Forgotten Evil (2017) Reviews

• O.K. but all too typical Lifetime fare

  mgconlan-12017-03-26

  One thing Lifetime is doing lately is not only showing two "premiere" movies back to back on Saturday nights but picking films so similar in theme and plot premises they tend to reflect badly on each other. They did that again last night right after "Stalker's Prey" by running something called "Forgotten Evil" which, as you might guess just from the title, is an amnesia movie: a young woman (Masiela Lusha) is found wrapped in some sort of bag and nearly drowned. She's taken to the local hospital and gets to stay there for six months as the people looking after her try to determine who she is and how she got there. When she's finally asked to leave, Mariah (Angie Teodora Dick), one of the nurses taking care of her, offers to take her in as a roommate and helps her get a job as a file clerk and receptionist at a local school. Mariah also suggests that the amnesiac woman, whom at first she calls "Jane" as in "Jane Doe," go see therapist Dr. Evan Michaels (Jeff Marchelletta) in hopes that he can work with her, hypnotize her and help her regain her memories. "Jane" decides to adopt the name "Renée" after she sees it in a booklet of women's names, and she gets to see the hot Dr. Michaels at his home, which is also the site of his office. Renée also finds herself with a hot new boyfriend, Randy Dumas (Kyle McKeever), a nice-looking blond, though given the usual iconography of Lifetime that their best-looking males turn out to be their creepiest, we're wondering whether Randy is all he seems to be and if he might be one of the people Renée is convinced are part of a conspiracy to keep her from regaining her memory even if that means they have to kill her in the process. Meanwhile we occasionally see a hulking black-clad man in the shadows — he's heavy-set and is dressed all in black, including a black hoodie — and he seems to turn up everywhere Renée does, though for about two-thirds of this movie it's not clear whether he's supposed to be real or a figment of her imagination. He's real, all right, and no sooner do Renée and Mariah have a falling-out, Renée announces she's moving in with Randy, and Mariah warns Renée that she really knows very little about Randy and shouldn't be so trusting of him, than we get a glimpse of the heavy-set man in the black clothes and hoodie, the hood comes off and we realize it's Randy. As with your typical Lifetime villain, Randy spirals out of control from understandable garden-variety madness to out-and-out craziness. Forgotten Evil, which may have been intended for theatrical release (partly because of the expert Gothic finish director Ferrante gave the material and partly because there are some odd blips on the soundtrack), seems like just another Lifetime movie with amnesia as their "disease of the week" and a cop-out ending that really doesn't make sense. It doesn't help that the acting in this one is pretty nondescript — yes, I know the characters themselves are pretty nondescript, and Masiela Lusha has the confounding task of portraying a woman who literally doesn't know anything about who or what she is, but the only player who comes across as genuinely interesting and charismatic is Kyle McKeever as the villain.

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• Another amnesia LMN melodrama

  geoffox-766-4184672017-05-21

  And this one is so predictable it is boring and much too long. Hard to believe that these guys have such a crush on this plain Jane. For she is not attractive and walks around with this bug eyed look all the time. The acting is mediocre and the story silly and taking too long to get to the point which you can figure out early in the movie. Where do they dig up these actresses for leading roles? This one, won't mention her name, goes around screaming all the time. It gets so annoying at times you wish she stayed in the sack when she was thrown overboard. I did like the actress who played her friend and the men were okay. My biggest complaint is having to watch the lead in almost every frame and wanting to see less of her. But no such luck. We are forced to look at her blank face and bug eyes too many times and I had to look away several times during the movie. Don't waste your time on this one.

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• Irritating heroine - skip this one

  phd_travel2018-09-20

  This is one of those Lifetime movies that shouldn't have been made. An amnesiac makes no progress and falls for her ex who put her in such a position in the first place. The heroine is so irritating causing the death of her Brother that I wish she had been killed instead.

