Forbidden Secrets

Forbidden Secrets

Forbidden Secrets

Moviecut—Forbidden Secrets

Unsympathetic character. Exercises poor judgment throughout. Spends most of the film with her head in the sand - reacts to everything by either refusing to take action or acting hysterically. Behaves more like a 7 year old than an adult. Film tries to create mystery by making you suspect at least 5 possible villians.

The tragedy you see after the opening credits causes nightmares for grown-up blonde beauty Kristy Swanson (as Alexandra "Alex" Kent). Although it was the scene of the horrific drama she experienced as a cute little girl, Ms. Swanson has decided to move back into the luxurious brownstone. She's also decided to shed successful husband Charles Powell (as Dan Lambeth) – in spite of his very cool hairdo. Swanson quickly considers bedding her insane mother's doctor David Keeley (as Mike Stanheight). He has cool hair, too. In the old home again, our heroine takes a swim in the indoor pool. Then, she begins to act really weird. Swanson tries to piece together mysteries from the past while maintaining her own sanity. Her busy psychiatrist Christopher Bondy (as Sam Bradburn) thinks Swanson should have stayed away from the brownstone and all the "Forbidden Secrets" dwelling inside... This is not a bad revision, by writer Karen Craig and director Richard Roy, of some commonly used plot points. But, it gets off to a bad start by not identifying mysteries. Know that the flashback opening is woefully incomplete; perhaps, including a shadowy figure would have heightened interest. The "key" element used to tie things tougher is the silver necklace Swanson often wears. You can see why any woman would want to wear it all the time – well, not. Some of the story stretches credulity too much – like how Swanson can't locate a certain room. She should simply ask the contractor, who could analyze the brownstone's entire structure. And, the drawing is obvious, but few in the cast seems to have a clue. There are some rough edges (watch that continuity on the couch), also. In supporting roles, head contractor Richard Jutras (as Ed) and girlfriend Marianne Farley (as Gina) are terrific. ***** Forbidden Secrets (9/26/05) Richard Roy ~ Kristy Swanson, David Keeley, Christopher Bondy, Richard Jutras

Definitely not a run of the mill thriller. Provocative, engaging and intelligent ..these are all the necessary ingredients this film needs to keep the viewer hooked from the first few frames. Kristy Swanson spares no emotion from being expressed on the screen, running the gambit from sadness to anger and unbeguilingly gives fans and viewers the chance for her to show off her raw talent. Very watchable and I am sure her strong character is a real inspiration to women everywhere....standing up for her self against seemingly insurmountable odds. Love to give a spoiler here but see it for your self. Recommended viewing. Have a little chocolate with your popcorn with this film; would work well on a rainy rainy night...nice love scenes, too for Kristy woo hoo :)

The TV synopsis sounded quite interesting and having noted that Kirsty Swanson was in it I was more than willing to give the movie a try. I recorded this with the intent on watching it when I was relaxed and in the mood for something interesting but I have to say that I was really dismayed at what I was watching. To be fair to the movie I do have to say that the plot was interesting and in effect it was the only thing that kept me watching till the end. But that's about all I can say in the movie's favour. A poor screenplay and lousy dialogue lines did little to disguise the awful direction. What's worse is that the actors allowed themselves to contribute to the overall effort with some truly lousy acting. Whatever views I had about Kirsty's acting abilities went out of the window with this movie. For most of the movie she sounded as though she been in a screaming match and then had a strangling match with someone- she sounded that hoarse. Her attempts at emoting left a lot to be desired about. I think that it's time she decided to give up acting and try something else. The rest of the cast were just as bad, if not worse. In truth this movie was just a cut above the standard soap opera fare- a lot of bad hamming to no effect. As I mentioned above the plot is the only thing that is good for the movie but having said that you can quickly figure out what's going on close to half way through the movie. I haven't clicked on the spoiler column as there aren't any major spoilers and even those plot points could be used to emphasize the overall poorness of the movie. I only gave this one star out of ten because I couldn't assign half stars and that is all this movie is really worth- half a star. I would not recommend this movie to anyone but truly die hard fans of Kirtsy Swanson. To the rest of the viewing public- watching paint dry is a lot more fun...and easier on the eyes.

Early in "Forbidden Secrets," Alexandra Kent discovers that her pendant contains a key to a mysterious hidden room in her family mansion. The that room will disclose clues to Alexandra about her past when her dear Aunt Judith was murdered and her mother Evelyn was locked away in a lunatic asylum. If she can discover that hidden room, Alex will finally learn the truth about her past. Structurally, the film was primarily about two psychiatrists competing for Alex's loyalty. Her dear friend Dr. Sam Bradburn had treated Alex for years after the trauma of witnessing the death of her aunt and the mental declivity of her mother. But there is also Dr. Mike Stanheight with whom Alex has become involved romantically. Which one of the shrinks truly deserves Alex's allegiance, and which one know the forbidden secrets? While the conceit of the film was intriguing, not all of the characters seemed fit into the drama as a whole. Alex's ex-husband, Dan Lambeth, always seemed to have an ulterior motive to keep her in his life. The motivation for his obsession was never made clear. Also, Alex's bestie, Gina Matthews, and the handyman Ed seemed extremely unsympathetic in Alex's greatest time of need. Their roles in the film were haphazard. The final twenty minutes of the film nearly lapsed into farce with a wild fracas in the home. The evil psychiatrist's line, "You couldn't leave the past alone!" was the biggest howler as the unconvincing final action unfolded around the indoor swimming pool. The original traumatic event of the protagonist was never made entirely clear. And the biggest letdown was that the secret key led to a most inconsequential video room! In the end, the forbidden secrets were simply not that interesting.

An okay made for TV movie about a recent divorcée who moves back into her childhood home, where her last memory is the "accidental" drowning death of her aunt. Turns out to be a 'whodunit' and with the limited number of cast, it's not hard to figure out who the guilty party is. Plot moves along fairly quickly. Beautiful filming location in Quebec and it's too bad they don't acknowledge it in the film. Rather, they would like the story set as a generic East Coast U.S. city. My biggest gripe is an obvious spelling mistake during the running of the end credits. The actor who played the psychiatrist is David KEELEY and not David Kelly. I've never seen an on screen typo. Shame on the editor!