Love At First Kill

Anchor Bay Entertainment

R4 DVD

A dark suspense film, Love At First Kill looks at paranoia and its effects on those afflicted with it. It was originally called - The last person I would have chosen for the part of a paranoid delusional mother is Margot Kidder (I last saw her in Superman) but she carries the part very credibly.

She plays overprotective mother Beth who lives on the outskirts of a quiet country town with her not-quite-all-there son Harry. Harry has nightmares of a fight between his mother and father when he was a very young boy. He also dreams of his mother dragging his father off into the woods to the railway lines, although most of the details are just shadowy hints. His mind has successfully suppressed the trauma that caused the nightmares. All his life his mother has refused to tell him anything about his father. Now, twenty years older, Beth hobbles around on her walking stick and generally clings to and dominates Harry.

A young woman, Marie, moves in next door with her daughter Kiki and when Harry offers to help her unload and generally becomes friendly with her, Beth sees her control of Harry slipping. She resents it and predicts there will be violence and death without being too specific. Harry meanwhile overrules his mother and shows some independence for the first time. Marie has her own emotional baggage. She has a violent ex-husband who is looking for her and when a rock smashes through a window in Marie’s house one night it is blamed on the ex. Coincidentally he turns up about this time and threatens Marie. Harry intercedes and the police arrive and take the ex into custody, but the experience pushes Harry and Marie closer together. They make plans to move on together but this pushes Beth completely into insanity. The vengeful woman makes her own plans.

The part of Beth is what the plot revolves around. Although Margot Kidder plays the part strongly there are times when it seems a little overdone and melodramatic. Her permanently embittered look seems a little unreal. This aside, it is a good piece of suspense.

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