Customer Reviews

Killing Affair [VHS]

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

 

 

Based on the Robert Houston novel Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday.This Movie is set in 1943 during WW2 in the backwoods the small southern town called Parrish West Virginia.Abused wife, Maggie Gresham(Kathy Baker) plays a woman who watched her father literally imprison her mother in the backhouse and then was sold by her preacher to be brother Sheb(John Glover) to an evil strawboss.After finding out that her husband is brutally murdered with an axe,she then takes in a drifter named Bastion Morris(Peter Weller) who admits he murdered her husband,holds her captive and claims he was seeking revenge against Maggies husband for an adulterous affair with his wife and killing his family.Maggie fights with her emotions whether she can trust Bastion and ends up physically and romantically involved with him.Bastion turns be both abusive and deceiving like her late husband which results in the final climax.This independent movie is an exceptional,little known Gem that is well worth watching!!It reminds me of another Southern story"Fried Green Tomatoes" which also deals with evil men who are properly taken care of!! An excellent,suspenseful drama and watch out for those stray killer dogs!!

This review is for: Killing Affair Based on the Robert Houston novel Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday. This is a powerful five star movie deserving of an "Oscar". It probably would mean more to a person who lived in the 1940's & 1950's and experienced first hand the subjugation of women to men in America at the time. Maggie Gresham(Kathy Baker) is a woman dealing with the freedom from an abusive husband and the enticement of another affair which would take her back into the slavery she had. Maggie Gresham's husband is a mean, vile strawboss at the local factory. He manipulates employees, steals from them, cheats them, sleeps with their daughters and wives without reprisal because of their fear of being fired. He is the logical one to be killed. When Maggie's husband fails to come home at night, she accepts it like all of the women of that time and place as she accepts her situation in life. The morning of his death, she finds him in a shed chopped up, but cannot get to town to notify anyone because her house is on an island and her boat is gone. Enter the stranger Bastion Morris(Peter Weller) who admits killing her husband but claims it was in retailiation for her husband killing his wife and family. He keeps her hostage and tries to convince her, quite convincingly, of his sincerity. The rest of the movie deals with the uncertainty of Bastion's story and the events which come into play to reach the final conclusion. Kathy Baker does a great job of playing the strong and determined woman who deals effectively with her situation. In the beginning she was thrust into a life not of her choosing but a life common to many women of her time. In the end she achieves her complete freedom from the system in which she has been cast and shows the determination to live the balance of her life as a free woman.

Well I didn't like this movie. Although it was very interesting to see how people used to live at that time, the plot itself didn't do it for me... I didn't get it, it was just too weird for me and didn't make much sense.

Concerning the quality of the DVD (picture / sound) it is quite bad on a new flat screen... greyish picture tones, a little blurry and weak sound. Looks like a copy of an older VHS tape despite the "remastered" statement. No subtitles either.

This was an unusual movie with a twist I did not expect until much later in the movie. I originally purchased it just to fill in the balance I needed for shipping and was glad as it only cost around 3.00 so the price was right. I would watch it again but not for children, as you need an open mind as to how things were way back when in different parts of the country and how people thought they were doing good for another member of the family. After a period of time, some people wake up to what life is really about.