MAID OF HONOR (2006)

Directed by Douglas Jackson. Starring Linda Purl, Linden Ashby, Shannon Sturges. Drama. Synopsis: A made for TV movie on DVD about a woman who moves in with her brother in law and his children after the death of her sister and assumes the majority of the homemaking duties for two years. She develops an obsessive desire for her brother in law and it turns violent when she learns of his intent to marry another woman.

If you see this one in the store or online, don't let the campy art on the cover fool you, this is in no way a  horror flick, nor will you see any gore, despite the bloody knife that is brandished by the scary looking woman in the bridal gown.

This film was obviously made for TV, so it's going to be more character/story driven than what you might expect from the description on the cover. The only reason that I picked this one up was because I saw that it had Linda Purl, and my first thought was that she had come down a long way to now be doing cheesy slasher films.

I'm glad to say that it was not that at all. The title and the first few minutes of the movie give away the major premise of the plot, that Laci (Purl) was always second best to her late sister, whose husband, Richard (Linden Ashby) and children she has been taking care of since her sister's death.

Richard is obviously doing well, ruggedly handsome and living in a house slightly smaller than Laramie, Wyoming with two kids who are cute as buttons, so it is easy to see why Laci would want a permanent "piece of that", as they say. Well, much to Laci's chagrin (and curious surprise) Richard announces that he intends to marry Nicole (Shannon Sturges), who he has apparently been courting on the sly and, hey, two years of being a widower is long enough.

Laci does not react well to this news and, as we see in flashbacks, she was not wrapped too tight to begin with, as the implication is there that she let her ungrateful mom die because she had heard that sis was the better child one too many times. As the film progresses, we see Laci's obsession increase, from trying on her sister's wedding band, to misleading the children about their soon to be step-mom, to attempted murder and murder.

The plot is not new or originally done here, and there are some things that are a little too hard to buy, such as the quick way that the children-one a teen ager- warm up to their father's intended, whom they apparently knew nothing about, so relatively soon after the death of their mother. Also, the premise of a man having a woman living in his house, particularly his sister in law, and being totally oblivious to her feelings is a bit of a reach. Not interested? Sure, I can buy that. Clueless? Nah.

The only thing that saves this from being entirely forgettable is Purl. You can see her metamorphis from scene to scene, both in her actions and even her looks. The script is weak, but she makes it seem better than it is. I don't mean to slam the other actors, they did o.k.  (Maybe a little less than that in the case of Ashby...I just didn't buy his character for a second), but all of them are so far beneath Purl in acting ability that it is just so obvious that it stands out in the movie. When Purl is not in a scene, this is nothing but an attempt at a "B" movie that is in the lower "C" range and flirting with "D".

This is not a horrible film, I'm not really even trying to say it's bad, its just all about Linda Purl. She delivers, big time in my opinion, but its not enough to make this the really good film it good have been with better acting across the board and a stronger script.

For those of you in the Over 35 club, like me, who hear the name Linda Purl and say, "Gosh, she was pretty good back in the '80's, whatever happened to her?", well, if you do check this one out, you will see that she is doing just fine, indeed.