Though it has aired on Lifetime several times over the last few months, yesterday marked the official DVD release of the Sean-Astin-Samaire-Armstrong thriller Adopting Terror, directed by Micho Rutare, and written by Rutare and Nik Frank-Lehrer.
I gave high marks to the film upon seeing it's premiere, and can guarantee if you like taut, intelligent thrillers that keep you on the edge of your couch cushion, this one is definitely up your alley. Most made-for-Lifetime movies have a touch of camp to them, but not this one; this one's a pure-T tale of everyday terror, a family's worst nightmare. Brendan Fehr steals the show, and Michael Gross and Monet Mazur make memorable appearances.
So there you have it. Now get thee to a DVD dispensary and put you mitts on Adopting Terror, the latest release from the fine, fine folks at The Asylum.
If you missed the world premiere earlier this month of The Asylum's latest thriller, Adopting Terror, you're in luck, because the ratings-topper is being re-aired this weekend.
That's
right, the film - starring Sean Astin, Brendan Fehr and Samaire
Armstrong, directed by Micho Rutare from a script he wrote with Nik
Frank-Lehrer - about a couple who adopt the wrong dude's baby, will play again on Lifetime, Saturday night, April 28th, at 6 p.m.
I
really enjoyed this one - big shock, I know - but objectively, it isn't
often The Asylum does a straight-up, so-called "real-life" thriller; Born Bad was an awesome example that dominated this year's Looney Awards. I have a suspicion Adopting Terror's name could come up a few times at year's end. Good acting, good writing, good movie. See for yourself this Saturday night.
This past Saturday night marked the second time The Asylum premiered a film on the Lifetime network; last year it was Jared Cohn's Born Bad, and this time around it was Adopting Terror from writer - along with Nik Frank-Lehrer - and director Micho Rutare (Meteor Apocalypse). Like Born Bad, Adopting Terror was a thriller without creatures, aliens, natural disasters or pending global cataclysms, just a straight-up look at the evil men can do when properly motivated.
The film centers around Tim and Cheryl Broadbent, played by Sean Astin (Goonies, Lord of the Rings) and Samaire Armstrong (The O.C., Entourage) respectively - and their adoption of a lovely little baby girl, Mona. Only trouble is, Mona's biological father has just been released from prison and now he'll stop at nothing to be reunited with his daughter. What follows is a psychological game of cat-and-mouse, manipulations and intimidation, violence and the different degrees different people will go to in order to preserve and protect their families.
Adopting Terror is laden with powerful performances that elevate the film. The seemingly ageless Sean Astin is a loving father and husband, a sensible protector who as the film progresses, struggles to keep himself together amid the mounting strain to his family. Astin is a perfect Everyfather - if you'll allow the term - and thus when he finds himself pushed to the brink, the experience is tangible and resonant.
But for my money, the real scene-stealer here is Brendan Fehr (Final Destination, Ice Quake) as Mona's birth father, Kevin. He's the scariest kind of sociopath - the coolly vicious, stoically sadistic, stone-faced type. Fehr is a pure menace, a vibrant and brutally focused man blind to everything beyond his own agenda. Dude's got real chops, and they're on full display here. I want to see Fehr as Adopting Terror's Kevin fight Michael Welch as Born Bad's Denny; now there's a mega match-up.
Bottom line, Adopting Terror is a taut, well-paced, uncomfortably realistic thriller from set-up to payoff. It comes across simultaneously heartfelt, vicious, tense and suspenseful, and manages to mix in a few awesome, totally unexpected twists along the way to its pulse-pounding conclusion.
As of now, there is only one remaining scheduled broadcast of Adopting Terror on Lifetime: Saturday, April 28th at 6pm. After that, you might have to wait until the film's official DVD release on September 11th of this year.
Don't forget, Asylum fans, that this Saturday night marks the next release from our favorite independent studio, as the thriller Adopting Terror makes its world premiere on the Lifetime network.
The films stars Sean Astin (Goonies, Lord of the Rings, Toy Soldiers) and Samaire Armstrong (The O.C., Entourage) as a married couple longing to adopt. When their prayers are answered in the form of a beautiful baby girl, they think their lives are complete. Wrong. Because that beautiful baby girl comes with a psycho biological father, Brendan Fehr (Roswell, Ice Quake, The Forsaken) who wants his baby back (insert your own Chili's joke here, if you like.). As if all this wasn't a draw, the cast also boast Michael Gross (I shouldn't have to tell you).
So the time is 8 p.m., the place is the Lifetime network, and the event is the world premiere of the latest Asylum offering, Adopting Terror, from writer/director Micho Rutare and writer Nik Frank-Lehrer. Catch it now, because the DVD release doesn't come until September, and you don't want to be the last one of your block to see it!
