The Killer in My Backyard 3 out of 10 stars Time to read: 2 min

BASIC PLOT:

An engaged couple buy a new home with an added guest house on the property. They rent it out to help with the mortgage, but their new tenant isn't what he purports to be. Things quickly spiral out of control, and their new life together is in danger of being destroyed. Can they discover the true identity and motives of their new lodger in time to save themselves from his evil machinations? (Normally I write more, but I cannot waste anymore of my life on this dreck!)

WHAT WORKS:

*NOTHING! NOTHING WORKS!

WHAT DOESN'T WORK:

*ALLIE & ERIC DON'T GET ALONG...

...yet we're supposed to believe they're going to get married? Ally contradicts everything Eric says, in front of strangers. And not just about little things either, about big things, like buying a house, having kids, etc. She kinda treats him like a dog - repeatedly. They don't trust each other, or even appear to like each other. Ally believes Eric is cheating with a 20 year old intern, and doesn't trust his judgment about renting out the guest house, or when he changes his mind, and believes there's a psychopath living in it. So again, why are they together, much less considering getting married?

*ALLIE IS NOT LIKABLE

Your protagonist (in this type of melodrama) should be someone you root for, and normally I love Brittany Underwood, especially in Fred Olan Ray movies. But not here. Her acting is stiff and wooden, she's not relatable or likable. What happened here?

*BAD RIPOFF 

This is a bad ripoff of the 1990 movie Pacific Heights, starring Matthew Modine, Michael Keaton & Melanie Griffith. I recommend just watching that movie, NOT this one.

*WHY DOES NO ONE QUESTION WHO SENT THE PICS OF ERIC & THE INTERN?

 Shouldn't the first question be- who sent these pics, and what's their motivation? If you can't have an adult conversation with your significant other, then you shouldn't even consider getting married, much less having children.

*THIS MOVIE CAN'T DECIDE WHAT IT WANTS TO BE... 

Is it a movie about an escaped psyche patient? A mistaken identity? A phrogger? A person cheated out of their inheritance, who's getting even?  Which is it, because you can't do all of these things successfully. You need to pick one, and develop it, and that doesn't happen here. Again we see a haphazard melange of incomplete storylines. Epic fail!

TO RECOMMEND, OR NOT TO RECOMMEND, THAT IS THE QUESTION:

I absolutely cannot recommend this dreck. I normally love Fred Olan Ray, especially when he teams up with Brittany Underwood, but NOT this time. If your looking for similar faire, (that's actually entertaining) try A Wedding to Die For, or Pacific Heights. Both of those will be much more enjoyable than wasting an hour and a half of your life like I did.

CLOSING NOTES:

*THIS IS A MADE-FOR-TV MOVIE, please keep that in mind before you watch/rate it. TV movies have a much lower budget, and so you expectations should be adjusted.

*I HAVE NO CONNECTION TO THE FILM, or production in ANY way. This review was NOT written in full, or in part, by a bot. I am just an honest viewer, who wishes for more straight forward reviews (less trolls and fanboys), and better entertainment. Hope I helped you out.