Customer Reviews

Fatal Secrets

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Fatal Secrets has some flaws, some of which are pretty significant and cause a distraction in the overall quality. However because I thoroughly enjoyed the second half, the movie actually turned out to be pretty good.

The obvious flaw is the low budget presentation that makes us have to suspend disbelief because it involves everyone living in these fabulous, expensive homes when in reality a situation involving a woman forced to have sex against her will is more likely to happen in a more normal environment with regular homes. It felt fake as a result. Actually it was an indication that the movie writers didn't want to spend the extra money for a more realistic setting. Minor complaint, though.

Anyway, the storyline is about a woman who goes through an online dating website, meets a man she believes is a wonderful, caring person, they have a nice dinner, but... afterwards when they arrive to the bedroom, the man suddenly overpowers the woman sexually and, as a result the woman then (understandably) becomes angry and desires revenge.

She wants the man to pay for his actions, so when she realizes that she has the courage to confront the man at work, the man promises to make the womans life pure torture if she were to run to the police. This is when the storyline moves forward in a better direction (because honestly, the beginning of the movie with the bedroom scene is presented in a VERY cheesy and predictable way that we've persevered thousands of times in other films).

Later, when the woman comes up with this idea to bring her friend to the mans house and dig through his belongings as a way to find some important clues that could bring him down, *this* is when I became pleasantly surprised that the quality (and the suspense) improved enough to recommend sticking with the first 20 minutes of generic writing.

Then later, when the woman and her friends come up with a plan to take the man down for good (without spoiling what kind of plan they come up with here- sorry!) I REALLY liked this part. So Fatal Secrets offers more entertainment than I originally gave it credit for. Just try to get through the cheesy acting and secondrate storyline and you'll be good to go.

Judy (Dina Meyer) is a major league babe and single mom. She meets Mr. Wonderful on-line and by the time the credits are done she had been raped by a creepy David Hess wanna-be(Vicent Spano as Scott). After Judy does the proverbial shower and doesn't call the police, she then strolls on down to Scott's office to "discuss what had happened." (At this point I'm starting to sympathize with Scott.)

Oddly, Scott is not as receptive as Judy had imagined and threatens to destroy Judy if she makes any trouble. Judy is part of a book club with Rebecca (Lea Thompson)and Sharlene (Lela Rochon). Rebecca is married to a lawyer (David) who just found out about her affair with Aaron. She doesn't know what to do. She loves David, but the sex is better with Aaron. Sharlene had been abused by her father.

Judy becomes obsessed with revenge on Scott, a man who seems to have no past. She eventually confides in her friends. Judy makes headway but confronts dead ends as the dialouge digresses into third rate movie: "God ain't dead, but surely he's asleep."

As you look at the DVD cover, you can figure out where this leads as the DVD box is the plot spoiler. Dina Meyer is no Farrah Fawcett. No nudity. No F-bombs.

What if we could take revenge on our attackers and get away with it? Would this make us feel better? Perhaps, but what price will we have to pay? Could we sleep at night, or go on with our daily activities? What about our conscience?

Julia, (played by Dina Meyer was physically attacked by Scott, (played by Vincent Spano). This is a guy who she thought was nice and charming. He's your ideal gentleman who gives flowers and makes a woman feel special. However, Scott had a criminal past unknown to Julia. Scott wasn't even his real name discovered later on. What makes matters worse, is a girl committed suicide because of him. The Church where an embezzlement occurred was committed by Scott. They never brought charges against him and he fled with the funds. Also, his father Vernon, (played by Ed Begler Jr.) who was the minister there, took up for his son's alleged crimes and threatened Julia when she came to visit him about Scott. He also accused the girl who claimed Scott raped her as lying. Julia did not know Scott was his son at first.

After speaking with the victims mother before leaving for home, Julia came up with a plan. Her friends were contacted to help out with the plan. They agreed and the plan was set in motion. Sadly, this is a woman who felt helpless, and lost all hope of ever living a normal life again. Should we go to this extreme though? Julia, Rebecca, (played by Lea Thompson and Sharlene, (played by Lela Rochon) decided to make Scott confess to his crimes since Julia had no solid evidence against him. Not to tell anymore, all has become chaotic.

Desperation can make one do regrettable things in life. Julia never got counseling, and finally told her friends a while after the attack. Maybe had she talked to someone sooner, it may not have progressed to this degree. Now her friends have become criminals as well as trying to live with the aftermat of their crime. There were no winners here, only victims of their hate, and devotion to one another, which led to an unspeakable vengeful action.

My heart goes out to Julia, but I gave it three stars, because I could never agree to such an act of violence in this matter. Though some would feel Scott deserves to die, it still does not give anyone the right to take another's life under their own judgement.

There are very few things that I feel are unforgivable. Rape is definitely one of them. I know a few women who were raped and it's almost like a part of their soul was taken from them. So when I see a movie like FATAL SECRETS, where a woman gets revenge, I can't help but be on her side. I really enjoyed this movie and I give it four stars.