Web of Deceit (1994) (aka: I Know My Son Is Alive) starring Corbin Bernsen, Amanda Pays, Al Waxman, Mimi Kuzyk, Neve Campbell directed by Bill Corcoran Movie Review

Web of Deceit (1994)   3/53/53/53/53/5


Amanda Pays and Corbin Bernsen in Web of Deceit (1994) (aka: I Know My Son Is Alive)

Bernsen Pays for Deceit

All her life Katherine (Amanda Pays) had to put up with her parents making decisions for her and making her feel like she can't cope. It continued after she married Dr. Mark Elshant (Corbin Bernsen) and when they had a baby they wanted to hire a nanny to help Katherine despite Mark's protestation. It seems they were right as Katherine struggles with depression following the child birth and whilst her friend and neighbour Laura (Mimi Kuzyk) would like to help Mark and Katherine start to interview people. It is then that Katherine meets Beth (Neve Campbell), a pregnant teen with a gift with babies and she moves in to help out. But things take a turn for the sinister when their baby is kidnapped and a bloody blanket is found in the boot of her car.

It's been a long day and as I looked at the list of movies I had to watch and review I longed for something simple, even bad which I could laugh at so I picked "Web of Deceit". Now movies about child abduction are not amusing so you might wonder why I picked "Web of Deceit" but I read a fuller plot outline for the movie and what I read sounded both unsubtle and convoluted which in a sort of perverse way was exactly what I needed and is exactly what "Web of Deceit" delivered as well as more.

Neve Campbell in Web of Deceit (1994) (aka: I Know My Son Is Alive)

So what I am going to do is break "Web of Deceit" down in to all of its unsubtleties. It stars with Katherine's parents who take it upon themselves to make decisions for their daughter and think they know best to the point they want Katherine and the baby to move in with them for a while. Then there is the neighbour Laura who every time she is in a scene references her desire to have children and her inability to have them, which leads to lots of unsubtle staring. Then there is the teen Beth who seems surprisingly agile for a young mother to be who we are made to suspect is not all as she seems because her hands aren't swollen and can take her ring off easily. There is also a threatening looking man who is hanging around. A psychiatrist friend who seems to be fond of the baby and just for good measure there are a series of events which make us wonder if someone is trying to make Katherine think she is going mad with noises in the house, things left on the stove when she is in the shower and a lot more.

Basically once the baby goes missing and the bloody blanket is discovered we have to work out what happened, who is behind the missing baby and did Katherine actually kill the child. Just for good measure we have a staring detective who is investigating the case and then a lawyer who thinks their only chance of Katherine not being tried for murder is to have her committed to an asylum. All of which does make "Web of Deceit" convoluted and less than subtle but in a way a whole lot of fun and trust me you may suspect you know what is going on but because it is so unsubtle you begin to question yourself

As for the acting well initially it has to be said that the acting throughout be it from real life husband and wife Corbin Bernsen and Amanda Pays or Mimi Kuzyk as their neighbour is unsubtle. But then the lack of subtlety in the acting matches the lack of subtlety in the actual movie and before long it all becomes part and part of this entertaining thriller.

What this all boils down to is that "Web of Deceit" ends up a lot more entertaining than you might think. Yes it has problems, a lot of problems but its convoluted nature ends up keeping you gripped right up until the credits.


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