Overrated and overhyped

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

As someone who grew up in South Carolina at the time of these events, this movie is crap even by TV movie standards. The attempts at Southern accents by all of the actors are beyond awful. I'm a life-long resident of the Palmetto State and this movie is the only time or place I've ever heard anyone talk like the characters in this waste of celluloid.The producers couldn't even get their geography right. There's no such thing as Columbia County, South Carolina. I realize the need for creative license, but why not call it, "Murder in Carolina?" or anything other than what the morons called it.I noticed many of the reviewers like this story because it was something they could relate to personally. That's one of the reasons I hate it. I spent roughly 15 years as a reporter covering this state (I was in elementary school at the time of the Bell murders). But this movie was so poorly produced, it's insulting to everyone involved. Every remaining copy should be boxed up and thrown into Lake Murray for the catfish to eat.

I lived in Columbia SC when Sheri Faye Smith and Debra Helmick were killed by Larry Gene Bell in 1985, I was 12..I was staying at my grandparents cabin for the summer on Lake Murray when Sheri Smiths body was found behind an old schoolhouse about 2 miles down the road. The flies were so thick that day, and than we heard sirens, my mom made the comment "I hope they didn't find that poor girls body" which of course they had. This movie follows the truth so closely its almost like its happening again. Excellent movie and I recommend it. Larry Gene Bell killed not only Shari but other girls including 11yr old Debra Mae Helmick who lived about 2 miles from were we lived in Columbia before we went to Lake Murray for the summer. I have 3 sisters, Sherri, Debbi and Jean, 2 of which shared the murdered girls names, you can imagine how my parents felt when all this happened. My sister Sherri was 14 at the time and my sister Debbi was 10, both were close in age to the murdered girls also. Larry Gene Bell was put to death Oct 4, 1996 I believe, his crimes will never be forgotten and neither will his victims.

SPOILERS.It would be hard for anyone to argue that this made-for-TV movie had much going for it. A beauty contest winner whose sister is kidnapped. A family disrupted. A cast no one has heard of except William Devane.But this isn't as bad as it could have been. First of all, no one should be embarrassed by the performances turned in. William Devane is almost always reliable, like so many other actors who never made it into the top ranks but seldom disappoint -- Tom Skerrit and Bill Macy among others. We more or less know what to expect and, although the roles may be nearly impossible to play, the performances will not sink into awfulness. Jen Ryan isn't as bad as I'd anticipated either. And she's got everything stacked against her. She's absolutely gorgeous, a kind of living Barbie doll with giant-sized lips and cool blue eyes that belong in the Guiness Book of World Records. And she sings too (in French) as part of her beauty contest routine and she flounces around in the most flowery and feminine dresses designable. She's compelled to look frightened and do some weeping. It all ought to fall flat but it doesn't. She may or may not have much range -- it's difficult to tell- but what skills she has work for her here. The rest of the characters don't have much to do. The heartbroken family is a generic heartbroken family. The only other outstanding part, and again there isn't much screen time available, is that of the murderer, played by a guy named -- get this -- Butch Slade. He plays an overweight and unattractive man whose face seems to be all long unkempt black beard and no frontal lobes. Whose was the hand that slanted back this brow? Whose breath blew out the light within this brain? He's as nutty as a fruitcake but he loves Jen Ryan desperately, even though his idea of "love" may be a little different from yours and mine. (It involves giving the girl a choice of shooting, overdosing, or strangulation.) He's great in the role of the madman. When he first appears in court, chained, manacled, hobbled, the first thing he does is smile at Jen Ryan, call out her name, and stumble towards her as if to embrace her. His attraction towards her is understandable. After all, that's what "Miss South Carolina" contests are all about, isn't it? The writers seem to have had a bit of a tough job filling the time slot. There are woeful lapses into cliche. Ryan, more beautiful than smart, under threat of kidnap and miserable death, nevertheless visits her deserted high school alone, is threatened by mysterious shadows and suspicious figures, and winds up in one of those scenes where the poor girl runs screaming down empty hallways and clanging against doors locked with thirty-pound chains. See the original "Cape Fear" for a better example of this device. One of the reasons the writers may have had trouble is that after the initial kidnapping, nothing much exciting happens. The killer makes nine phone calls to Ryan but the police fail every time in their attempts to catch him. When the penny does finally drop, they get him pronto and there is time only for five minutes in the courtroom before we cut to Jen Ryan in her church, giving the congregation a speech about her dead sister meant to be spiritually uplifting but which I can't interpret as carrying any message other than, "**** happens," before she begins to sing "Amazing Grace," a hymn so pleasant that I wish it weren't so overused.Well I don't mean this to sound too nasty. It gets the job done and perhaps a bit more. I don't know what happened to Butch Slade's character. I can understand why a lot of people would want him executed but he'd serve humanity better if he lived a long life under constant psychiatric study.

WoW!! My drama teacher is Larry Gene Bell!! (Butch Slade) Well, Mr. Slade let us view this movie in drama, and I must say, he did a very good job, along with the rest of the crew. I especially like the scene in the court where he jumped out at the crowd. That was pretty cool. I recommend this movie because of its ability to touch something inside of you. If you ever get a chance, see it!!!!