him. However, before Lisa can scheme her way in, another Nurse is hired. The solution to the problem: kill the nurse. Soon after this death, she weasels her way into the family, and there, she begins to stage her ultimate revenge...
If you're in the UK, you can catch this on Zone Thriller some time, as I did last night. If you're in America, there is a DVD of this film which is quite cheap to buy, so no-one has an excuse for missing this.
If you get the chance, tune in!
Lisa Zane stars as a professional nurse, who gets a call from her father while working, who says that 'she has got to be strong'. However, he implies that he is going to do something terrible to himself, his wife and his son. Sure enough, he picks up a gun, loads it with bullets, and shoots his wife and his son (both whom are asleep). Lisa gets home just in time to see her father shoot himself on the stairs... Lisa blames her father's boss for these terrible events, as he has filed a case against her father for embezzling. When his boss hears about the shootings, he suffers a stroke, which leaves him totally paralysed. On being taken home, Lisa sees her opportunity to get revenge. The man needs a nurse to take care of him. However, before Lisa can scheme her way in, another Nurse is hired. The solution to the problem: kill the nurse. Soon after this death, she weasels her way into the family, and there, she begins to stage her ultimate revenge...
If you're in the UK, you can catch this on Zone Thriller some time, as I did last night. If you're in America, there is a DVD of this film which is quite cheap to buy, so no-one has an excuse for missing this.
If you get the chance, tune in!
A spoonful of ... not sugar
kosmasp6 July 2022
No pun intended and the movie itself is anything but light or has jokes like the one I made with my summary line. Also no connection with Mary Poppins of course. She wasn't a nurse either - but even if, she would be shocked if anyone would associate her with this mean individual.
Of course the main bad character has her reasons for being the way she is. One main role is mental health, but an inciting incident is the one that pushes her over the edge - no pun intended here either. It is all b-movie material and thriller. Nothing major here and as predictable as one can imagine ... your imagination probably will be way wilder than what you get served. Anyway, have seen worse, but also way better movies with ... well "nurses"
Of course the main bad character has her reasons for being the way she is. One main role is mental health, but an inciting incident is the one that pushes her over the edge - no pun intended here either. It is all b-movie material and thriller. Nothing major here and as predictable as one can imagine ... your imagination probably will be way wilder than what you get served. Anyway, have seen worse, but also way better movies with ... well "nurses"
Edge Of Your Seat!
selwitelsd3 July 2002
I have to agree with the other commentator here! It is a good film and very entertaining. The cast really did a great job and Lisa Zane was excellent in the main role. Had to see it though because I am a fan of Billy Moses who played the stroke victims daughters boyfriend.
Wicked Good Fun
jwiltz82 August 2008
This is a wickedly classic take on the "I'll get my revenge" type of movie that are my favorites. Lisa Zane was a hoot as the vengeful nurse and Janet Gunn was perfect as the daughter who never trusted her from the beginning and was aware every time the nurse slipped up with her lies. The added touch of having the man who suffered a stroke be able to hear and comprehend everything that the nurse planned to do to his family as payback and not be able to stop her and warn them made this movie more chilling.This movie was like a well-made Lifetime TV movie and I have always enjoyed the movies directed by Robert Malenfant and when I see his name on the credits I know it will be enjoyable and fun to watch.
Lisa Zane and Janet Gunn are cool
LofA26 July 2003
The interaction between Janet Gunn and Lisa Zane carry the film and make it more than a predictable nurse-hates-patient story. Sure there are major flaws, like the nurse (Zane) kills the reporter and there is no investigation. But let's skip the small stuff. The movie is worth watching on a rainy or cold winter night. I gave it a 7 because of the technical flops, but the plot is a solid 8.
Must have ONLY for Pierre David film buffs
Barb6714 March 2014
Warning: Spoilers
Canadian Producer Pierre David has a one track mind. His scripts generally do too. It is as follows...
Female is hurt by someone. Female swears revenge by befriending/marrying/seducing/working for the person who she feels slighted by, and then killing them. Anyone who begins to suspect her alternate identity of intent of malice is eliminated as soon as she knows they are on to her. Children are never killed, but often save the day at the end. Generally the Villainous female is killed in the attempt for "Final Justice", meaning the death of the one she got closest to.
This is the same for at least 100 Pierre David Films, with a few variations here and there, but if you're a huge fan of "Psycho Chick" films ALA "The Hand That Rocks The Cradle" or "Fatal Attraction"... This is for you.
If not... You'll likely laugh, complain, or just turn it off.
Female is hurt by someone. Female swears revenge by befriending/marrying/seducing/working for the person who she feels slighted by, and then killing them. Anyone who begins to suspect her alternate identity of intent of malice is eliminated as soon as she knows they are on to her. Children are never killed, but often save the day at the end. Generally the Villainous female is killed in the attempt for "Final Justice", meaning the death of the one she got closest to.
This is the same for at least 100 Pierre David Films, with a few variations here and there, but if you're a huge fan of "Psycho Chick" films ALA "The Hand That Rocks The Cradle" or "Fatal Attraction"... This is for you.
If not... You'll likely laugh, complain, or just turn it off.
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