• Predictable Lifetime: Dumb females in jeopardy

  darkavenger772017-05-24

  We open with a female in jeopardy! Jane/Reneee (J/R) is in a sack that is dumped into the water, but she drops a bracelet (plot giveaway). Predictably, she makes it and ends up in a coma, but wakes up in a hospital with amnesia. While at the hospital, she meets a guy that needs a shave, Randy. Even though he says he is there to visit his mom that has Alzheimer's, we never see him with his mom (plot giveaway). She picks the name Renee from a book, which coincidentally is the name of the boat she was on earlier. She is befriended by nurse Mariah (NM) and referred to Dr. Michaels (DM). When the hospital gives her the boot, NM takes her in and even though she has no last name or social security number gets her a job at a local school. Along the way Sheriff Scruffbeard (SS) shows up to investigate the case. J/R has some sessions with DM who is later ganked by an apparent burglar after a really stupid bit of dialog. Body count: 1. While on a date with Randy, a police car speeds by at like 10 MPH, so like a good dog J/R chases it. Turns out there is a body in the parking lot, and even though it is covered by a sheet, J/R has x-ray vision and says it is her doctor. The next day J/R is fired due to some racy photos on her desk. After sharing her fears with Randy, J/R then takes a bath (laughable for someone afraid of drowning) instead of a shower. Later while at a cafe with Randy, another guy in need of a shave turns up and shows J/R her photo. Instead of explaining he is a PI that was hired to find her, he goes the Lifetime stupid route. Randy gets into a shoving match and we learn the new guy is PI dude (PID). NM is a better lawman than SS as she suspects Randy is not there by coincidence. Next is a road battle of the unshaven. PID is run off the road by a guy in black, who we see is Randy. After another stupid exchange Randy ganks PID with a pipe wrench. Body count: 2. Randy turns up at NM's to take J/R away and gives her the bracelet we saw earlier. NM wants the address and phone, so Randy writes it down, seeing the photo PID had shown J/R. It has her wearing the bracelet! Looks like NM ain't gonna make it! Randy and J/R arrive at the cabin, and J/R says it feels like home (plot giveaway). NM while on patrol finds PID's car and searches it, but does not bother to call SS. She's then at work and learns Alzheimer's mom has only one son, and it is not Randy! An even bigger surprise is that he's clean shaven. NM calls the number from PID's notepad and learns J/R is his sister, who disappeared 5 years ago after marrying a guy named Jack Sawyer. NM bails from work to meet with J/R's brother Jensen, who also needs a shave. Back at the cabin, Randy says he's going to go into town to get them some dinner. While alone, J/R has a flashback and learns the cabin has a torture chamber. NM has texted Jensen. NM does some Googling and sees images of Jensen, then an image of Jack Sawyer and what do you know, it is Randy and J/R is there with him! She tries again to call J/R- why waste time with SS, but gets voicemail. The doorbell rings, and it's Randy/Jack (R/J). Female in jeopardy #2 unfolds with R/J putting a minor beat down on her, but she flees upstairs and R/J can't find her. It turns out before she was a nurse, NM was a contortionist, so she hid out in a cabinet. R/J gives up and leaves, followed by Jensen. NM FINALLY calls SS, who arrives and they are off to the address. R/J arrives as does Jensen. Jensen wastes time trying to tell J/R who she is, and R/J says Jensen is J/R's ex-husband. Jensen pulls a gun! He actually shoots R/J in the shoulder and then there is a struggle for the gun with Jensen predictably being shot. Californians are weak on gun control. Gun control means hitting your target! Jensen is now in hopalong mode and is chased by R/J, who says he doesn't have the gun. J/R turns up and overhears their conversation. Predictably R/J has the gun. J/R gets between them ineffectively and Jensen is shot again and ganked this time. Body count: 3 SS meanwhile is still in town and figures out R/J gave NM a bogus address. Perhaps he watched The Blues Brothers when they used 1060 W. Addison. NM thinks she knows where J/R is. R/J and J/R are now at a boat, and J/R slips up by calling him Jack. She's then in jeopardy again after J/R handcuffs her to the bed. She slips out of the cuffs and since R/J was nice enough to leave her phone with her, she calls NM. After a brief fight, J/R is back in the bag, but NM calls and in one of the dumbest scenes R/J stops what he's doing and answers J/R's phone. NM goes into badass mode and threatens him. R/J returns to finish the job, but finds Jensen in the sack. J/R goes Mary Sue (female with super powers) on him, telling him her name is Renee. She knocks him into water several hundred feet from the dock then shoot off a flare. That's the end of him! It's also the end of the movie. This movie could have benefited from a zombie apocalypse ending where all of the main characters were ganked. They were all too stupid or incompetent to live. Real movie score: 2 (higher=better). Lifetime movie score: 9/10 (higher=stupider).

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• ***1/2

  edwagreen2017-03-15

  Films dealing with amnesia are usually good ones and this one is no exception to the rule. Tied up in a sack and dumped into the ocean, a woman survives but doesn't remember her name or past. The dedicated nurse at the hospital takes her in and she receives hypnotic care in an attempt to get her to remember. While her memory doesn't come back, life seems to be looking up. She now has a boyfriend and a job. All at once, this all changes as she loses her job and her boyfriend begins to act differently. We all know where this is heading to as the hypnosis doctor is murdered and we reach a point where we don't know if the guy claiming to be her brother really is or the boyfriend actually is. Engrossing story.

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